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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Southridge turns tables, gives Mt. Spokane the boot

The ending seemed almost inevitable, but that didn’t lessen the disappointment for the Mt. Spokane girls soccer team on Saturday afternoon.

On the verge of hanging on for overtime in their 3A quarterfinal match against Southridge, the Wildcats gave up a goal with 2 minutes left in regulation, losing 1-0 and watching their season end.

“It’s never easy, but there’s a lot to celebrate from our season,” coach Ryan Campanella said after the match at Spokane Falls Community College.

Indeed, the Wildcats can look back on a 15-4 season that included a win over defending 4A champion Central Valley, a runner-up finish in the Greater Spokane League and the 3A district and regional titles.

They won the regional title 11 days earlier on the same field and against the same Southridge team, 4-3, but Saturday’s match played out much differently. After an evenly-played physical first half, the Suns took over late in the match.

“They just kept coming at us and we really had a hard time keeping possession,” Campanella said. “They did a good job of keeping everything down at our end.”

“You can only defend so many corners and free kicks,” said Campanella, who watched his team get outshot 10 to 6 for the match by a Southridge team that was coming off a dominant 4-0 win over Bonney Lake in the first round of state.

Southridge had a dozen corner kicks, the most dangerous ones coming in the final 20 minutes. The Suns had two excellent scoring chances in the 63rd and 65th minutes, but Mt. Spokane goalkeeper Megan Nilsson came out of her box on both occasions and turned them for corners.

Nilsson did it again in the 77th minute, diving to her left to deflect a header off a cross.

The lone goal came when a Southridge cross landed in the middle of the box, bounced around and landed at the feet of midfielder Emily Dirham, who drove the ball sharply past Nilsson and into the net.

“Hopefully, these girls can see the bigger perspective of the whole season and the life lessons you learn along the way,” Campanella said.