Blackhawks blanked in season opener against Ferris

As season openers go, there were good things and bad things coming out of the Cheney High School boys' soccer game last Friday against Ferris at Spokane's Joe Albi Stadium.

The bad was the Blackhawks lost, with Ferris getting a pair of second-half goals from Curt McCune en route to a 4-0 win. The Saxons out shot Cheney 11-2, with Blackhawks goalkeeper Austin Walker making four saves while Trevor Walker had one.

The good news for Cheney head coach Mark Kiver is that his team played aggressively and physically, moving the ball well throughout the non-league friendly. The Blackhawks need to create more offensively, attacking and capitalizing on possessions close to the goal.

"We made mistakes, and they're correctable mistakes," Kiver said.

Cheney won't have to wait too long to put any corrections into action as they kickoff a stretch of five games in seven days. The Blackhawks open the first round of league play today (March 19) by hosting East Valley, and follow that with a trip to Pullman Saturday to take on last year's Great Northern League second-place Greyhounds.

Cheney steps out of league play to host the Greater Spokane League's Lewis and Clark Tigers on Monday, but gets back into GNL action by hosting Clarkston Tuesday, and traveling to West Valley to face the Eagles next Thursday.

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