Lady Blackhawks seniors are presented to fans after conclusion of Cheney's Senior Day game with West Valley, Oct. 23. From left to right are Hailey Dixon, Elizabeth Fix, Sarah Fix, Amanda Denny, Kendyl Cone and Samantha Fitzner.
The Cheney High girls' soccer team enters postseason play this week as winners of three of their final five games.
The Lady Blackhawks earned a split of their two games last week, giving up three second half goals in a 3-0 loss to Great Northern League regular-season champion and top seed West Valley on Senior Day last Thursday. Cheney rebounded on Saturday at Pullman, scoring three first half goals en route to a 4-1 win over the winless Greyhounds.
"I know I said I thought we could win four of our last five games, but three out of five is pretty good," head coach Nels Radtke said.
The Lady Blackhawks were the aggressor in a scoreless first half last Thursday against West Valley, defensively denying the Eagles good shot attempts and mounting several offensive surges, missing three shots on goal by midway through the first 40 minutes.
About 10 minutes into the second half, things began to change. Forward Kendyl Cone got behind the West Valley back line on a breakaway, but had her right-to-left shot at the goal go high.
A couple minutes later, goalkeeper Paige Lewis came out of the goal box to challenge a West Valley player who got behind Cheney's defenders, blocking the initial shot that was then cleared from in front of the open net by defender Elizabeth Fix as a charging Eagles player closed in. West Valley then appeared to score, but an offside call disallowed the goal.
On the play, Lewis suffered a bloody nose and had to leave the game, leaving forward/midfielder Reba Eaton to trade her numbered jersey for the colored one of a goalkeeper. In the 56th minute, a West Valley offensive build up in front of the net eventually led to their first goal by Jenna Sullens off a corner kick.
Three minutes later Sullens struck again, this time on a difficult to defend shot off a free kick from 35-40 yards out near the right sideline. West Valley added another goal in the 64th minute after Lewis returned.
West Valley out shot Cheney 12-5 with Lewis making seven saves and Eaton two.
Radtke said they set a goal to be more attack-minded Saturday at Pullman and it paid off. Cone scored an unassisted goal in the ninth minute and Eaton made it 2-0 seven minutes later with her own unassisted goal.
Cone scored her second goal in the 40th minute right before the half. The Greyhounds got on the board in the 54th minute on a goal by Anne Mari Petrino.
The goal came in a 10-minute stretch where Radtke said the Lady Blackhawks weren't playing well, enabling Petrino to get a one-on-one look against Lewis. Radtke made some line up changes, pulling Cone back into the midfield and pushing freshman Rylie Klauss up forward, tightening up the defensive response.
Jasmine McCauley added an unassisted insurance goal for Cheney in the 61st minute. The Lady Blackhawks out shot Pullman 11-6 with Lewis making five saves.
Cheney ended the regular season with a 4-8 mark in the GNL, fourth place, and 4-12 overall. They travel to Clarkston today, Oct. 30, to take on the third-place Bantams (7-5, 10-5) in an elimination-round playoff game, with the winner to face second-seeded East Valley (9-3, 10-3).
The Lady Blackhawks lost all three of their games with Clarkston this season, but were not at full strength and health. Radtke said that isn't the case the fourth time around, and with a couple tactical changes, feels the Lady Blackhawks have a shot at the upset.
"I think we're in a good spot, I really do," Radtke said. "We don't match up well physically with them, but if we play our game, we could beat them."
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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