Cheney drops squeaker

In playoff soccer, opportunities seem to be few and far between.

That was the case Saturday afternoon at Gonzaga Prep when Cedarcrest and Cheney squared off in the quarterfinals of the State 2A girls tournament.

So it was no surprise it was a mistake that made the difference in the visitors from Duvall’s 1-0 victory. Senior forward Brooke Chapman put the Red Wolves into the Final Four next weekend at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood when her hard shot blasted through the hands of Cheney sophomore keeper Nora Ifft in the 61st minute.

“In the playoffs one mistake can mean the end of the season,” Blackhawks coach Robyn Smith said. “We played good defense, we couldn’t break through on offense.”

The Red Wolves (15-5-1) controlled the midfield and put more pressure on the Blackhawks (15-5), but until Chapman broke through they had only had one good chance despite a 15-4 advantage in shots. Senior forward Rachel Kevin got open in front of the net in the first half, but her shot went wide left.

Chapman didn’t miss her chance when a Cheney defender had the ball squirt off her ankle to the right as she tried to clear. Chapman gathered it in and pushed toward the end line before unleashing a left-footed shot to the far corner that the diving Ifft couldn’t gather.

“We put a lot of pressure on them,” Chapman said after her ninth goal of the season. “We like to go deep and cross, but I was close to the goal so I just shot it. It went a little too close to the middle (of the net).”

Cheney only forced Cedarcrest junior keeper Kori Butterfield to make one save and it was a dandy. Junior forward Kellie Zakrzewski gathered in a long pass down the right sideline and angled toward the goal before ripping a shot from 15 yards that a diving Butterfield smothered 17 minutes before halftime.

“They played with three attacking midfielders,” Smith said. “They won a lot of air balls, a lot of 50-50 balls. We just couldn’t counter that.”

Cedarcrest had seven corner kicks. Cheney had just one and that came in the closing seconds, long after the game clock had been stopped at 2 minutes. The result of the kick was a header over the goal and the referee called the match.

The Red Wolves will play East Valley (Yakima) at noon Friday.