Eric Merten and JP Cappadano both came through with second-half goals, and Freddy Kummernes converted a penalty kick to cap off a 3-0 win for John & Phil's Willamette Valley Firebirds versus the visiting Yakima Reds. The game was played on a rainy Sunday in front of about 100 fans at Paul Lorenz Field at Oregon State.

During the first twenty minutes, both teams seemed a bit tentative on the field. Then the sky opened up and a twenty-minute downpour soaked the pitch. After the rain let up a bit, the Reds seemed the better side for the remainder of the half, but neither team was able to seriously threaten, and the half ended scoreless.

The weather improved for the second half, and the Firebirds improved their play as well, as the Firebirds took control of the pace of the match. The Firebirds were not able to convert on their first few good chances of the second half, and the match started turning more physical. With about 25 minutes remaining, play suddenly turned very physical, and an exchange of hard fouls turned the tempo of the match.

A few minutes after a hard foul by the Reds, midfielder Greg Howes came back with a hard challenge, and was given a red card and ejected from the match. The Firebirds played the remainder of the match shorthanded, but the Firebirds turned this to their advantage, and completely dominated the rest of the match.

The momentum paid off in the 65th minute, when Eric Merten curled a corner kick from the right side, and Eric Wooten tracked down and headed down and past Yakima goalkeeper Derek Collins to put the Firebirds up 1-0. The breakthrough goal seemed to take the air out of the Yakima attack, and the Firebirds didn't take long in finding the net again.

In the 73rd minute, forward JP Cappadano fought his way through several Reds defenders and into the box, where a shot to the lower left corner of the net beat Collins to give the Firebirds a two-goal cushion at 2-0.

Just three minutes later, Cappadano was taken down in the box and the referee awarded a penalty kick, which Freddy Kummernes converted perfectly just inside the right post to make the score 3-0. The Reds attempted to push players forward to make a challenge during the last 20 minutes, but met a brick wall when they reached the attacking third, and never seriously threatened to break through on Firebirds' goalkeeper Bryan Hills, who recorded his second shutout in the last three matches. Hills had three saves for the Firebirds. Reds' goalkeeper Derek Collins had three saves as well.

The Firebirds earned maximum points for the fourth straight match, and third straight regular-season match. The USL standings award four points for a win, and a bonus point for any team scoring three or more goals in a match. The Firebirds have 15 points currently, and are in first place in the Northwest division, two points ahead of the Spokane Shadow and the Abbotsford 86ers. The Shadow have played four matches and the 86ers have played five, however, with the Firebirds only having played three. The Shadow and the Firebirds will likely be playing for first place when they meet on June 19 at 7:30pm at Paul Lorenz Field at Oregon State.

Pictures from this game will be posted to this page on Monday.