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).
WOMEN ##############
Yakima Valley 0 :: 1 North Idaho
Sterling Healy (Sandpoint, ID) put the Cardinals on the board in the 11th minute courtesy of Jocelyn Cook-Cox (Spokane, WA) and Tiegan Horton (Dalton Gardens, ID) made four saves to maintain the shutout. Addy Eckstrom (Yakima, WA) made 10 stops at the other end to keep the game close, but the Yaks were unable to find an equalizer.
Columbia Basin 0 :: 1 Spokane
Kelsey Kerker (Helena, MT) was having a career night with 14 saves for the Hawks and keeping Spokane off the board. It looked like they might escape with a surprising draw, but contest ended with a dramatic, though unusual, finish. Maddy Boyd (Spokane, WA) beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation and fed Erica Simpson (Post Falls, ID) for the finish, but for some reason the referee blew for a foul and awarded a penalty instead of allowing the goal. Simpson converted with three minutes left in the contest for the victory. Molly Webster made four saves for the shutout.
Blue Mountain 0 :: 10 Walla Walla
Tate Kautzky (Richland, WA) and Kailee Hipke (Richland, WA) each tallied a goal and an assist in the opening 14 minutes as the Warriors posted another drubbing of Blue Mountain. Hannah Templeton (Richland, WA) struck for two goals and Jessica Garcia (Eltopia, WA), Haley Berryman (Ephrata, WA), Madi Woody (Nampa, ID), Emily Thorton (Benton City, WA) and Nicole Macaluso (Kuna, ID) rounded out the scoring. Jeanette Alvarado (Moses Lake, WA) recorded the shutout.
Coming Up...
Wednesday, October 19
Columbia Basin @ North Idaho 1:00
Yakima Valley @ Walla Walla 1:00
Blue Mountain @ Treasure Valley 2:00
Spokane @ Wenatchee Valley 2:00
Saturday, October 22
Blue Mountain @ Columbia Basin 12:00
Walla Walla @ North Idaho 12:00
Wenatchee Valley @ Yakima Valley 12:00
Treasure Valley @ Spokane 12:00
MEN ##############
Saturday, October 15
North Idaho 2 :: 1 Treasure Valley
Kade Murphree (Coeur d'Alene, ID) set up a pair of first half goals that proved to be enough for the victory, finding Jose Perez (Weiser, ID) 22 minutes in and Irvin Angulo (Caldwell, ID) in the final moments of the half. George Sanchez (Pasco, WA) scored for the Chukars in the second half, but the goal came too late in the 85th to mount a full rally.
Columbia Basin 0 :: 1 Spokane
Deadlocked at zeros, the game came to the final minutes and looked headed for a draw when the deciding goal, just as had happened for the women earlier, came. With two minutes left Jared Davis (Shadow MFT) found defender Kelly Kyllo (Spokane, WA / Shadow MFT) for the match winner. Raymond Ruano (Shadow MFT) made three saves in the shutout performance.
Sunday, October 16
Walla Walla 1 :: 3 Wenatchee Valley
The hosts took the lead in the 33rd minute on a goal from Lenin Guzman (Connell, WA), who set up Cristian Talavera's (Brewster, WA) strike in the 68th minute to double the advantage. It proved to be the winner with Dan Mende (Chubbuck, ID) scoring for the Warriors in the 75th and Dylan Avey (Wenatchee, WA) adding some insurance in the dying moments.
Coming Up...
Wednesday, October 19
Treasure Valley @ Walla Walla 3:15
Columbia Basin @ North Idaho 3:15
Spokane @ Wenatchee Valley 4:15
Saturday, October 22
Walla Walla @ North Idaho 2:15
Wenatchee Valley @ Columbia Basin 2:15
Treasure Valley @ Spokane 2:15
STATS ##############
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