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 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...
4A PLAYOFFS (GSL-MCC) - Wednesday, October 26 #####
Lewis & Clark 0-1 (1-4 SO) Hanford: Both goalkeepers made eight saves in the contest with Kelsee Winston recording her seventh clean sheet for Hanford and Jessie Quacquarini representing the Tigers with her first shutout of the season and the Tigers' second - the only other one coming versus Rogers. Quacquarini and the defense's efforts went for naught, though, as they went to the spot in the shootout. Rebekah Reason, who thought she had a winner with two minutes later only to be ruled offside, scored for the Tigers in the tiebreaker, but her lone tally was not enough as Hanford's first four shooters - Jessica Maher, Ellie Harlow, Anabel Lin and Taylor Matheny - converted. It was only the second time Hanford had been shutout, and the first time for the Tigers.
Gonzaga Prep 0-5 Chiawana: US U16 international Summer Yates dominated the contest with four goals and an assist, sending the defending state champions into the losers side of the bracket in convincing fashion. Yates scored 10 minutes in with a rocketed shot and then beat three defenders in the 22nd minute to net her second. Gonzaga stopped the bleeding for a span of about 50 minutes, but Ruthie Edrington found her again in the 71st and she made it four goals three minutes later, giving her 29 for the season despite having spent several weeks abroad playing for the US. Yates wasn't quite done, though, finding Edrington for the final tally with under two minutes left. Alisha Ramos recorded the shutout, her seventh in official play.
Richland 0-4 Central Valley: Kaelyn Barnes scored 15 minutes in on a ball from Natlie Cabiad, but the visiting Bombers made things interesting in the first half as the two went to the break separated by one. That quickly ended though with Anna Hilbert finding Maggie Ames only one minute into the second half. Ames struck again in the 59th and Barnes joined her with a brace on the night with a last-minute tally in the 79th to cap the game. AJ Crooks finished the night with the shutout, her first complete game clean sheet of the campaign.
Walla Walla 1-7 Mead: Katie Greene gave Mead control of the match in a hurry, scoring in the third and fourth minutes of the match. Walla Walla kept the Panthers from making the hole bigger the rest of the half, but the first four minutes of the second half was like deja vu. Olivia Sloan struck in the opening minute and then Greene found Kendal Houston to push the lead to four in the 44th. Alyssa Ortiz put the Blue Devils on the board in the 48th, but Greene answered with two goals in the next six minutes to finish with four goals and one assist on the night, and push her goal tally to 12 for the campaign. Natalie Martell capped the night with a goal in the 65th.
3A PLAYOFFS (GSL-MCC) - Wednesday, October 26 #####
Kennewick 1-3 North Central: The Lions jumped out in front first at Joe Albi Stadium in a contest that was a back-and-forth affair for the first half-hour. As halftime approached Klarissa Barajas caught goalkeeper Sarah Manor a bit too far out of goal, launching a ball from at least 35 yards that soared over her reach for the opening goal in the 37th minute.
The contest was still back-and-forth in the second half, but it was the Indians that were able to find the finishing touch. Kaylee Mellgren struck in the 55th minute and Kylee Devore fed Morgan Smith seven minutes later to put NC in front. It was the first goals of the campaign for both. The Lions made it dramatic to the end, but Mellgren found Quincy McDeid for the final insurance tally that proved to only come seconds before the final whistle.
Shadle Park 0-7 Kamiakin: The Braves rolled to the victory with Britney Donais scoring 10 minutes in and Izzy Conover following it up nine minutes later. Aaliya Valladares scored two minutes before the break for a three goal margin going into the second half. Kahlea Sullivan struck just two minutes in and Donais converted a penalty for her second in the 45th. Valladares netted her second in the 56th and Paige Savage capped things off in the 71st. Donais and Valladares also had assists in the match while Grace Wilbur and Alyssa Humphrey combined for the shutout, Kamiakin's eighth of the campaign.
CBBN REGULAR SEASON - Thursday, October 27 #####
Davis 1-4 West Valley: Jordan Karnes put the Rams in front in the 11th minute, but Davis answered in the 31st with a goal from Alyza Palma to even it up. Kendra Hanses, though, restored the lead just four minutes later and Carli Short scored with four minutes remaining in the half on a ball from Karnes to make it a two goal margin. Karnes set up another just a minute into the second half, finding Lilly Fetzer as the Rams cruised to their perfect 12-0 season, making them the lone unbeaten 4A or 3A side east of the Cascades.
Sunnyside 1-4 Moses Lake: The Grizzlies got on the board in the 23rd minute and Morgan Duim did well in goal to keep the Chiefs at bay in the first half, but the hosts finally broke through when Abby Rathbun found Denali Knowles for the equalizer five minutes before the break. Rathbun put the Chiefs in front in the 50th and Morgan Skone doubled the advantage six minutes later. Knowles netted her second with two minutes left to leave no double.
Eisenhower 0-4 Eastmont: Maddy Chandler scored in the opening minute of play and set up Kara Pinard eight minutes later to give the Wildcats quick control of the contest. Maria Mendoza scored in the 26th and Alyssa Konarek made it four in the 34th.
2A PLAYOFFS (GNL & CWAC) - Thursday, October 27 #####
West Valley 3-1 Cheney: The Blackhawks won their first meeting and finished as the second seed, but the Eagles won their last two meetings and kept the run going against Cheney with the postseason win. Baylee Trejo opened the scoring the Eagles in the 14th minute with Kaitlin Teeters evening things up in the 24th. Chelsea Koker scored her eighth goal of the campaign four minutes before the break to give the visitors the lead and Akylah Beitey provided some insurance in the 51st to send the Eagles through to the second round.
Pullman 0-5 Clarkston: Winless Pullman just could not stop Taylen Wohl and Makinzie Packwood. Packwood set up Wohl six minutes in and again in the 24th before the two reversed roles two minutes later to make it a three goal margin for halftime. Packwood scored a second goal four minutes in the second half to put her tally to 18 for the campaign before setting up Wohl's final tally in a hat-trick performance in the 63rd. Katelyn Bittle registered her fourth shutout.
Ephrata 2-1 OT Ellensburg: Haley Cantu put the Bulldogs in front six minutes before the break, but Myra Spencer evened things up on a penalty in the 54th. The two were in a stalemate the rest of the way with Courtney Richardson making four saves in the match for Ephrata and Brooklyn Koss making nine stops for Ellensburg before Spencer found Katelyn Ostrowski with less than two minutes left in overtime to give the Tigers the win moments before a shootout would be needed.
Othello 0-3 Selah: The Vikings won a non-league preseason meeting, but when the two met during the campaign, it was Othello coming away victorious 2-0 on the road two weeks ago. The Vikings avenged the home loss with Lilly Kikendall blanking the Huskies with five saves while Madison Brownell scored twice for the win. She scored in the 33rd minute and Roni Rasmussen doubled it two minutes before the break. Brownell put it out of reach in the 57th with her second.
1A PLAYOFFS (NEA) - Thursday, October 27 #####
Freeman 2-1 (5-4 SO) Lakeside: Unlike their upset of Deer Park where the Scotties found an equalizer on a free kick, Freeman took the initial lead at Spokane Falls CC beneath the lights when Claire Love struck in the 10th minute on a ball from Chloe Thosath. They took the lead well into the second half before Kayleigh Talbott scored in the 65th. The two went to overtime for the third time this year. The Scotties won the first in a shootout but lost the second in extra time. Freeman, which was 2-1 in the tiebreaker during the regular season showed no nerves from the spot for the second time this week, making all five to move onto the regional crossovers as the district champion.
STANDINGS & STATS #####
COMING UP #####
Saturday, October 29
GNL 2A Playoffs - West Valley @ Clarkston 12:00
GSL/MCC 3A Playoffs - North Central @ Southridge 12:00
CBBN 4A Playoffs - Sunnyside @ Moses Lake 1:00
CBBN 4A Playoffs - Eastmont @ Davis 1:00
GSL/MCC 4A Playoffs - Central Valley @ Hanford 1:00
GSL/MCC 4A Playoffs - Walla Walla @ Gonzaga Prep 1:00
GSL/MCC 4A Playoffs - Chiawana @ Mead (SFCC) 2:00
GSL/MCC 4A Playoffs - Lewis & Clark @ Richland 4:00
GSL/MCC 3A Playoffs - Kamiakin @ Mt Spokane (SFCC) 4:00
PLAYOFF 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 (Wenatchee scoring)... 10.20 Riverside @ Freeman... 10.25 Moses Lake @ Eisenhower (GK / assists info)... 10.25 Eastmont @ Wenatchee (GK info)... 10.27 Eisenhower @ Eastmont (GK info)... 10.27 Sunnyside @ Moses Lake (Sunnyside scorer)
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