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...
GSL #####
Central Valley 1-0 Gonzaga Prep: The showdown of the two unbeaten teams atop the table proved to be more of a stalemate on the night with neither side really getting many quality chances on goal. The host Bullpups had the better of possession in the attacking in for most of the game but were unable to convert it into chances and when they did Jenna Lauer made the saves she needed to keep it scoreless.
Twelve minutes into the second half Maggie Ames found Anna Hilbert running across the top of the box. Hilbert fired a shot inside the right post for the go-ahead goal, her first tally of the GSL season arguably being the Bears' most important. Prep had a golden chance to pull even minutes later from the penalty spot after Lauer knocked down Chelsea Le in the box, but Darby Doyle sent it wide left. The Bullpups had a couple other chances late in the contest, but were just unable to finish them off as CV held on for the victory to claim sole possession of first.GSOC: Central Valley at Gonzaga Prep; CV grabs the lead midway through second half 1-0 @GSL_Scores pic.twitter.com/f5Y3S4PZmm— Gerald Barnhart (@INWsoccernews) October 6, 2016
North Central 2-3 Mt Spokane: In another battle for first - for the 3A classification - the Wildcats found themselves in a hole at home and were unable to rally for the win or maintain a draw to keep the top 3A spot in the GSL.
Ryley Warren struck for a pair of goals back-to-back in the 21st and 23rd minutes to give the visiting Indians a what they thought was a firm hold on the contest. Mt Spokane, however, fought back with Hope Zimmerer finding Emily Williams at the half-hour mark and then quickly connecting with Ally Gockley just three minutes later to even the match up.
The two sides remained deadlocked at two each and looked headed to overtime when Kaylee Mellgren, who set up the opening goal, found Madison Dershem for the game-winning strike in the final minute of regulation to give North Central the victory, moving them ahead of the Wildcats in the table by a point thanks to one of Mt Spokane's victories being a shootout win. North Central also ended a two-game scoreless streak and more than doubled their GSL goal total from two to five.
Lewis & Clark 4-2 University: In a meeting between teams looking to be in the hunt for a top three spot, University grabbed a two goal lead just 12 minutes into the match with Kelsey Crosby scoring three minutes in and Amanda Gerard netting the second.
The Titans took the lead to the break, but after the intermission Grace Ellis, Bekah Reason and Camryn Gardner put on a show for the Tigers. Reason found Ellis to pull within one nine minutes into the period and Ellis put things on level terms in the 61st on a ball from Camryn Gardner. Both Ellis strikes were from long-range. Ellis turned provider in the 77th to give Lewis & Clark the late lead by finding Gardner, who created confusion in the University defense for the winner. Reason capped the game with a strike in the final minute.
Rogers 1-6 Ferris: The Saxons scored early and often before letting up on the gas pedal against the winless Pirates. Yacine Bitibale netted in the opening minute with Madi Vonbrethorst tallying two minutes later. Alexis Murphy scored the next to for a four goal lead after nine minutes. Katie Uphus connected with Jillian Calkins in the 13th and then scored herself in the 38th to round things out for Ferris. Seven minutes into the second half Samantha Vensel scored the first goal of the GSL campaign for the Pirates.
Mead 8-0 Shadle Park: Coming off their disappointing loss to Lewis and Clark, the Panthers posted another dominating performance against a 3A school, finishing their tour of the foursome with an 26-0 aggregate scoreline.
Claire Neder scored two of the four first half goals with Cheris Brown and Katie Greene providing the others. She went on to complete the hat-trick in the second half with Kaylyn Thompson also scoring twice. Kylee Maldonado rounded out the scoring.
STANDINGS & STATS #####
COMING UP #####
Thursday, October 6
CBBN - Eisenhower @ Davis 4:00
NEA - Colville @ Newport 4:00
NEA - Medical Lake @ Riverside 4:00
NEA - Freeman @ Lakeside 4:00
GNL - East Valley @ West Valley 4:00
GNL - Pullman @ Clarkston 5:00
CBBN - Wenatchee @ West Valley 7:00
CBBN - Eastmont @ Moses Lake 7:00
MCC - Pasco @ Hanford 7:00
MCC - Walla Walla @ Chiawana 7:00
MCC - Kamiakin @ Kennewick 7:00
MCC - Richland @ Southridge 7:00
Friday, October 7
GSL - Rogers @ Shadle Park 4:00
Missing Data... If you have scoring / goalkeeping information for the following games, please email to gbarnsoccer-at-gmail or message INWsoccernews on Facebook (: 9.6 Pasco @ Kamiakin (GK info)... 9.6 Kennewick @ Richland (all info)... 9.8 Walla Walla @ Kennewick (1st KHS goal)... 9.13 Southridge @ Richland... 9.13 All CBBN games except Eastmont scorers... 9.15 Eisenhower @ Wenatchee... 9.17 Pasco @ Kennewick... 9.20 Southridge @ Walla Walla (Suns goals)... 9.20 Chiawana @ Pasco (GK info)... 9.20 Eisenhower @ Sunnyside... 9.22 Sunnyside @ Wenatchee... 9.27 West Valley @ Eisenhower (Ike goal)... 9.27 Eastmont @ Sunnyside (GK info)... 9.27 Walla Walla @ Pasco... 9.27 Kamiakin @ Southridge... 9.29 Sunnyside @ Davis... 9.29 Eisenhower @ Moses Lake... 10.4 Eastmont @ Eisenhower (GK info)... 10.4 Moses Lake @ Sunnyside (Score and Info)
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