Cheney loses top spot with loss to East Valley

Cheney's varsity soccer team will have to give up the number one spot in the league following a disappointing 3-1 loss to East Valley in a Great Northern League match on Oct. 11, but still managed to defeat Pullman 1-0 thanks to a deflected own goal.

The Lady Blackhawks (8-6, 6-4) just couldn't keep up with East Valley's physical offense, spending much of the game trying to equalize following a goal by the Lady Knight's Taylor Richardson in the eighth minute. Cheney junior midfielder Kaitlin Teeters came through with a goal in the 51st minute, but it wasn't enough to keep them in the game with two East Valley goals in the 28th and 78th minutes.

It was a frustrating loss for the focused team, who took on East Valley (9-3, 8-1) and won 5-0 Sept. 6, especially after a great week of practice leading up to the highly anticipated bout, head coach Nels Radtke said.

"We didn't really play our game this time," Radtke said. "We've pretty much locked in second or third place at this point."

Cheney is currently sitting at third in the GNL behind East Valley and West Valley with a league-winning percentage of .600.

Facing off against the Greyhounds (2-10-1, 0-10) on Sept. 13, the Lady Blackhawks kept a high level of intensity, taking 14 shots to Pullman's three. An own goal in the 36th minute clinched their victory.

Now the key will be standing up to West Valley, which has ended Cheney's season three years running. The teams are ranked nearly neck and neck and will be going head to head on Oct. 18 after Cheney faced Clarkston on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

"We really want all the advantages we can get against West Valley," Radtke said.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].