Cheney soccer wins Great Northern League championship

The Cheney High School soccer team continued their domination of the pitch on Tuesday, April 23, beating out Clarkston 5-1 and clinching the Great Northern League championship.

Three of those five goals were scored in the first half and two of them came courtesy of sophomore Dawson Heuett, one in the ninth minute and one in the 21st. The third came via sophomore Colton Hodgen in the 28th minute.

The Blackhawk focus during halftime was on keeping momentum, with the team shouting “Family!” in its huddle. And lose momentum they didn’t, keeping up a relentless offense that saw two more goals in the 47th and 52nd minute.

Cheney took 14 shots to Clarkston’s 10, with goalkeeper Trae Babcock making several impressive saves.

Tuesday’s win followed a pattern set by the two previous games. In a Tuesday, April 16, match against East Valley, the Blackhawks attempted 18 shots, three times more than the Knights. Four of those found the net, and Cheney defeated East Valley 4-0.

An explosive first half saw Cheney’s Hodgen earn the team its first goal almost immediately, assisted by sophomore Dawson Heuett in the first minute, while three minutes later Blackhawk senior Noah Schorzman landed a penalty kick. In the 14th minute, Cheney player Sam Fix delivered Cheney’s third goal of the game thanks to a Schorzman assist, and Heuett teamed up with Alex Petropolous for a fourth in the 33rd minute.

Against Pullman on Thursday, April 18, it was more of the same, with Cheney taking an early lead thanks to a sixth minute goal by Schorzman with a Luke Hemenway assist. That was quickly followed by a second goal in the 19th minute by sophomore Wesley Nicol, assisted by Fix, and Heuett delivered a third goal just ten minutes later.

An uneventful second half gave Cheney the win 3-0.

“We just beat one of the best teams in probably the state, and you’ve earned it,” head coach René Caro told the team in a post-championship huddle. “Celebrate today, and then it’s just seven more games.”

Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannen@cheneyfreepress.com.