The Cheney High girls’ soccer team continued their undefeated streak in Great Northern League play after a 3-2 win over Clarkston (Sept. 13) and a 3-0 shutout over West Valley two days later.
In the Clarkston match, the Lady Blackhawks were tied 2-2 with two minutes to play when Kailey Estrellado, with an assist from Gabby Nguyen, scored the winning goal.
“Clarkston has had our number in the last four years,” head coach Nels Radtke said. “It was good to finally beat them.”
After a scoreless first half, both teams turned up their offense, scoring a combined four goals in the first 20 minutes. Cheney took the lead after Madison O’Callaghan, assisted by Sydney Eaton, scored a goal at the 46-minute mark. Clarkston’s Makinzie Packwood made two goals, one at 53 minutes and the other six minutes later, to put her team up 2-1, marking the first time in the season the Lady Blackhawks were behind in a match.
Nguyen, with an assist from Estrellado, tied the game with her goal in the 60th minute.
Cheney outshot Clarkston 11-7 with goalkeeper Nicole Rowley making three saves and Melissa Aris recording two.
Radtke said Clarkston was a great test for his team, especially for the younger players.
“They showed mental toughness, it was a good day for us,” he said.
The Lady Blackhawks came out hard against West Valley with Kaitlin Teeters, assisted by Katarina Smith, scoring at the 24th minute. Lexi VanHorne, with an assist from Estrellado, landed a goal to give Cheney a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
Nguyen, assisted by Riley Klauss, capped Cheney’s scoring with a goal at 45 minutes.
The Lady Blackhawks outshot West Valley 13-7 with Rowley notching six saves.
“Last year West Valley eliminated us from the GNL playoffs,” Radtke said. “It was good to get some redemption against them.”
Cheney (3-0 GNL, 9 points, 6-0 overall) played Idaho’s Lakeland at home, Sept. 20 in their final nonleague match of the season. They wrap up the first round of GNL play at home against East Valley (2-0. 6 points, 3-2) tonight (Sept. 22) at 4 p.m.
Radtke noted that the contest between his team and the Knights will be a “match for first place” in the GNL.
“This will be a battle, but it’s nice to have it on our home pitch,” Radtke said. “We just have to go out there and play our game.”
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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