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...
MCC #####
Kennewick 0-8 Chiawana: The Riverhawks rolled to the win against the Lions, who finished the campaign without a victory. US U16 international Summer Yates dominated the scoring yet again with four goals and three assists. Ruthie Edrington scored twice and Ally Gadd added three assists in addition to her first goal of the year. Avery Bond also scored and Alisha Ramos needed just one save for her sixth MCC shutout.
Hanford 2-0 Richland: Dani Mendoza scored the opening goal on a fantastic weaving run through the Bomber defense and Ellie Harlow doubled the lead by finishing a corner from Taylor Matheny. Kelsee Winston made three stops to post the shutout, her sixth of the MCC campaign.
Pasco 3-1 Walla Walla: In a preview of Monday's opening round playoff match, the Bulldogs grabbed the win. Megan Wilkinson put the visitors on the board 13 minutes in and Zyree Raban doubled the lead six minutes later. The Blue Devils made it a one-goal game four minutes before the break when Victoria Matlock found Lorena Ramirez for her ninth goal in MCC play. In the second half, though, Wilkinson set up Dani Gibson to restore the two goal margin as Pasco held on for the win.
CBBN #####
Eisenhower 0-8 West Valley: The league leaders scored four in each half, but had eight before the hour mark. Natalie Nagle scored the opener two minutes in and set up the second, scored by Lexi Maison, two minutes later. She set up two more goals in the second half and Maison tallied a second goal. Also scoring was Kendall Sharp, Ariza Juarez, Lauryn Peters, Anna Hager and Carli Short.
Sunnyside 0-2 Eastmont: Carissa Miller scored four minutes into the match and Vanessa Valdez doubled the advantage in the 24th. Kalea Bokma made six saves to preserve the shutout win and create a three-way tie for third in the league with Moses Lake and Davis.
Moses Lake 2-6 Wenatchee: No Details Available
GNL #####
West Valley 1-2 East Valley: The Knights added another win to the ledger, but thanks to a bit of luck as the deciding tally was an own goal in the 53rd minute. Kaitlyn Harvey put them in front on a ball from Chloe Gellhaus in the 27th and Madeline Liberg evened things up in the 33rd.
Clarkston 2-0 Pullman: Taylen Wohl set up Anna Sharp for the opening goal seven minutes into the contest and added some insurance herself with just four minutes remaining in the contest on a ball from Makinzie Packwood. Katelyn Bittle recorded the shutout.
NEA #####
Newport 0-5 Deer Park: On senior night Riley Martinson was also celebrating her return from injury that sidelined her for five weeks. The leading scorer last year with 31 goals and four assists, took advantage of her limited time on the pitch against the Grizzlies to net two goals and an assist to bring her regular season tally to seven goals and four assists. She set up Courtney Stark's opener in the fourth minute before scoring herself three minutes later courtesy of Stark, who tallied the last goal of the half in the 28th. Emmy Moore joined Martinson in the second half spotlight, scoring in the 64th and setting up Martinson's second three minutes later. Rowenna Nelson recorded her league-leading fifth shutout of the season.
Lakeside 3-1 Medical Lake: Played in a quagmire, the match was scoreless until Hannah Mitchell found Lizzie Torok in the 47th minute for the opener. Kayleigh Talbott put the match out of reach over the next 13 minutes, scoring on a ball from Alyssa Figy in the 50th and then again in the 60th. Nicole Wetherall spoiled the shutout on a ball from Jaxyn Farmen in the 79th.
Riverside @ Freeman: No Score Available - Sources indicated that the match finished even in regulation in a contest Riverside, trailing by three, needed to win in regulation or overtime in order to pull even with Freeman in the standings and advance to the postseason on the head-to-head tiebreaker with a sweep of the series. Unfortunately, both coaching staffs allegedly thought an overtime victory resulted in two points in the table instead of three and decided to forego the extra time due to the weather / field conditions and went directly to penalties, where Freeman prevailed. The NEA has reportedly taken that as the final result, placing Freeman in the playoff bracket. No other details are available.
STANDINGS & STATS #####
COMING UP #####
Mid-Columbia Conference Remaining Schedule
Saturday - Southridge @ Kamiakin 12:00
Great Northern League Remaining Schedule
Saturday - East Valley @ Cheney 12:00
Saturday - Pullman @ West Valley 12:00
Greater Spokane League Remaining Schedule
Friday - Lewis & Clark @ Mt Spokane 4:00
Friday - Ferris @ Mead 4:00
Friday - Central Valley @ North Central 4:00
Friday - Rogers @ Gonzaga Prep 4:00
Friday - University @ Shadle Park 4:00
POSTSEASON BRACKETS #####
Missing Data... If you have scoring / goalkeeping information for the following games, please email to gbarnsoccer-at-gmail or message INWsoccernews on Facebook: 9.13 Davis @ Eisenhower... 9.15 Eisenhower @ Wenatchee... 9.20 Eisenhower @ Sunnyside... 9.22 Sunnyside @ Wenatchee... 9.27 West Valley @ Eisenhower (Ike goal)... 9.27 Eastmont @ Sunnyside (GK info)... 9.29 Sunnyside @ Davis... 9.29 Eisenhower @ Moses Lake (Ike info)... 10.4 Eastmont @ Eisenhower (GK info)... 10.11 Wenatchee @ Eisenhower... 10.13 Sunnyside @ Eisenhower... 10.18 Moses Lake @ Davis (Davis goal)... 10.18 Wenatchee @ Sunnyside... 10.20 Eisenhower @ West Valley (GK Info)... 10.20 Moses Lake @ Wenatchee
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