Hawks in view of GNL soccer playoffs’ top seed

By JOHN McCALLUM

Editor

With two games remaining, the Cheney boys’ soccer team has the Great Northern League’s top playoff spot squarely in sight – which for head coach Steve Davis is one of the best reasons why his team needs to stay focused.

The Blackhawks notched two wins last week, running their league mark to 11-1, 11-2 overall, by shutting out Riverside and Colville, 6-0 and 3-0 respectively. Neither victory was exactly easy.

Last Tuesday, the visiting Rams (5-7, 5-8) gave Cheney all it could take, especially over the first 20-25 minutes, pressuring the Hawks’ defense while denying Cheney’s offense any good looks at the goal. But eventually, Cheney found a way to break through, beginning in the 28th minute when Riverside’s Tyler Florez tangled with Cheney’s Xavier Day as Day broke clear for what might have been an uncontested score.

Florez was given a red card and expelled from the game, awarding the Hawks a penalty kick that senior defender Paul Holloway drilled past goalkeeper Jake Bender for a 1-0 lead.

Having tasted blood, it didn’t take long for Cheney to find the back of the net again. Day fielded a pass from Austin Walker, turned and dribbled through the middle of the Riverside defense and threaded a shot from just inside the left post to the right side of the goal for a 2-0 lead in the 34th minute.

In the 39th minute, Day returned the favor, dribbling inside the 6-yard box to the right of the goal, and then passing back to the middle where a waiting CJ Skillingstad drilled a shot into the left side of the net for a 3-0 margin.

Cheney scored twice in the space of three minutes in the second half, getting a goal from Walker, assisted by Day in the 56th minute, and another by Holloway, assisted by Daniel Igbinoba in the 59th minute. Igbinoba got his second assist on a goal by Joey Sexton in the 66th minute to wrap up the scoring.

Cheney out shot Riverside 18-6, with Andrew Wilson getting four saves and Luke Haupt two.

Thursday the Hawks traveled to Colville to face the Indians (0-12, 1-12), who despite being in last place in the GNL, had chances at an upset. The Hawks managed just one goal in the first half, a score by Walker assisted by Sam Sill in the 18th minute – but it proved to be all they would need. Walker gave the Hawks some breathing room with a goal in the 64th minute, and pulled the hat trick with his third score in the 67th minute.

Cheney out shot the Indians 22-12, with Wilson getting 11 saves.

Last week’s results illustrated for Davis’ why the Hawks need to play hard the entire 80 minutes of a soccer game. Davis thinks his team is doing better at this, led by an experienced group of varsity returnees who know how to perform under pressure, and are anxious to get back to the promised land of the 2A state tournament, if not to the final four.

“They’re anxious to do well, and recognize they have the potential to get better and want to get there,” Davis said. “The stronger we grow as a team, the stronger we’ll be heading into the playoffs.”

Cheney currently sits atop the GNL with 34 points, two games ahead of Pullman at 9-3, 9-5 overall, 27 points. The Hawks have two games remaining, Tuesday’s home finale against Clarkston (6-6, 6-7) and on the road at third-place Medical Lake (7-5, 8-6) on Thursday.

A Cardinals win at West Valley (6-6, 7-5), and Thursday against Cheney, coupled with losses by Pullman at Deer Park and West Valley could potentially vault Medical Lake into the No. 2 seed and an opening round bye, while losses and a pair of wins by West Valley could drop ML as low as No. 5. With all games now carrying a lot of importance, Davis believes his team has to bring their best to every game from here on out.

“It takes 80 focused minutes to be successful,” he added.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected]