Cheney High girls’ soccer coach Nels Radtke predicted that the Oct. 3 Great Northern League rematch between his team and West Valley would be different than the first encounter (Sept. 15) where they shutout the Eagles, 3-0 — and he was right.
The Lady Blackhawks lost to West Valley at home, 3-2.
“We just didn’t show up to play that day,” Radtke said. “From the start, we weren’t really in it. But I told the girls ‘it’s better to have this type of game in the regular season than in the playoffs when it counts.’ Hopefully we got this (loss) out of the way.”
With a healthy roster, West Valley took an early lead with goals in the seventh and 10th minutes. Cheney prevented the shutout with Madison O’Callaghan’s solo goal in the 30th minute to close the gap 2-1 before halftime.
“It was good for Madison to get that goal,” Radtke said. “She’s played well for us all season, but she hasn’t scored a lot. This gave her a good boost of confidence.”
West Valley added an insurance goal in the second half at the 46 minute mark. Emma Scott capped Cheney’s scoring with a goal at the 65th minute on a corner kick.
“It was a nice shot that made it to the back end,” Radtke said. “It was good for Emma to get that goal. It was her first high school goal.”
The Lady Blackhawks outshot West Valley 12-9 with Melissa Aris making six saves.
Cheney (5-2 GNL, 15 points, 8-2 overall), who is second in the league standings, wrapped up the second round of GNL play against first-place East Valley (7-0, 21 points, 8-2), Oct. 11. The Lady Knights handed the Blackhawks their first season loss, 1-0, on Sept. 22.
Radtke noted that in the first game, East Valley put a lot of pressure on the Blackhawks — more than what they were used to. He said part of his team’s focus leading up to the match was anticipating “that pressure and controlling the midfield.”
“When we got the ball they’d have two defenders on us, but if we play smart and know that pressure is coming, we should anticipate there are two (players) open,” Radtke said.
Radtke added that he has had some players who have been out sick.
Cheney travels to Pullman Oct. 13 to begin round three of league play against the Lady Greyhounds (0-6, 1-9). Two days later the Lady Blackhawks host Clarkston (5-4, 15 points, 5-4-1) on Senior Day.
Cheney is coming off 2-0 shutouts over Pullman (Sept. 27) and Clarkston (Sept. 29).
“If we beat East Valley and take care of the teams we need to like Pullman and Clarkston, we’ll be first in the league and get to host the playoffs,” Radtke said. “That’s huge for us because we’ve been knocked out of the first round in the last couple of years.”
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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