CC Spokane sweeps visiting Columbia Basin, 3-1 and 3-0

Two entirely different games finish with nearly identical outcomes for Sasquatch | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

The CC Spokane Sasquatch women cruised to a relatively easy 3-1 victory Wednesday afternoon versus the Hawks of Columbia Basin College in the first game of the doubleheader while the men battled to a hard-fought victory that was far more difficult than the final 3-0 scoreline would indicate.

Columbia Basin 1 :: 3 CC Spokane - WOMEN 

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The Bigfoot ladies dominated from the beginning but despite having chance after chance, the final touch either went awry or goalkeeper Dakota Wickard (Pullman, WA) came up with a save. Spokane would finally break through though in the 25th minute when Tasha Luu (Colville, WA) rose to meet a Lindsay DeHaas (Spokane, WA) corner with a header at the near post about eight yards out.

Spokane continued to put pressure on the CBC goal, but would not find their second until two minutes after the intermission when Brittany Bruegeman (Spokane, WA) connected with Rashelle Fisher, who finished from the left side of the box.

The Bigfoot nearly went up three in the 63rd minute when a corner was headed off the crossbar, but instead found themselves up only one three minutes later when the Hawks took advantage of a moment of lackadaisical defending. Mykenzie Lilly (Benton City, WA) found herself behind the defense all alone and beat stranded goalkeeper Emily Moscrip (Lewiston, ID) from about 10 yards out in the center of the box.

That was the last serious look for the Hawks though, and the Sasquatch returned to keeping Wickard busy at the other end. In the 74th minute they capped the scoring when Fisher and Toni Tapplin (Rathdrum, ID) combined to find Luu for her second. Luu drove squarely across the top of the box before slanting inward and eventually launching her shot from a few yards off from the spot.

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Columbia Basin 0 :: 3 CC Spokane - MEN

Brian Clark, Devin Leon and Juan Arroyo played key roles in the contest but it was Curtis Hill (Spokane, WA) in goal that was the man of the match as he was tested continually throughout the evening and came away with the shutout after making numerous big saves in a game that arguably saw the Hawks have the better of play and opportunities.

Columbia Basin's pressure in the offensive third began early with Guillermo Silva (Yakima, WA) getting a dangerous chance on the left side 11 minutes in.

In the 17th minute, though, Spokane used a corner to create the opening goal of the match. The restart was sent too far over the attacking swarm, but Jared Fretheim (Spokane, WA) ran the ball down and reset the opportunity by sending it to the top of the box. As the players cleared the box, it was sent back to him on the left flank and he crossed it in behind the still advancing back line, finding Clark about eight yards out in front of the far post for the finish.

Five minutes later the Sasquatch doubled the advantage through Clark again found the back of the net on the work of Leon. Leon had driven into the box from the right side and went down for a sliding challenge with the keeper that popped the ball centrally into space that allowed Clark to put it away with ease.

From that point, it seemed as though the Bigfoot became a bit complacent, allowing the Hawks to continually find space in the offensive third to create chances and dangerous shots. In the 26th minute Jesse Esquivel (Yakima, WA) got behind the defense deep in the box and danced around Hill to create an open look from about seven yards diagonally out to the left, but Arroyo had recovered on the play and made a fantastic goal-line stop to keep the Hawks off the board.

Ten minutes later a cross from the right side found Marco Marmolejo (Yakima, WA) at the far corner of the six but Hill came up with a stupendous save at the near post and recovered to also stop the rebound chance knocked in from even closer by Erik Ruiz (Boardman, WA).

Four minutes before the break a long shot from Brandon Perez was headed under the bar but Hill stuck his paw up at the last moment to deny the goal.

Chances continued for the Hawks in the second half. In the 61st minute a ball behind the defense put Silva on a diagonal run to the left but he couldn't catch up to the ball until he hit the far left side of the box and the defense had recovered. Despite that, he crossed the ball into the area and Hill made a great point-blank save on a shot from about eight yards out.

The missed chances doomed Columbia Basin as Spokane scored against the run of play in the 71st when Arroyo found Leon to push the game out of reach with number three.

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