RED-HOT GOALIE

Karina Carpenter sees red.

The West Valley sophomore is a red-hot goalkeeper, on Saturday turning in her fourth consecutive game without allowing a goal, sparking her teammates to 1-0 victory over rival Cheney and a berth in Friday’s state Class 2A high school soccer semifinal against Burlington-Edison.

But Carpenter actually sees red, thanks to a pair of red-tinted contact lenses.

“I started wearing them last year for club soccer,” she said. “It actually helps me see the ball better. It puts a pink tinge on everything and actually puts a trail on the ball and anything else that moves.”

Plus, it should be pointed out, they give her an almost sinister glare as she looks out from her goal box.

“Well, there’s that, too,” she laughs.

In the playoffs for the second straight season and the second time in school history, the Eagles have more going for them than a goalkeeper’s glare.

“My defense is playing so well right now,” she said. “I am so proud of the way we’re playing together right now. I think the difference is that we decided at the beginning of the season that we were going to make a run in the playoffs this year.”

“They believe in one another and they have confidence in each other,” West Valley coach Shelli Totten said. “They trust that their teammates will be there to make the play.

“Karina is playing very well right now. She trusts the way her defense plays in front of her, and they trust her to make the plays behind them.”

To reach the state semifinals, the Eagles had to deal with their rival Cheney three times – in addition to their home-and-home regular season meetings. Cheney swept the two regular-season meetings and rolled to a 4-1 victory Oct. 27 to claim the Great Northern League’s No. 1 seed going into the Eastern 2A Regional tournament.

That game marks the last time an opponent has scored on Carpenter during regulation play or in overtime.

The keeper made nine saves and blanked Pullman, 2-0, to earn a fourth shot at the Blackhawks, then made DeeDee Garbe’s goal in the 12th minute stand up against Cheney, 1-0, to claim the No. 1 seed out of the Eastern Region into the state playoffs.

Carpenter turned the same trick against Prosser in the opening state round, making Kayla Courchaine’s long-distance goal in the 16th minute stand up against the Mustangs, 1-0, at West Valley to earn the Eagles a berth in the state quarterfinals – their fifth and final meeting with Cheney.

“It’s different playing Cheney,” Carpenter said. “We’ve played them so many times and they’ve had so much success against us that we just feel we owe them. It’s about time someone knocked them off.”

The Blackhawks threw everything at Carpenter and the Eagles’ defense through regulation and through an extra overtime period. While the Blackhawks were unable to find the back of the West Valley net, neither could the Eagles dent freshman goalkeeper Nora Ifft.

“When we got to the shootout, Cheney sent out the four players I play with on the Spokane Shadow,” Carpenter explained. “They take shots against me all the time and they know how I play in goal. And all four of them scored.”

Ifft came up with a crucial save in the shootout, meaning that Carpenter needed to make a save in the fifth round or the season was over.

“One of my coaches with the Shadow gave me some advice on penalty kicks and shootouts,” she explained. “He told me to just take them one at a time. I told myself that I just needed to find a way to make the stop. I needed to do it for my teammates.”

She did, and after seven shooters in overtime, West Valley had won the shootout 6-5 and had a date in Class 2A’s Final Four.

To prepare for the semifinal, the Eagles practice Tuesday and Wednesday at Gonzaga Prep to accustom themselves to playing on artificial turf.

“For some of our players this will be the first time they’ve ever played on turf,” Carpenter said. “It’s not a big adjustment. The ball is a little faster on turf and the ball bounces a little higher. And you don’t get bad bounces. I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal – I think a couple practices will be enough to get us used to playing on it.”

Carpenter said the team is relieved to be finished with Cheney, but still expects the competition to be tough.

“I think the competition is just going to be good, solid Class 2A soccer teams,” she said.