Lady Blackhawks get first goal, win in 2015 season

Cheney High's girls soccer team notched its first win last week in dramatic fashion.

The Lady Blackhawks battled visiting Greater Spokane League 3A Shadle Park to a 1-1 tie through 80 minutes of regulation, and then hit all five of their free kicks to edge the Highlanders 5-4 in a shootout for the win.

The performance impressed Cheney head coach Nels Radtke, who felt not only did his team play well during regulation, but stepped up to hit all five shootout shots, something the Lady Blackhawks had only previously practiced just one time this season.

"It was good to get that first one," Radtke said of the win.

Cheney showed they have some abilities to play "small ball" by making multiple passes and working the ball from side to side, and sometimes front to back. Radtke said a good example of this was Cheney's goal in the 22nd minute where several players touched the ball in Shadle's part of the field before Reba Eaton found Leile Holland, who then sent a pass to Riley Klauss that the sophomore turned on towards the goal and fired a shot into the net from just outside the 18-yard box.

Shadle (2-3) tied the game in the 71st minute on a long, left-to-right shot that floated just above the hands of Cheney goalkeeper Nicole Rowley. Reba Eaton, Klauss and Holland all hit shots in the shootout, as did Gabby Nguyen and Sydney Eaton.

It was a breakthrough moment for the Lady Blackhawks who came very close to notching wins in their other two games last week. Cheney finally got on the scoreboard in a 2-1 home loss to Clarkston Sept. 15, with Reba Eaton connecting in the 71st minute as the Lady Blackhawks had several scoring opportunities late in the game.

Monday, Cheney kept GSL 4A Lewis and Clark (4-1) out of the net for 48 minutes before Sophie Doneen capitalized on a Cheney defensive breakdown and scored what would prove to be the game's only goal off a thru-ball in the 49th minute for the 1-0 win. The Lady Blackhawks again had opportunities late, including a shot from Reba Eaton that ricocheted off the post in the last minute.

Radtke said the team is continuing to grow in their confidence, especially offensively. The Lady Blackhawks were outshot by Clarkston 12-4, but turned around to out shoot Shadle 12-11 and LC 12-4.

Cheney's young defense is also playing with confidence, choosing to play the ball back to Rowley more than knocking the ball out of bounds to counter quick offensive build ups. Radtke said that's a sign of Rowley - who missed all of last year with a knee injury - is beginning to get comfortable in goal, regaining her timing.

Rowley made a total of 27 saves in Cheney's last three games.

The Lady Blackhawks (0-2, 1-4) have wrapped up the non-league portion of their schedule and now begin focusing on making some noise in the GNL. They had two chances to do that this week, traveling to West Valley (3-0, 3-2) to face the Eagles Tuesday, Sept. 22, and then returning home to take on Pullman (0-2, 2-3) today, Sept. 24.

Radtke sees both games as winnable, even against an experienced West Valley team but certainly against the young Greyhounds.

"Hopefully it will be a release where we can get it out and score a bunch of goals, have some nice plays and make things happen," Radtke said.

Radtke also had praise for the Lady Blackhawks junior varsity team, which despite only being able to practice with 5-6 players because of low numbers, is playing with focus and a good attitude, something he sees as positive for both squads.

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