Cheney 'flood gates' open for 9-0 soccer win

Cheney High girls soccer head coach Nels Radtke had a good feeling early on in last Saturday's non-league game with West Plains rival Medical Lake.

Both teams battled each other pretty evenly through the first 30 minutes of the game on the Lady Blackhawks pitch. Cheney settled for outside shots at the start, with Cardinals goalkeeper Annastasia Hurt-Moran making several key saves.

That changed in the 31st minute when Emma Evans connected with Kaitlin Teeters for a goal. What followed confirmed Radtke's early thoughts.

"I had a feeling that once we got the first one, then the flood gates would open up," Radtke said in an email.

Open they did as the Lady Blackhawks scored twice before halftime, and six times in the final 40 minutes for a 9-0 win.

Evans followed up Teeters score with her own goal two minutes later, assisted by Lexi VanHorne. Cheney made it 3-0 right before the half on Lelie Holland's goal, assisted by Teeters.

Abby Kasparek had two goals and an assist in the second half with Holland collecting her second goal as Cheney scored three times in the first 20 minutes to blow the game open. Riley Klauss had a goal and an assist as did VanHorne. Emma Scott's goal came in the 64th minute, and Katarina Smith assisted VanHorne on her score.

Cheney out shot Medical Lake 17-2 with Lady Blackhawks goalkeeper Melissa Aris collecting a pair of saves.

Cheney was to have originally opened their Great Northern League schedule last Thursday at home against Pullman, but the game was canceled due to smoky conditions. That game is scheduled to be made up on Monday, Oct. 23, becoming the Lady Blackhawks final regular season game in the process.

Cheney instead opened the GNL season on the road, traveling to Clarkston to face the Bantams on Tuesday. They return home to take on West Valley today (Sept. 14).

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