It was a fantastic finish to the GSL season on Friday with four teams vying for the league championship and postseason seeding. Even though some games on paper should have been easy, they were not and everyone saw a dramatic day in which every game finished with a 2-1 scoreline that included two shootouts, two comebacks an overtime golden goal and a few upsets.
Things were a little less dramatic on the final day of the MCC Friday, but several seeds were settled and the postseason kicks off today with the opening round games for 3A and 4A.
Upcoming Playoff Games
Monday, April 30
3A - Shadle Park @ Southridge 4:00
4A - Hanford @ Chiawana 6:00
4A - University @ Central Valley 6:00
Wednesday, May 2
3A - TBD (SP/SOU) @ Mt Spokane (Joe Albi) 4:00
3A - Rogers @ Kamiakin 4:00
4A - Gonzaga Prep @ Richland 5:00
4A - TBD (UHI/CV) @ Pasco 5:30
4A - TBD (HAN/CHI) @ Lewis & Clark (SFCC) 5:30
4A - Walla Walla @ Ferris (SFCC) 8:00
Saturday, May 5
3A - TBD (MTSPO/SP/SOU) @ Kennewick 4:00
3A - TBD (ROG/KAM) @ North Central (SFCC) 12:30
Greater Spokane League
One dramatic game from the week prior started things off on Thursday as Central Valley and Rogers convened to finish their contested result with the Bears converting the protested overtime penalty kick in a two-second match replay. The goal negated what was a surprising shootout win for the Pirates, but Rogers would get another shot at a 4A opponent on Friday, surprising Mead via the tiebreaker after another 1-1 affair. On a historical note, INWsn could not find a match day from the past eight seasons that saw every game decided by one goal (or tiebreaker).
4.26 Central Valley 2-1 (OT) Rogers - REPLAY RESULT
Whistle. Kick. Whistle. It was a span of about two seconds and all the intrigue from the span of nearly a week came to an end. Noah Dreves put his penalty into the lower left corner and CV took the overtime victory in the resumption of their disputed match. Replay Info [+]
CV: Devin Hauenstein 56
R: Ihor Kruhlyi 58
CV: Noah Dreves (pen) 88
April 27
Central Valley 1-2 Shadle Park
A Highlander counter in the 14th netted their first good chance of the game and Pablo Garcia Vega slipped the ball past the keeper at the edge of the box for the opener (12:30 on LIVE LOOK IN). They were not finished. A free kick deep in their own corner in the 51st was knocked down at midfield and with a couple quick passes put Devin McGowan through for what would prove to be the game-winner (6:28 on LIVE LOOK IN). Noah Dreves would convert a penalty in the 76th, but the Bears were unable to tie it up and were left in fourth.
SP: Pablo Garcia Vega (Gage Smith) 14
SP: Devin McGowan (Chase Thames) 51
CV: Noah Dreves (pen) 76
Lewis & Clark 2-1 Gonzaga Prep
In a head-to-head battle for first, the Bullpups needed a win and some help from University to grab the title. After a scoreless first half things tilted in their favor when Luke Allen two minutes into the second half. Gabe Keller, however, guided the Tigers to the regular season title with a pair of goals in the comeback. He equalized in the 59th and then notched the winner with six minutes left when Lewis Barbe brought down a long diagonal cross, tucking his shot from the left side just inside the far post (3:45 on LIVE LOOK IN). The Tigers needed only to win to claim the GSL title based on the tiebreaker with Ferris.
GP: Luke Allen (Parker Manthei) 42
LC: Gabe Keller (Jared Mehaffey) 59
LC: Keller (Lewis Barbe) 74
Ferris 2-1 (OT) University
The match went nearly the distance in a scoreless stalemate before it broke out into a dramatic finish. Cole Dobson put the Titans on the board with six minutes left and managed to end Caden Martin's five-game scoring streak, but Ty Spink found the equalizer in the 79th to force overtime. And in less than a minute the Saxons had a winner from Liam Kelly, but the news for Ferris from elsewhere would be disappointing as the Saxons - tied in points with LC - were on the wrong side of the tiebreaker with a 1-0 loss to the Tigers this season.
U: Cole Dobson (Diego Garcia) 74
F: Ty Spink 79
F: Liam Kelly (Alex Holmes) 81
Rogers 2-1 (SO) Mead
An equalizer from Ihor Kruhlyi and another shootout win for the Pirates proved huge as the Highlanders' surprise win over CV would have left Rogers in last had they not gotten the positive result.
M: Eli Eldridge (Adam Nevdahl) 30
R: Ihor Kruhlyi 38
Shootout: 6-4
North Central 1-2 (SO) Mt Spokane
The Wildcats could not catch NC for the top 3A spot, but the match was an important one going into the playoffs as they came in with just two wins.
MS: Garren Koller (Jared Schnug) 29
NC: Marcus Abdel Malek 41
Shootout: 7-6
Mid-Columbia Conference
The only thing up in the air going into the final regular season matchday was the seeding for third through fifth for the 4A postseason with Walla Walla looking to lock up a first round bye. Walla Walla grabbed that third seed with a narrow win over Kennewick.
In other contests Richland topped Hanford to finish just one win back of champion Pasco, which easily dispatched winless Southridge, and Kamiakin would register a surprising 5-0 win over Chiawana. The Braves had lost a 4-3 thriller to the Riverhawks earlier in the season.
Kennewick 1-2 Walla Walla
Southridge 0-7 Pasco
Chiawana 0-5 Kamiakin
Hanford 0-2 Richland
Great Northern League / Northeast A League
Pullman had already secured the top seed for the postseason in the GNL, but Clarkston fired a warning shot that the Bantams are up for a challenge in the playoffs by handing the Greyhounds their second loss. East Valley, meanwhile, slipped by rival West Valley in a one-goal affair. One game remains on Monday with the postseason kicking off Thursday for the GNL, which will again see teams play crossovers after the district tourney.
In the NEA Medical Lake posted a road win against third-pace Colville to cap the regular season and Deer Park topped Newport.
April 26
GNL - Pullman 1-4 Clarkston
C: Steve Baiye 25
C: Chase Blank 38
C: Feleke 51
C: Theodore Baiye 56
P: Cousins 78
GNL - East Valley 1-0 West Valley
EV: Deiby Bernardez (Bowsky) 21
NEA - Medical Lake 2-0 Colville
ML: Nick Rosenbeck 28
ML: Rosenbeck 66
Shutout: Jones
NEA - Deer Park 2-1 Newport
N: Hill (Kade Zorica) 35
DP: Antonio Velazquez (Ian Eickenmeyer) 55
DP: Diego Vasquez (Eickenmeyer) 78
NEA - Northwest Christian 2-6 Riverside
R: Cody Zienhert (Schumacher) 1
R: Zienhert (Schumacher) 17
R: Zienhert (Kelley) 33
NC: Bowman 34
NC: Bowman 38
R: Zienhert 55
R: Supanchick 65
R: Schumacher 74
April 28
GNL - East Valley 2-1 (OT) Cheney
EV: Deiby Bernardez (Gresch) 8
C: Own Goal 68
EV: Bernardez (Gresch) 83
--- Sior - Mauzay
Remaining GNL Games
4.30 West Valley @ Pullman 4:00
STANDINGS, BRACKETS & STATS
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Note: The leagues are combined solely to simplify everything into one list instead of four and not for league-to-league comparison due to varying games played and quality of competition. PARENTS... note that several games and details are missing (particularly in GNL/NEA/MCC). I do my best to request from coaches, but often without reply. Be sure to nudge your coach about making sure your teams are fully covered!!!
Stats Being Updated - Available later this week
(Waiting to hear back from EV, PUL, COL, LAK, MED LK, RIV, NWC for missing items so feel free to give those coaches a nudge to help out).
PHOTO GALLERIES
Great News: INWsn upgraded its equipment this winter, which means the photos will be better than ever before. Look for more pics of evening games and more importantly, order better quality prints and digital copies of photos! Browse All Galleries Here [+] https://inwpics.smugmug.com/browse
Recent Additions:
4.25 Mt Spokane v Shadle Park
4.25 Rogers v North Central
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