Chase Reidt’s late goal lifts Central Valley boys over Davis

YAKIMA – With less than four minutes left in the Central Valley Bears’ State 4A boys soccer first-round match with Davis on Tuesday, Chase Reidt knew that if he could find a sliver of space in the midst of a packed-in Pirates defense, JD Hauenstein would find a way to get him the ball.

Hauenstein, the senior captain, did just that, threading a pass to Reidt that the senior midfielder converted into a game-winning goal, propelling the Bears into the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win.

The Bears (15-3) will host Pasco on Saturday at Spokane Falls Community College at 1 p.m. Pasco routed Mount Rainier 4-0 to advance. The win for Central Valley is the Bears’ third over Davis in state tournament play since 2012.

Reidt said after the match that he couldn’t see the goal because of the congestion caused by the Pirate defenders. “I thought I saw the post,” Reidt said with a smile. “I knew if I could get open, we’d have a chance.”

The same defensive congestion that hampered Reidt before he got the ball seemed to cause problems for Davis sophomore keeper Cuauhtemoc Munguia. Reidt made a feint to his left before slapping the shot past Munguia, who had several players obstructing his view.

Central Valley had plenty of early chances to break open the taut contest. After Hauenstein open the scoring in the 19th minute, capitalizing on a Davis defensive breakdown to blast one past Pirates’ starting goalkeeper Luis Birrueta, the Bears hit the crossbar twice and sailed shots over the crossbar on two other occasions – just in the first half.

Davis equalized just a short time later when a long clearing kick from Birrueta found speedy Luis Valle deep on the right side of the Bears defense. Valle was taken down by a Bears defender resulting in a penalty kick that Raul Abundiz converted.