Blackhawks earn third straight trip to Sumner with wins over Quincy and Interlake
By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
Cheney goalkeeper Andrew Wilson said it best after the Blackhawks' 2-0 2A state quarterfinal win over visiting Interlake last Saturday afternoon, jubilantly exclaiming to the mass of celebrating players and fans, “The boys are back.”
Thanks to a pair of second half goals the Blackhawks are indeed heading back to Sumner's Sunset-Chev Stadium for their third consecutive appearance in the state tournament's double-elimination Final Four round. They face Toppenish of the Central Washington Athletic Conference in Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal game with a shot at a third straight title game.
Interlake gave Cheney all it could handle on Saturday. Both teams had plenty of opportunities to score in the first half, the first coming about six minutes into the game when Interlake forward Ben Titus' shot from about two yards out went high of the net.
Cheney missed a similar opportunity about a minute later, and both teams had several shots on corner kicks that went wide or high. Cheney made halftime adjustments and the biggest for head coach Mark Kiver was an adjustment in the level of intensity.
“We needed to step it up, not necessarily match the other team, but dictate it,” Kiver said Monday night. “Also, take some shots. We weren't being as aggressive.”
The adjustments paid off quickly in the second half. Cheney's first goal came in the 42nd minute when senior forward Alex Adams possessed a pass and charged the net, shaking the Saints defender with a left-right-left-right-left move and delivering a goal to the right of goalkeeper Alex Quintana from about eight yards out.
The Blackhawks added another goal six minutes later. This time it was Adams on a middle run passing forward between two defenders to Xavier Day who squeezed a six-yard shot past a charging Quintana for a 2-0 lead.
From there it was hang on time as Interlake increased its offensive pressure. While the Saints were without KingCo and team leading scorer Andy Fordyce, (16 goals, 6 assists) they still had weapons, namely Titus, KingCo's fifth-leading scorer (9 goals, 2 assists).
The Blackhawks back line of Evan Cook, Tyler Pratt, Nathaniel Roley and Dimitriy Topov broke up potential runs and Wilson made several late saves to preserve the win. Cheney's offense provided help with several good runs and a couple shots on goal, but couldn't connect.
“We were just kind of playing basic defense,” Wilson said. “They seemed to target one guy. We were marking them up smart and playing our defense. That's all we could do.”
Wilson made eight saves as Interlake out shot Cheney 19-17.
Cheney, the GNL's second seed, advanced to Saturday's game with a huge 1-0 win over Quincy, the top seed from the Central Washington Athletic Conference. Kiver said they knew the Jacks had speed and talent, as well as the home field advantage in a game he and the Quincy coaches felt should have been played in a later round.
“We went out with a bull-rider mentality – just hold on and hope for breaks,” Kiver said.
The Blackhawks were able to match, and even out do, Quincy's speed, getting four breakaway goal attempts in the first half. Their offensive pressure finally produced results in the second half.
In the 68th minute, Daniel Igbinoba hit Austin Walker at the near post on a long throw in, with Walker then passing to CJ Skilingstad who knocked home the goal from the far post. After that it was up to Cheney's defense to once again seal the win.
“Twelve minutes left, you've just got to hold on tight,” Kiver said. “They threw everything at us, it was the longest 12 minutes.”
Quincy out shot Cheney 21-13 with Wilson making 12 saves.
All that bending but not breaking defensively made Cheney's win over Interlake that much more enjoyable, or as Wilson put it, “a relief.” It also gives Cheney, 17-3 overall, another chance to avenge losses in the last two state title games.
“It's probably the best feeling in the world,” Adams said after Saturday's game.
It's still a difficult road. Toppenish (14-9) is led by the CWAC's co-MVP, midfielder Luis Alcala, and has speed on their front line, Kiver said. But, the Blackhawks first-year head coach said they have seen the scenario before with several GNL teams that feature one outstanding player.
“You can't let one player hurt you,” Kiver said. “If we can keep them on their heels, we're going to have a lot of success.”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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