Defense is key for Cards in soccer playoffs

The frustration that Medical Lake soccer head coach Zane Higgins had several weeks ago appears to be long gone.

He revels more in the notion of being in charge of the team very few foes want to face in the 1A playoffs. Five straight wins, including a huge season-ending double-overtime victory over Colville, and a quick start in the postseason have the Cardinals brimming with confidence.

"It looks to me like we're peaking at the right time, this is when we want to be doing it," Higgins said.

Forward Cody Bowman, who had just one goal in Northeast A League play prior to May 5, has since delivered not only a pair of scores, but game-winning goals in Medical Lake's 1-0 win over regular-season champion Colville (8-2 NEA, 9-2 overall), and the Cards' 5-0 triumph over Deer Park in the playoff opener last Saturday.

The No. 3 seeded Cardinals (6-4, 9-7) are still in a loser-out bracket through May 10 and a second-round match at Newport (7-3, 10-5). The winner plays tonight at 7 p.m. at Central Valley High School against either Colville or Lakeside (5-5, 6-8).

"We've been playing consistent," Higgins said.

That was one of the problems at the beginning of the year, Higgins explained. "We'd play a half of good soccer and cruddy soccer," he said. "Now we're starting to put it together, feel a little bit more confident and it shows on the field," he added.

Against Colville the teams took turns trying to make sure the contest never went into overtime but the goalkeepers were up to the task. Medical Lake's Sam Matt turned aside nine shots while Cyrus Butterfield made seven.

But with very little time remaining in the second overtime Bowman found himself deep, near the goal line in fact, where he converted Peter Hanson's free kick in the 89th minute to stun the visitors. Colville had defeated the pesky Cardinals 2-1 at home April 19.

"It looked like he was on the line or pretty darn close," Higgins said. "From what I could see was it was a long ball into the back post."

Two days later Bowman scored first, just two minutes into the match, in Medical Lake's playoff opener versus Deer Park. Nick Rosenbeck did the rest with three goals while Mark Jensen added the final tally in the second half.

While Medical Lake's offense stole the day, their defense was stout as well, allowing just four shots with Matt called upon for a single save.

But defense has been what has delivered the Cardinals to this point, Higgins said. In the second half of the NEA season Medical Lake has allowed just one goal.

"That's kind of been it, our defensive effort," Higgins said. "I'd probably take a strong defense over a strong offense."

The other factor fueling the surge is Medical Lake is at full strength and healthy, Higgins said.

"We've had Steven Robo back the last couple of games," Higgins said. "He's been a huge help for us, he's a very strong player."

Sam Matt had missed some games in the middle of the season and "We've had a few nagging injuries here and there," Higgins said. "We're getting at full strength which is a good time for it."

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.