EPHRATA — Yahizee Alvarado punched in three goals as Ephrata toppled 10th-ranked Toppenish 5-2 Tuesday night in a statement win for a Tiger boys soccer team that may be peaking at exactly the right time.

The Wildcats, 4-1 in league play, came in ranked 10th in Class 2A RPI and second in the Central Washington Athletic Conference, trailing only WIAA No. 4-ranked East Valley. With the win, Ephrata evened its season record at 7-7 and sits fifth in CWAC standings at 3-3.

Freshman Julian Blancas kickstarted the Tiger offense, scoring in the eighth minute off a Junior Chavez assist. Toppenish's Kristian Iniguez evened it three minutes later. Alvarado, a sophomore, put the Tigers back in the lead at the 29-minute mark, giving Ephrata a 2-1 edge into halftime.

The Tigers’ offensive assault continued after the break. Senior Avian Soto made it 3-1 in the 53rd minute off a pass from Eli Cornejo. Alvarado found net again in the 63rd, set up by Fernando Ramirez. Toppenish's Luis Ramos added one back in the 67^th, but Alvarado answered unassisted two minutes later to complete his hat trick and seal the 5-2 final.

Ephrata fired 19 shots, 14 of them in a dominant first half. Sophomore keeper Isaac Blancas made 12 saves for the Tigers.

For head coach Ivan Garay, now in his 18th season at Ephrata, the win was the latest sign of a team clicking at the right time.

"Our energy was on a different level yesterday from beginning to end," Garay said. "When our energy is that high as a team, we play our best soccer."

"We are starting to put it all together and being able to play complete games at a high level,” he added. “Yesterday, every player on the team contributed to the win. We had a game plan going into this game and executed exactly how we wanted to."

The win also provided a bit of redemption. A season ago, Ephrata finished 3-12-1 overall and 2-6 in the CWAC, placing eighth and claiming the final district-eligible playoff spot. But the Tigers saw their season end with a 4-1 district play-in loss to none other than Toppenish.

Garay's Tigers have already more than doubled last year's win total.

They displayed their continuing growth in a pair of matches earlier this season against East Valley. The CWAC-leading Red Devils hammered Ephrata 6-0 in the first meeting. But just a few weeks later, in an April 18 rematch, the Tiger defense held them to two goals with Blancas making 11 saves.

The Tigers have two league games remaining in the regular season. They host a 1-5 Prosser squad Friday (April 24) at 6 p.m. before traveling to Grandview on Tuesday, April 28, also at 6 p.m. Grandview sits at the same 3-3 mark as Ephrata, making the finale a key faceoff for district seeding.

"We want to finish conference play strong and put ourselves in the best position possible for districts," Garay said.