Big Sky Tonight 10.28.16: Vandals repeat as season champs; Griz rally at EWU

The Idaho Vandals took care of business against the Idaho State on Friday to wrap up a repeat of the regular season Big Sky championship. The Vandals, though, will host the postseason tournament at Eastern Washington University in Cheney due to field concerns at Guy Wicks Field, which has been a muddy mess in their last two games.

According to sources, the Vandals were working on alternatives to hosting at home during the week, reaching out to Eastern, CC Spokane's facility at Spokane Falls CC and even Washington State University. Even the pitch at Eastern - despite a lot of work to preserve it - showed the effects of the weeks of rain Friday as the field was slick and a few spots began to produce mud stains on sliding players. Staff borrowed baseball tarps from CC Spokane and Walla Walla CC in their efforts.

Eastern, though, was less successful on the pitch in their finale as a two goal lead was not enough against visiting Montana, which rallied with two in the second half and an early overtime winner.

HS DAILY - 10.27.16: Hanford survives via PKs, NC rallies to win as top seeds prevail in GSL-MCC Regionals

Wednesday's postseason action was highlighted by a pair of close contests, one each in the 4A and 3A classifications, while Thursday evening saw two surprising upsets, one each in the Northeast A League and Great Northern League.

In a late afternoon affair, North Central played host to Kennewick, whose only win of the year in official play was their playoff opener Monday against woeful Rogers. The Indians fell behind just before the break, but rallied for a 3-1 win. Down south, top MCC 4A seed Hanford, though, had a bit more trouble against the GSL's 4-seed Lewis & Clark. The Tigers took the Falcons to a shootout scoreless before the hosts prevailed to avoid the upset. On the day, the GSL and MCC came out even with three victories each as all the higher seeds prevailed.

In the NEA, perhaps Freeman should be called Survivalists rather than Scotties. After a bizarre ending to their season in the finale in which Riverside missed out on taking the final seed by letting the game go right to a shootout instead of overtime (they needed a regulation or overtime win), the Scotties shocked regular season champion Deer Park Tuesday with a 1-1 draw and a shootout victory. On Thursday, they repeated the feat against Lakeside, the second seed, with a shootout win following a 1-1 draw, marking what is believed to be the first time the league's fourth seed has won the district tournament.

In the opening round of the GNL playoffs, Clarkston handily defeated Pullman, but West Valley upset Cheney 3-1 to move onto the second round.

In other Thursday postseason action, the Central Washington Athletic Conference (2A) had no true surprises as all four sides tied at 7-2 on the season, but third seed Ephrata topped Ellensburg 2-1 in overtime and top seed Selah blanked Othello 3-0, placing Ellensburg and Othello in the regional crossover path to face the Great Northern League duo that will be East Valley and either Clarkston or West Valley.

Things also went as expected on the final night of play in the Columbia Basin Big Nine. The postseason begins for the 4A league with a pair of play-in matches Saturday.

Here's a look around the action from Wednesday and Thursday...

LD COLLEGE ROUND-UP: Whitworth men sweep; berths halfway set for CCC

Playing host to the other two regular powerhouses in the league last week, the Whitworth men posted a pair of victories, one in overtime, against Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound. With the results Whitworth put the duo essentially out of championship contention and now holds a five point lead over Pacific, which faces the powerhouse duo of Pacific Lutheran, currently third, and Puget Sound, which is fourth. The Pirates, meanwhile, face two of the bottom three teams in the league on the road.

The Whitworth women, meanwhile, are essentially in a three-way race for third in the conference, which they have not achieved since 2012. They are tied with Linfield and one point in front of Willamette. The topped regional foe Whitman in overtime midweek before dropping an overtime decision at Willamette.

In the Cascade Conference, the big match of the week was a showdown of the two unbeaten women's sides. After already posting a victory Thursday, Carroll played host to a Southern Oregon side that not only was unbeaten, but had not allowed a goal in league play either. Not surprisingly, the contest was a stalemate that was only decided by an overtime penalty for a handball in the box, ending the Raiders' shutout streak and giving Carroll the top spot in the table going into the final week of play in which they are idle.

Most of the rest of the region's sides all did fairly well with College of Idaho earning four points and the duo of Eastern Oregon and Great Falls spitting their contests.

On the men's side, it was a big week as well with contenders Southern Oregon and Evergreen making trek's eastward. Rocky Mountain had the most success with a victory and a draw, ensuring one of the eight spots in the postseason. Carroll, Great Falls and Eastern Oregon all split on the weekend to stay in the postseason picture, sitting sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively, going into the final week of the season.

NWAC East Tonight 10.26.16: Spokane clinches divisional title in Mudbowl at NIC

In the only game that ultimately mattered this week on the women's side, a first-place showdown in Coeur d'Alene between North Idaho played and visiting Spokane highlighted Wednesday afternoon's slate. At stake was a third consecutive NWAC East title for the Bigfoot while the Cardinals had a chance to move atop the table.

Three goals from Erica Simpson of nearby Post Falls, Idaho gave CC Spokane a third consecutive NWAC East championship as their 3-1 victory over the Cardinals on a quagmire of a field moved the Bigfoot five points clear with one game remaining.

The men's contest at NIC was cancelled as the previously questionable pitch was utterly destroyed by the earlier women's match. The Cardinals, though, still managed to clinch one of the three postseason spots with Wenatchee Valley falling. The Knights loss also clinched a spot for Walla Walla, which won at Columbia Basin.

HS DAILY - 10.26.16: Freeman shocks Deer Park via shootout, Lakeside advances

In the biggest postseason upset in the region thus far, Northeast A League top seed Deer Park and its high-powered offense was unable to get past Freeman in the the opening round of the district playoffs. A one goal lead was not enough as the Scotties, via the heroics of their two goalkeepers, equalized on a free kick and ultimately advanced in a tiebreaker shootout after finishing in a 1-1 stalemate.

Meanwhile, Lakeside topped Medical Lake 3-1 to move on to the NEA final.

In the final week of play in the Columbia Basin Big Nine, the Wenatchee Panthers won a tight contest Tuesday with Eastmont that left the Wildcats vulnerable going into the final night of the regular season Thursday. If things play out the way they should on paper in the final games Thursday (see schedule & table below), Moses Lake would take the third seed and Eastmont and Davis would be tied with the fourth seed going to tiebreakers. Davis swept the season series between the two with 3-2 (shootout) and 1-0 wins. The other contests Tuesday went as expected with Davis winning at Sunnyside and Moses Lake rolling against Eisenhower.

Also in central Washington, Ephrata and Othello won as expected to create a semifinal bracket with the top four teams, which all finished even in the regular season table at 7-2. The winners from the games at Ellensburg and Selah on Thursday will move onto the district championship and state tournament with the losers moving forward to square off in a seeding match that will pair them up with the top finalists of the Great Northern League tournament.

Here's a look around the action from Tuesday...

HS DAILY - 10.25.16: Walla Walla stuns Pasco, LC survives scare in playoff openers

The Walla Walla Blue Devils went into the 4A opening round playoff contest against Mid-Columbia Conference foe Pasco as heavy underdogs with their two wins this season coming against winless Kennewick and dropping both league games to the Bulldogs 2-1 and 3-1. But all of that was thrown out of the window Monday evening when they took the lead twice and held on for a shocking 2-1 victory over the 5-9 Bulldogs to advance to a second round match-up with GSL champion Mead.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket in the Greater Spokane League's matching 4A opener, the Lewis & Clark Tigers were looking to avoid an upset by University, which led their previous league meeting by two before falling 4-2 to the Tigers. LC were up by three early in the second half before seeing the Titans finally finding some success on the offensive end, scoring two in a comeback attempt that also so another effort go off the crossbar and one go narrowly over as they held on for the 3-2 win and a second round meeting with MCC co-champion Hanford.

In the lone 3A opener, the two winless sides Rogers and Kennewick squared off in Tri-Cities with the Lions rolling to an 11-0 victory.

Here's a look around the action from Monday...

DI / DII ROUND-UP: Lady Zags rally for dramatic win, Boise State clinches playoff spot

Boise State celebrated a fantastic road trip that netted a spot in the Mountain West Conference tournament, posting a 1-1 draw against league leading UNLV and a shutout win at Nevada.

In the Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Central Washington has locked up one of the four tournament berths on the women's side thanks to a win over Northwest Nazarene before dropping their second match to Western Washington, which has clinched the regular season title with two games left. Concordia, loaded with several players from the region, is three points back, trying to catch the duo of Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser in the race for the other two spots.

On the men's side of the GNAC, Northwest Nazarene (5-1-2) and MSU-Billings (4-2-3) are within range of leader Simon Fraser (6-0-2) with four games remaining in the race for the regular season title (no conference tournament). NNU's unbeaten streak - all one-goal decisions - reached seven games (5-0-2). They topped Seattle Pacific 1-0 in overtime and then Concordia 1-0 in regulation, which was a nice change of pace as the result ended their string of six consecutive overtime games.

But the game of the week was in Spokane where Gonzaga followed up Friday's victory that ended their five-game losing streak (four in conference) with a stunning comeback rally against Pacific in which they erased a two goal deficit and tallied an overtime winner in the span of 11 minutes.

HS DAILY - 10.24.16: Shootout win gives Southridge share of MCC title; Mt Spokane grabs top 3A GSL seed

It took a shootout win, but it was a win nonetheless and gave the Southridge Suns a share of the MCC championship with Hanford. The Suns led the league from the beginning, but with Hanford winning Thursday to move ahead with the Suns playing their finale on the road at early season contender Kamiakin Saturday, the title was at stake for them for the first time.

On Friday, things were fairly quiet in the Greater Spokane League with the top teams playing sides that, on paper, they should easily handle. Mead, Central Valley, Gonzaga Prep and University posted big wins but the script did not play out that way for Lewis & Clark, which has not only had an up and down season with their results, but within many of their games. This time, they saw 3A side Mt Spokane rally for a win that they greatly wanted to earn the top seed for their classification heading into the postseason.

In other weekend action, the Great Northern League's final two games were meaningless in regard to postseason seeding, and there were no surprises as West Valley and East Valley both won.

Here's a look around the action from Friday & Saturday... plus Power Rankings & Updated Brackets...

Big Sky Tonight 10.23.16: Idaho clinches share of Big Sky title with four point weekend

The Final Friday of the Big Sky season will certainly be dramatic. With Idaho picking up a draw and a win at home this weekend, the Vandals ensured at least a share of the regular season championship going into their last game, but Eastern Washington rebounded from a Friday defeat by winning at North Dakota to keep the Vandals within reach.

Hosting Montana, a side still working to return to the postseason, in their finale, the Eagles could earn a share of the title and the right to host the Big Sky tournament if they post a win and the Vandals fall to in-state foe Idaho State in their home finale.

A pair of tight contests on the weekend earned Montana (4-2-3, 15 points) a narrow win and a scoreless draw, leaving them tied for fourth in the table as the race for the remaining three of six berths are up for grabs. Also in the mix are Northern Arizona (15 points), Northern Colorado (13), Portland State (13) and Idaho State (12).

The Bengals still have an outside shot at reaching the postseason despite dropping both matches on the weekend, but will need some help in addition to posting a win at Idaho.

NWAC East Tonight 10.22.16: Picture coming into focus for postseason teams

With two games remaining, it appears that only two races are left in the NWAC East. On the men's side of things Saturday, a victory over the Warriors pulled North Idaho even with Walla Walla in the table for the race for second. With NIC picking up a win, Wenatchee Valley needed to keep pace, but the Knights falling at Columbia Basin put a serious dent in their chances at claiming a playoff spot sitting four points back with two games left.

On the women's side, the remaining race is for the division championship as Walla Walla were edged by the Cardinals in Coeur d'Alene. The result left the Warriors locked in as the third seed. North Idaho is still two points back of Spokane, which posted a big win over Treasure Valley in their home finale with a trip across the border for a first place showdown on tap for Wednesday.

HS DAILY - 10.21.16: Hanford tops Richland to clinch share of MCC title, Freeman takes final NEA spot amid drama

On a night in which most of the postseason seeding was already set around the four leagues in action, the biggest news was Hanford prevailing in a bit of a test at Richland to earn at least a share of the Mid-Columbia Conference championship as they await Southridge's finale against Kamiakin in a Saturday showdown of the top two 3A sides.

In the Northeast A League, the seeding for the four-team playoff was finalized with Lakeside posting a 3-1 victory at Medical Lake in a battle for the second seed. It was the third loss in the last four games for the Cardinals, who were the early leaders in the table this season. As expected, Deer Park clinched first with an easy win against Newport, but post-game drama questioning the result surrounded the other NEA fixture as Riverside and Freeman were squaring off head-to-head in a fight for the final berth, which went to Freeman.

Here's a look around the action from Thursday...

LD COLLEGE ROUND-UP: Whitworth, Whitman women surprise NWC leaders

It was business as usual on the men's side of the Northwest Conference, but the ladies provided a few unexpected results on Sunday when Whitworth stunned Puget Sound 1-0 and Whitman earned a draw against Pacific Lutheran.

In the Cascade Conference, it was a case of gridlock in the slate of women's games. All nine contests were decided by one goal or finished in draws with eight of them going to overtime, and only one side managed to score three goals.

It was a good weekend in the CCC for Rocky Mountain, which swept all four games, and Carroll, which saw the Saints go unbeaten with the men sweeping and the women earning two draws.

HS DAILY - 10.20.16: Mead wins 3-2 thriller versus Prep to move atop GSL

It was a wild day in the Greater Spokane League with four of the five games seeing both teams in the lead at points, including thrilling last-minute results for the top three sides, who went into the day even at 6-1 in the table.

Tuesday's battle for first place at Mead was a dramatic back-and-forth affair, and when the final whistle sounded the Panthers celebrated a victory that placed them at the top of the Greater Spokane League with victories over the Bullpups and the Central Valley Bears, who escaped an upset scare by defeating Mt Spokane, 3-2 in overtime, in a dramatic late comeback.

Mead's win came off the hat-trick performance of Cheris Brown, who came into the match with just two goals in the GSL campaign. Brown's three-goal outing was arguably the best offensive performance in the league this season as the three previous hat-tricks were against the league's bottom two sides. Central Valley's Kallie Crouch and Shadle's Keilah Shaw posted three goals in wins against winless Rogers and Brown's teammate Claire Neder struck for three in a blowout against Shadle Park.

Here's a look around the action from Wednesday...

NWAC East Tonight 10.19.16: Spokane men repeat as division champs, Bigfoot women alone in first

There was nothing particular special about the results at Wenatchee Valley, but it was a good day for both the CC Spokane teams. The victory for the ladies put them alone in first with North Idaho surprisingly playing to a draw against Columbia Basin. For the gents, the victory provided the lone point that they needed to repeat as the NWAC East Division champions, marking the first time the Bigfoot have done that since the current format of the league was adopted in 2005.

The race for the other two seeds in the men's division is still wide open with Walla Walla, North Idaho and Wenatchee Valley separated by just four points with three games remaining in the season. On the women's side, the door was closed for the postseason. Spokane and NIC had already clinched playoff spots and Walla Walla locked up the third and final playoff berth - seeding still to be determined - from the division with a nine point advantage and the head-to-head tiebreaker (win and draw) against Treasure Valley.

HS DAILY - 10.19.16: Hanford, Southridge clinch top MCC regional seeds

In a showdown of two red hot teams that were in a race for the top 4A seed out of the Mid-Columbia Conference, the Hanford Falcons needed to rally at home to top the Chiawana Riverhawks Tuesday night. In addition to Hanford clinching the top 4A spot, they are still tied atop the league at 11-2 with Southridge, which clinched the top 3A spot, going into the final games. Hanford visits mid-table Richland Thursday while Southridge, which leads on points, is at third place Kamiakin Saturday.

In the Great Northern League, Clarkston handed top seed East Valley its first loss of the year, clinching second in the league with Cheney losing at home to West Valley.

Deer Park essentially locked up the top NEA spot with a game against last place Newport in the finale, but the race for the final berth will be interesting with Riverside facing Freeman in the finale. Trailing by three Riverside could snatch the final spot with a win in regulation or overtime to pull even on points and give them the tiebreaker edge with a season sweep of the Scotties.

Here's a look around the action from Tuesday...

DI / DII ROUND-UP: Boise State, Central Washington in title hunts

It was a tough week for area schools in Division I, but the Boise State Broncos remain in the thick of the Mountain West playoff race despite a loss at San Diego State and a scoreless draw at New Mexico. On the men's side the Gonzaga Bulldogs picked up a split on the road, winning at Santa Clara before falling in overtime to San Francisco.

In the Division II GNAC, the Central Washington women continue to excel and are solidly in the postseason picture with a pair of victories on the weekend, topping Saint Martins and MSU-Billings. The MSU-Billings men, meanwhile, split on the week with their loss coming at the hands of Northwest Nazarene in a wild 4-3 overtime affair.

HS DAILY - 10.18.16: EV clinched GNL title Saturday plus new 509 Power Rankings & NEW playoff brackets

East Valley, not surprisingly, cruised to a 4-0 victory in their morning match-up with last-place Pullman Saturday. Later in the day, Clarkston posted a 2-0 shutout victory in Cheney that moved them into second in the league and locked up first place in the Great Northern League for the EV Knights, who have a seven and eight point leads over the duo of Clarkston and Cheney, who both only have two games remaining.

Down in the Mid-Columbia Conference, Hanford won its eighth consecutive match 2-0 at Kennewick to remain even with Southridge, which won 9-0 against Walla Walla, atop the table heading into the final week of the season.

This is the final week for most of the 509 leagues with the exception of the Columbia Basin Big Nine, whose postseason is independent from neighboring districts.

Big Sky Tonight 10.16.16: Idaho State wins again, EWU falters in title chase

Eastern Washington's game in hand in the race for the regular season title with Idaho ended up being empty as the Eagles fell on the road Sunday, 3-1, at Northern Arizona, leaving the idle Vandals up two points. NAU was the lone team to register a win at home in 10 Big Sky contests on the weekend.

Meanwhile, Sacramento pulled even in the table on points with Eastern with their third consecutive win - the longest in the conference - and the duo of Idaho State and Montana climbed back in the thick of the postseason picture with victories. Montana won at Southern Utah, 2-0, to sit fifth with NAU while the Bengals topped Weber State to move into fourth with three games left - a complete surprise considering the preseason coaches poll had them finishing dead last.

NWAC East Tonight 10.16.16: Narrow victories for division leaders Saturday; Walla Walla men fall Sunday

Women's co-leaders Spokane and North Idaho both escaped upsets at home Saturday in the rainy conditions, posting 1-0 victories against Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley to remain unbeaten at 9-0-1 and clinching playoff spots for both. On the men's side, Spokane also nabbed a tight 1-0 decision against CBC to extend its unbeaten streak to nine. Both of the winning goals for Spokane came in the final minutes of the match.

On Sunday, the men's table became a bit more jumbled in the race for second with Wenatchee handing Walla Walla a 3-1, meaning they and Saturday winner North Idaho both move within a point of the second place Warriors in the table. The Bigfoot men - up 11 on WWCC - need just two points to clinch first and have clinched a playoff spot as both NIC and WVC can't catch the Bigfoot with one game between the two still on the slate and both, at best, only being able to tie Spokane in points.  (Update on Spokane playoff clinching after reviewing schedule).

HS DAILY - 10.15.16: Mead wins in OT as top sides avoid upsets in wild weather

The three co-leaders of the Greater Spokane League were all victorious Friday, taking their matching 6-1-0 records into the final week of the regular season. While Gonzaga Prep and Central Valley comfortably dispatched their 3A opposition, Mead needed overtime to get past a plucky University side looking to stay in the postseason hunt that rallied on a pair of set piece goals from Julia Adair.

The trailing duo of Lewis & Clark and Ferris also both won. LC dominated Rogers with Camryn Gardner extending her scoring streak to seven league games. She is the only player to score in every GSL contest this season. Ferris, meanwhile, rallied against North Central.

In the final week of the season, Central Valley has the easiest path with games against Mt Spokane and North Central. Gonzaga Prep plays Mead Wednesday in a crucial match that will likely decide who finishes third with Prep moving on to play Rogers Friday while Mead hosts Ferris.

The three others have mixed schedules. Tied at 4-3-0, Lewis & Clark faces Shadle and Mt Spokane while Ferris is at University and Mead. The Titans, sitting a game back, could pull even against Ferris and be in the mix for a playoff berth with their finale against Shadle, making for a dramatic finish mid-table.

In the race for the top 3A seed, all four schools lost on the day, leaving Mt Spokane two points in front of North Central with two tough contests ahead of them while the Indians have Rogers among their final two games. All four, though, will move onto districts.

Here's a look around the action from Friday...

Big Sky Tonight 10.14.16: Leaders Idaho, EWU play to ties on the road

Crazy weather rolled through the western United States on Friday and the results come across the interwebs were the same. In the afternoon, the second place Eastern Washington University Eagles played to an eye-opening 3-3 draw with cellar-dweller Southern Utah. With the door open for Idaho to expand their league lead, they came up short in an evening contest in Utah as well against third place Weber State.

The only winners on the day in five games were Portland State, who surprised reigning conference tournament champion Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State, which has climbed into third on the strength of two consecutive wins - the longest current win streak in the conference.

HS DAILY - 10.14.16: Deer Park tops Medical Lake in shootout, NEA race tightens

Idle Mid-Columbia Conference leader Southridge has company atop the table with Hanford drubbing Kennewick to move to 9-2-0 for the season. Not far behind are Chiawana and Kamiakin. All three posted shutout wins Thursday evening to create a group of four now vying for the regular season league title before the classifications split for the postseason. Chiawana also won comfortably while Kamiakin snared a last-second victory at Richland, which now finds itself two games back of the lead pack.

The race between four schools for the second seed in the Columbia Basin Big Nine postseason continues to see nobody stepping up to pull away. The Davis Pirates were in position to do so in Wenatchee but came up empty against the Panthers, who moved into a tie for second with the Pirates. Eastmont and Moses Lake sit just one game back of the duo.

There were no surprises in the Great Northern League, but in the Northeast A League the race for the top spot tightened up with Deer Park edging leader Medical Lake via shootout in a top of the table clash while third place Lakeside was victorious. The results now have the top three within five points of one another with two games remaining for the Stags and Eagles and just one for the Cardinals.

Here's a look around the action from Thursday...

HS DAILY - 10.13.16: Three-way GSL tie again after CV falls to Mead

Last week Central Valley edged Gonzaga Prep to claim sole possession of first as the lone remaining unbeaten side, but a week later and the tables were turned by Mead, putting the three teams back even atop the Greater Spokane League at 5-1-0 and 15 points.

The table was nearly jumbled even more Wednesday night as Lewis & Clark held a two goal lead at Gonzaga Prep in a back-and-forth contest that saw a dramatic comeback by the hosts, who avoided dropping points with an overtime 3-2 victory that left the Tigers atop a four-way tie for fourth with University, Ferris and Lewis & Clark at 3-3-0 courtesy of a single point from a shootout loss.

Here's a look around the action from Wednesday...

NWAC East Tonight 10.12.16: North Idaho men win at Walla Walla in race for playoff spots

There were no surprises on the night on the women's side, but the race for the second and third playoff spots in the men's division became more interesting with North Idaho picking up a road win against Walla Walla to move into a tie for third as Wenatchee Valley were only able to register a draw against Columbia Basin. Walla Walla's defeat allowed Spokane to increase the lead to eight points while the Knights and Cardinals moved within two of the Warriors.

LD COLLEGE ROUND-UP: Whitworth sweeps, lady Pirates up to third

Northwest Conference leader Whitworth men topped rival Whitman 2-1 in their lone contest of the week, but the story continues to be the Pirate women, who posted two more victories to climb to third in the league.

Meanwhile, in the Cascade Conference results were mixed for the region's teams. Carroll, though, swept in their matches against Great Falls.

HS DAILY - 10.12.16: MCC's top two Southridge, Kamiakin both fall

Tuesday night was a big night in the Mid Columbia Conference as the league's top two sides were both handed losses. Hanford posted its sixth consecutive victory by handing league-leading Southridge its second loss of the year while Chiawana continued its surge back toward being a contender with a 2-1 road win against second place Kamiakin that allowed Hanford to move into second in the table.

Elsewhere, the battle for second in the Columbia Basin Big Nine continues to be a tight affair with Davis edging Eastmont on the road 1-0 to pull out of the three-way tie of 4-3-0 sides that included both teams and Moses Lake, which was idle.

In the greater Spokane area, Cheney's hopes of gaining ground in the Great Northern League were shut down emphatically at East Valley where the league-leading Knights won handily. And, in the NEA top sides Medical Lake and Deer Park both won.

Here's a look around the action from Tuesday...

DI / DII ROUND-UP: Bozeman's Werner leads Stanford past UW, OSU

At the Division I level it was a tough week for area sides with the exception of Boise State which posted a draw and a win on the road in California over the weekend to remain near the top of the Mountain West. The star of the week was Bozeman, MT native Sam Werner, who guided Stanford to narrow 1-0 victories against Washington and Oregon State.

Meanwhile in Division II, overtime was still a major role player for the GNAC men. Last week five of the six matches went to extra time. This week four of the six went past the 90-minute mark. It also spilled onto the women's side of things this week with four of the eight contests needed overtime.

The headliner for the week was the Northwest Nazarene men posting a 2-2 draw against second ranked Simon Fraser on the road. They went on to also pick up a victory on the weekend. The ladies at Central Washington also had a good week, also picking up a draw and a win for the week.

HS DAILY - 10.11.16: Shadle gets first win; 509 GSOC Power Rankings

It was a weekend off from girls soccer in the region with the only game on the books a match Friday that had been moved from a few weeks prior. It only put off the inevitable though as the Highlanders of Shadle Park cruised to a 7-0 win against Rogers in a meeting of the two winless GSL sides.

Here's a look around the action from the weekend...

Big Sky Tonight 10.9.16: Idaho rallies to win, Williams breaks record in EWU victory

The University of Idaho fought back at Portland State to snag a 2-1 victory to remain atop the Big Sky Conference at 5-1-0 Sunday while Eastern Washington, second with a game in hand, blanked Weber State to remain unbeaten at 4-0-1.

NWAC East Tonight 10.8.16: Unbeatens Spokane, North Idaho women battle to draw

Both sides were 7-0-0 going into the first-place showdown at Spokane Falls Stadium Saturday evening, but in the end the CC Spokane women and North Idaho College had to settle with a 1-1 draw. Later in the evening in the second half of the doubleheader, a goal in each half from Jonny Cortez gave division-leading Spokane a 2-0 victory.

Big Sky Tonight 10.7.16: Vandals rally to big win; Griz blank Weber State

The Idaho Vandals and Montana Grizzlies posted big victories Friday over Sacramento State and Weber State, moving the Vandals past idle Eastern Washington into first place in the Big Sky Conference. Idaho State, meanwhile, overcame a deficit against Portland State twice before grabbing their third win in a row in overtime.

HS DAILY - 10.7.16: Eastmont wins at Moses Lake, Riverside surprises Medical Lake Thursday

In the MCC Thursday, the top four sides blanked the bottom four sides in the table on the night with Summer Yates, fresh back from her US U16 trip, tallying an amazing five goals and two assists in a dominant Chiawana victory. The only close contest of the night in the MCC and CBBN that saw both teams score was a second-place showdown between Eastmont and host Moses Lake where the back-and-forth contest finished with the Wildcats grabbing a 3-2 road win to move into a tie for second.

In the greater Spokane area, things went as expected in the GNL, but the NEA had an exciting night of contests. Fresh off moving into first, Medical Lake was stunned on the road at Riverside, falling 3-2 in a shootout. Lakeside, meanwhile, needed overtime to prevail 3-2 and Colville nabbed a 3-2 road win over winless Newport, needing a last-minute goal for the result.

Here's a look around the action from Thursday...

LD COLLEGE ROUND-UP: Great Falls sweep in CCC includes upset of rival RMC

In the NAIA Cascade Conference last week, the big storyline was the fantastic weekend for the University of Great Falls Argos. The men and women swept their weekend slate against Rocky Mountain College and College of Idaho with the men grabbing headlines with a stunning 4-0 victory on the road against the eighth ranked Bears.

The Whitworth men maintained their spot atop the DIII Northwest Conference table with a pair of victories to move to 4-1-1 while Whitman is close behind at 3-1-2 following a pair of shutouts for a win and a draw at home.

HS DAILY - 10.6.16: CV tops G-Prep for first, NC bests Mt Spokane for top 3A position

There were a number of big matches on the night Wednesday. Chief among them was a first-place showdown between unbeatens Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep that was a tightly fought affair that saw the visiting Bears prevail 1-0. Also on the line was the top position among the 3A schools with North Central winning in dramatic fashion away from home against Mt Spokane to move ahead of the Wildcats.

The chase is on. Now in first with four games left, Central Valley has a pretty good path to the regular season title with Mead - now tied with Gonzaga Prep - next up on the slate in a week followed by three of the 3A schools. After playing CV, the Panthers still have Prep on their schedule. The Bullpups face Lewis and Clark, though, before that Mead match-up, making next Wednesday a huge night in the GSL with two fixtures featuring the top four sides.

Here's a look around the action from Wednesday...

NWAC East Tonight 10.5.16: Spokane, Walla Walla men deadlocked in battle of the top

Spokane and Walla Walla, the top two on the men's side, battled to a scoreless stalemate Wednesday, but third place North Idaho was unable to take advantage of their dropped points, falling on the road to Wenatchee Valley. With the results, Spokane maintained its five point margin over the Warriors and nine points over the Cardinals, who visit their local rival Saturday.

On the women's side, the Cardinals registered an easy road win at Wenatchee Valley in advance of their first-place showdown with Spokane on Saturday. Both teams head into the contest a perfect 7-0-0. Walla Walla, meanwhile, lost ground on the leaders, playing to a draw with fourth-place Treasure Valley on Tuesday.

DI / DII ROUND-UP: Washington State just short of road upsets over ranked opponents

The Boise State Broncos moved to 3-0-0 in the Mountain West Friday before suffering their first defeat and Idaho State posted a remarkable turnaround in the Big Sky, but one of the marquee stories among the Division I schools in the region may have been Washington State's PAC-12 road trip. The Cougars left Pullman with two tough ranked opponents on their slate and nearly registered surprise results against top-ranked Stanford and 17th ranked California only come up on the wrong end of one-goal decisions.

At the Division II level, the Central Washington women posted a pair of victories to move up the Great Northwest Athletic Conference table. On the men's side of the GNAC five of the six matches went to extra time last week. MSU-Billings won both games on the road while Northwest Nazarene earned a win and a draw away from home.

HS DAILY - 10.5.16: Hanford tops Kamiakin and new leaders for GNL, NEA

There were plenty of interesting results Tuesday evening, chief of them being Kamiakin suffering a narrow 1-0 loss at home at the hands of Hanford that has put four teams bunched together in the Mid Columbia Conference with six and five victories. Also winning with a single goal on the road was West Valley, who remain unbeaten through six in the Columbia Basin Big Nine. They edged Davis, which dropped its third straight and are part of a pack of four teams with three wins behind the Rams.

In the greater Spokane area, both the Great Northern League and Northeast A League have new leaders with Cheney and Deer Park both falling at home. Cheney dropped a 3-2 decision to one-win West Valley, allowing East Valley to pass them with a 1-0 victory at home against Clarkston. Medical Lake blasted Newport 6-2 to move past Deer Park, which fell at home to Lakeside in a wild 6-4 contest.

Here's a look around the action from Tuesday...

HS DAILY - 10.4.16: Southridge blasted Chiawana Saturday; Power Rankings

In a pair of Saturday contests in the Mid-Columbia Conference the results could not have been more different. League leading Southridge posted a blowout 7-0 victory, but the surprise was that it was against mid-table Chiawana. Meanwhile, winless Kennewick nearly got a surprise result against visiting Richland only to taste defeat yet again, 2-1.

Here's a look around the action from Saturday... Plus, this week's edition of the 509 GSOC Power Rankings for the 4A and 3A classifications.

Big Sky Tonight 10.2.16: Idaho State stuns champs, jump to fourth

Last year the Idaho State Bengals did not win a single Big Sky game. This year, their losing streak in conference play hit 13 games with two defeats on opening weekend last week. Picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish dead last, the Bengals put everyone on notice this weekend that they intend to put up a fight this year. After squeaking past North Dakota on Friday, they stunned everyone Sunday by rallying from a two goal deficit against the reigning Big Sky tournament champion Northern Colorado to post an eye-brow raising 6-2 victory.

The turnaround allowed the Bengals to jump from last in the league to fourth, sitting behind Eastern Washington, Idaho and Weber State. On Sunday, EWU posted a 1-0 road win over Sacramento State, avenging last season's opening round conference tournament loss. Idaho crushed North Dakota. Montana, meanwhile, fell 1-0 on the road at Portland State.

NWAC East Tonight 10.1.16: Top teams dominated Saturday slate

On the men's side of things, the division leading Spokane Sasquatch rolled to a big win at Wenatchee Valley for their fifth consecutive win, and Walla Walla cruised to a win against Treasure Valley to add some space over North Idaho and Columbia Basin, who played to a draw Saturday. While the Spokane women were idle, North Idaho picked up a road win at CBC to pull even in the table.

HS DAILY - 10.1.16: LC Tigers surprise unbeaten Mead

While the other two unbeatens Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep rolled to large victories, the Mead Panthers fell into a big hole early and despite rallying came up short against Lewis & Clark in their first loss of the Greater Spokane League campaign.

Here's a look around the action from Friday night...