Dp/R Edges East Valley

Prep soccer

Deer Park/Riverside’s Nicole Snyder scored at the 60-minute mark to give her team a 2-1 win over East Valley Tuesday in a loser-out Frontier League playoff soccer match at Deer Park.

The game was necessary because the girls teams split in their regular-season meetings.

Snyder, a junior, scored the unassisted goal when she picked up a loose ball near the East Valley goal, dribbled through three EV defenders and lofted a shot over the outstretched hands of Knights freshman goalkeeper Anita Heaton. The winning shot spoiled a good day for Heaton, whose eight saves included three difficult DP/R shots in the second half before the game-winning goal.

“It was good to see Nicole get a goal,” DP/R coach Brandt Houston said. “An ankle injury limited her play earlier. This is the first game she’s played a lot.”

Deer Park/Riverside struck first in the first half on another unassisted goal, this one by Katie Bowers less than 7 minutes into the game. East Valley, which had hoped to beat favored DP/R with a ball-control attack, evened the score on a rare fastbreak opportunity by freshman forward Alisha Smith at the 16-minute mark.

Deer Park/Riverside outshot East Valley 10-4 in the second half (after the Knights had been outshot 11-7 in the first half), creating good shots with crisp passing. DP/R missed on a number of opportunities, including two corner kicks in a 4-minute span in the second period.

“This wasn’t our best effort,” Houston said. “We got the goal that we needed, but not in the fashion I’d like to have it done.”

East Valley finished its season at 10-2-2. DP/R improved to 14-2-0. Deer Park/Riverside’s next playoff opponent will be West Valley of Yakima, the secondplace team from the Mid-Valley League that lost to Hanford Tuesday 2-0.

The game will be at Deer Park Saturday afternoon. The time has not been announced.