Cheney Storm FC U14 girls reach new soccer heights

It's been a long time coming, and has taken a lot of work, but the Cheney Storm FC U14 girls soccer team has done something no other Storm girls team has done.

The Storm U14 are the first Storm team to reach Washington State Premier League status. The team, composed almost entirely of Cheney players ranging from seventh-grade to high school freshmen, defeated a team from Wenatchee in a Dec. 13 promotion relegation game that earned them the right to move up to the Premier League.

"It was a little bit of an upset," Storm head coach Brian Scott said of the game with the Wenatchee Fire. "They're a super, super talented team."

The Fire came into the game ranked No. 3 in the state, compared with Cheney's 33rd ranking. Cheney earned the right to challenge the Fire for a WPSL spot, which Scott said is the top league of six in the Puget Sound Premier League, by virtue of their record in the Classic 1 Division, finishing the season with seven wins, three draws and two losses.

The Fire took a 1-0 lead in the game played at Spokane's Dwight Merkel Sports Complex, and appeared on their way to victory when the Storm's Jocelyn Cone tied the game on a breakaway goal with about four minutes remaining in regulation. In the overtime period, Cone again broke away for a score that gave Cheney the 2-1 win and facilitated their move to the top of U14 soccer divisions in the state.

Scott said half of the Storm team has been playing together since the first grade, with about half the players being eighth-graders and most of the remaining seventh-graders. One player, Riley Klass, played for the Cheney High School Lady Blackhawks varsity team this past fall as a freshman.

Scott said they have made a conscious effort to keep this group of girls together, rather than have some leave to play for other area club soccer teams, as has often happened in the past. The Storm U14 team worked its way up the ladder through three divisions of the PSPL, and will now be playing other premier teams around the state once the season begins in spring, and will have a chance to qualify for national competition should they win the league.

Scott said it's taken a lot of hard work, practice and dedication on the part of the players and their parents to reach this level of competition. And, it would appear it might be only the beginning of good things for the Lady Blackhawks program.

"The vision is to keep this team together for the future of CHS girls soccer," Scott said. "It won't stop here either as there is another U12 girls team right behind them on a similar path."

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.