Lady Hawks split with East Valley, Deer Park, remain in race

By JOHN McCALLUM

Editor

Cheney's girls' soccer team learned something in last Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss at East Valley.

They learned they have the capabilities to rally.

After falling behind 2-0 the Lady Hawks fought back in the second half against the Great Northern League co-leaders Lady Knights (4-1, 6-4, 12 points). East Valley scored in the first minute and the 36th minute, but Cheney pulled within one on Luci Scott's goal and assist from Madie Moore in the 60th minute, and tied the score with an unassisted goal from Hillary Martin in the 72nd minute.

But after a scoreless first five-minute overtime, East Valley's Hannah Bowerman got behind the defense, tracked down a long ball and sent home the winning shot in the 88th minute.

“We had good defensive position,” Cheney head coach Robyn Smith said Monday night. “We just got caught on a long ball played through.”

The Lady Hawks out shot the Lady Knights 11-9, with goalkeeper Nora Ifft making five saves. Smith said most of East Valley's shots came in the first 40 minutes.

“In the second half we definitely showed some perseverance and shut them down,” she said. “We held them to only two shots.”

Smith said the Lady Knights have two things her young team is working on: confidence and identity. East Valley is a good team coming down into the GNL out of a good league, the Greater Spokane League, and has something to prove. They also know they are a “direct team,” meaning their game relies on a kick and run style, whereas Cheney is seeking to define themselves as a ball possession team.

“If we don't possess the ball we have a hard time scoring,” Smith said.

That was evident Thursday at home against Deer Park (1-3, 2-4, 3 points) as the Lady Hawks methodically employed ball possession in their 5-0 win. Most of the game was played in the Lady Stags' defensive portion of the field.

Alex Shaw got Cheney on the board in the 27th minute with a shot from about 16 yards out right of the goal, assisted by Moore, and Scott made it 2-0 off an assist from Chae Brown in virtually the same spot in the 38th minute.

Scott got her second goal on an 8-yard shot from the left off a pass from Sierra Dixon in the 60th minute, with Micah Youmans connecting from 7-8 yards out straight away off an assist from Martin in the 69th minute to make it 4-0. Tawnya Walker capped Cheney's scoring with a goal off a Katie McNair assist in the 76th minute.

Cheney out shot Deer Park 19-2 with Ifft making two saves, both late in the second half.

The split keeps Cheney in third place in the GNL at 3-1, 9 points, 3-6 overall. The Lady Hawks can make some moves in the standings this week with a pair of road games, Tuesday at Clarkston (0-4, 0-6, 1 point) and Thursday with a rematch at West Valley (3-2, 3-4-1, 9 points).

Despite being winless the Lady Bantams have played opponents close and will be a test for Cheney, especially on their home field which is shorter than the Lady Hawks are used to. Smith said they would need to play with a faster pace and make the field bigger.

The Lady Eagles handed Cheney a bitter 3-0 loss Sept. 14 in a game Smith and others feel they should have won. This time her team has more confidence, and only one approach.

“We're just looking for revenge, that's all I can say,” Smith said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].