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

Central Valley boys advance to 4A soccer semifinals; LC eliminated by Wenatchee

The atmosphere was electric, all right.

The stakes – berths in next week’s 4A semifinals – were already high enough for the boys soccer teams and their fans from Central Valley and Lewis and Clark.

Hundreds more fans, from Pasco and Wenatchee, joined them Saturday at Spokane Falls Community College – mostly under the grandstands during an epic 2½-hour lightning delay.

The storms merely heightened the drama of a doubleheader in which both quarterfinal matches came down to the wire. In the end, LC fell 2-1 to Wenatchee while CV beat Pasco 1-0 to return to the final four.

“We feel like that’s where we belong,” said CV coach Andres Monrroy, whose Bears will face Wenatchee on Friday at Sparks Stadim in Puyallup.

Two-time defending champion Snohomish will face Tahoma in the other semifinal.

Central Valley 1, Pasco 0: Thanks to what Monrroy called “our best defensive game so far,” the Bears are in the state semifinals for the second straight year.

Defense wasn’t just about the defenders against a speedy Pasco squad. “From the attackers to the midfield, this was about defense today,” Monrroy said.

Indeed, the Bulldogs got few good looks at goal all afternoon, as most would-be shots were smothered at the top of the box.

The Bears (16-3) got the only goal they would need in the 15th minute. A free kick led to a series of passes, the last one a back-heel from R. J. Stretch to Jake Levine. From 15 yards out, Levine fired into the right corner of the goal and keeper Francisco Moreno couldn’t corral the ball before it crossed the goal line.

“It was everything you could ask for,” said Levine, a junior who’s playing his first season on varsity. “He (Stretch) is the kind of guy who could make that shot himself, but that was pretty unselfish of him.”

“And then we win 1-0, so to get that goal is as exciting as anything I’ve ever gone through,” Levine said.

“That goal set the tone for a well-rounded game,” said Monrroy, whose team beat Pasco 1-0 in last year’s quarterfinals.

Pasco (17-3) had the better of play for much of the first half, but Stretch almost had a goal in the 32nd minute when his 20-yard shot was deflected by a Pasco defender and sailed inches wide of the left post.

CV’s midfield asserted itself in the second half, shutting down some Pasco attacks before they could begin.

Two minutes after intermission, Levine found Chase Reidt, whose 15-yarder was just right of the post.

With the Bears eight minutes from victory, officials halted the match when multiple lightning flashes danced on the southern horizon. The match resumed 2½ hours later.

Wenatchee 2, Lewis and Clark 1: After falling behind twice, the Tigers had to reinvent their formula for success.

It almost worked, but LC couldn’t find the net in the final minutes as Wenatchee advanced to the semifinals.

In three straight 1-0 wins in regionals and state play, the Tigers had found their niche in defense. But their comfort level was shaken midway through the first half when the Panthers’ Jason Shepard scored on a pass from sophomore standout Luis Navarette.

LC (18-4) answered five minutes later, when Bailey Rosenau streaked down the right sideline and crossed to Jackson Snyder.

“That was a beautiful pass from Bailey … I felt good about the shot, and that helped us build some momentum,” said Snyder, a sophomore midfielder.

That momentum shifted in a hurry just seconds after intermission, as Wenatchee’s Miguel Viramontes scored on a 10-yard tap.

“That was tough – we didn’t expect that,” Snyder said.

The Tigers responded by pushing forward, and almost were rewarded against a Wenatchee scheme that put all 11 players on defense.

In the 76th minute, LC’s Henry Smaldon just missed a shot following a corner kick. A minute later, Smaldon’s shot on goal went straight to Wenatchee keeper Alex Calderilla.

LC missed two golden chances early in the first half. Eight yards from an open goal, Jackson pushed the ball over the crossbar; two minutes later, Jared Mehaffey was denied from 3 yards away by keeper Rafael Jimenez.

“At the beginning we were creating a lot of chances,” LC coach Mica Lamb said. “We probably deserved one early.”