Blackhawks split in Great Northern soccer action

See a photo gallery from the event here.

The Cheney boys soccer team is having a difficult time escaping the shootout - at least as far as its season series with Great Northern League opponent Pullman High School is concerned.

The Blackhawks and Greyhounds have faced off three times, with all three contests needing to be decided by un-timed penalty kicks. Of its total 13 games so far this season, Cheney has gone to the shootout four times.

April 18, the Blackhawks and Greyhounds again played to a tie after 80 minutes of regulation, followed by two scoreless five-minute overtime sessions that resulted in deciding the game by penalty kicks - won by Pullman 4-3 and giving the home team a 3-2 win.

All of the regulation scoring came in the first half, with Cheney getting goals from Sam Fix, assisted by Bas Holland, and Kelby Holland. Neither team scored in the second half.

Cheney out shot Pullman 10-8, with goalkeeper Dalton Mauzay making three saves.

Thursday, the Blackhawks battled a much improved Clarkston team to a scoreless tie through 80 minutes of regulation and eight minutes of overtime before Noah Prophet, assisted by Alex Torres, found the net for a score and 1-0 win.

Cheney had 10 shots on goal to the Bantams' two.

The Blackhawks currently sit in third place in the GNL standings at 6-4 and 8-5 overall. Head coach Morgan Hartanov's squad has two games remaining: Tuesday, April 25 at West Valley (0-10, 3-10) and Monday, May 1 at home against league-leaders East Valley (8-1, 10-2).

A win last Tuesday at Pullman (7-3, 9-5) would have given Cheney the season series 2-1 and helped their chances at securing the GNL's No. 2 playoff seed and home games until a possible championship game. The Blackhawks can still accomplish this, but need wins in their final two contests along with two losses by the Greyhounds against Clarkston and West Valley.

If nothing changes in the current standings, Cheney would still host an opening-round, loser-out playoff game on May 4, likely against Clarkston.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].

See a photo gallery from the event here.