In the midst of a five-game losing streak, new Cheney girls’ soccer head coach Nels Radtke thinks he sees signs of a turnaround of fortune. The Lady Hawks played with intensity and spirit Saturday against visiting Pullman, despite surrendering two, second half goals in the 2-0 loss to the Great Northern League-leading (6-0, 9-1, 18 points) Greyhounds.
“We fought hard and that’s a big thing for us,” Radtke said.
For the second straight game the Lady Hawks didn’t fall victim to a bugaboo that has plagued them most of the season, falling behind by giving up early goals in each half. Neither Pullman nor Cheney scored in the first 40 minutes, but in the 58th minute the Greyhounds’ Laura Guido found the back of the net and 11 minutes later teammate Becky Birchett scored an insurance goal in the win.
Neither team had many shots on goal, five each, with Cheney goalkeeper Montana Andrews making three saves.
“We had some nice opportunities,” Radtke said. “If we could’ve put one away early, it would’ve changed the game.”
It was a somewhat similar story Thursday at home against Clarkston (4-2, 5-2, third 11 points). Again, neither team scored in an evenly played first half, but this time it was Cheney striking first blood.
In the 58th minute, forward Chae Brown tracked down a through ball over the Lady Bantams defense and essentially kicked it between the legs of the charging goalkeeper for the score. But again the Lady Hawks had a bit of a let down and an improved Clarkston squad capitalized with a goal in the 62nd minute.
The score stayed tied through regulation and both five-minute overtime periods, culminating in a shootout won by Clarkston 5-4 for the 2-1 win. Cheney out shot Clarkston 7-5 with Andrews making four saves, along with a stop in the shootout.
The week opened with a 4-2 Cheney loss at West Valley (5-1, 7-1, second 15 points) as the Lady Eagles’ goals in the second and 22nd minutes of the first half, and one minute into the second half proved to be enough, adding the fourth score in the 50th minute. Brown again accounted for all of Cheney’s scoring, getting a goal in the 29th minute on an assist from Katy McNair and in the 63rd minute with an assist from Jaisa Holland.
West Valley out shot Cheney 14-4 with Andrews making eight saves.
Radtke said the fact the Lady Hawks didn’t give up any early goals against Clarkston and Pullman is a good sign. What the team needs now are a couple more scorers to take the load off Brown, who is getting double- and sometimes triple-marked.
“We need somebody to step up,” Radtke said. “We have the potential, but we’re not there yet.”
Cheney (2-4, 3-6, fifth 7 points) has an opportunity this week to break their losing streak and get some momentum going. The Lady Hawks have home games with Deer Park (1-5, 2-7 sixth 3 points) Tuesday and last-place Colville (0-6, 1-7 0 points) Thursday. Both of Cheney’s league wins came against the two northern schools and Radtke sees it as an opportunity for his team, which is still missing two players who could provide the Lady Hawks some help on the field, Morgan Thueson and Ashlyn Martin.
“I think they’re (Deer Park, Colville) coming at a good time for us,” Radtke said.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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