Blackhawks down East Valley, Clarkston to reach title

The Cheney High boys' soccer team solved the riddle that was East Valley and found a way to win their second straight playoff game.

Four minutes into the first overtime, the third-seeded Knights positioned for a free kick by bringing all of their players up onto Cheney's side of the pitch. The kick missed, and went to the feet of the Blackhawks' Dakota Daniels, who possessed the loose ball about 30 yards outside the Knights goal and dribbled past the defensive line.

Daniels made it a long ways before a Knights defender caught him and leg-hooked him from behind short of the 18-yard box. Midfielder Kelby Holland was called upon to execute the free kick, and the sophomore hooked a 25-yard shot into the right side of the goal to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 win in the District 7 elimination game Saturday, May 16, in Cheney.

Blackhawks head coach Mark Kiver couldn't find enough superlatives Sunday evening to describe Holland's game-winner.

"He couldn't have drawn it up any better," Kiver said. "Nobody was going to stop that shot. It added an exclamation point on who wanted to win that game."

Cheney mounted most of the offensive pressure in the game, out shooting the Knights 8-3. In the 15th minute, a team effort led to a set play near the East Valley goal, with Caleb Prophet crossing the ball to Spencer Yeager who put it in the net for a 1-0 lead.

But in the second half, the Knights got more physical, getting the equalizer in the 52nd minute as Tristan Gresch converted James Russell's corner kick into a score. Cheney kept the Knights offense at bay, with goalkeeper Kameron Galm collecting two saves, to force the overtime frame.

"We got battered and bruised early and often," Kiver said. "But the guys worked together really well to sort things out."

Thursday, the Blackhawks notched their first elimination-game win by knocking off fifth-seed Clarkston, 3-0 at home. Cheney dictated the flow and tempo of the game in the first half, getting a pointblank goal from Caleb Prophet four minutes into the contest.

Noah Prophet possessed a pass from Oliver Smith and sent it home for a second goal from inside the 6-yard box in the 24th minute, and Cruz Galm completed the scoring, heading in another Smith service from inside the 6-yard box in the 28th minute.

Cheney out shot the Bantams 17-0, but seemed to lose some focus in the second half against an out-manned Clarkston team.

Saturday's win sent Cheney into Tuesday's district championship at Pullman against the top-seeded Greyhounds. It will be the fourth time the two teams have faced each other this season, with Cheney owning a 2-1 edge including an early season win in Pullman.

The winner earns a home game against the Central Washington Athletic Conference's No. 3 team, while the loser hits the road to face the CWAC's No. 2 seed. Even though it would be nice to have a home game, Kiver said he has a couple banged up players, and wouldn't be afraid to rest them against the Greyhounds if it meant having them healthy for an important CWAC game to reach the state tournament.

"If we have to travel, we'll travel to wherever we need to go to play the game," Kiver said. "We're just happy to be playing right now."

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