Mead Earns A 1-0 Victory Over G-Prep

GSL soccer

Had you turned away for just a moment and missed the only goal scored in the Greater Spokane League soccer game at Mead Junior High Monday night, it would have been hard to tell who won by the postgame interviews.

“We did some of the things we wanted to do, but we didn’t really do what we wanted to do,” Mead coach Dick Cullen said. “We didn’t attack the way we wanted to attack and I think it was available to us.”

Gonzaga Prep coach Christian Birrer said, “We’ve finally settled on a lineup. We feel confident with the way we’re playing. We feel we’re playing well, especially defensively.”

Then Birrer gave it away.

“I just think we’ve had some bad luck,” he said after the 1-0 loss, the third straight game in which the Bullpups have failed to score. “We played well, we can play better. We’ve just had some bad luck.”

Mead’s goal in the 76th minute before a good crowd was almost all luck. After a throw-in on the Prep end, Mead’s Ben Brodsky lofted a kick toward the goal and Bullpup keeper Ryan Wittstruck went up to meet it. He couldn’t come down with it and Dustin Lungo was left alone to bump it in.

In other GSL matches, University whipped Rogers 10-0, Shadle Park dumped North Central 4-0 and Lewis and Clark edged Central Valley 4-3.

“We’ve been gunning for them the whole time,” Mead senior center back Mike Lupton said. “We have five or six goals and one of them was to beat Prep. We know a lot of guys on the team because we play club ball together. It’s one of those best-friend rivalries … it’s always a challenge.”

Mead (3-0 in league, 8-1 overall) and Prep (1-2, 7-3) took turns pressuring each other, but there were few good scoring chances. There were only 11 shots and four saves in the game.

“We’re definitely not the offensive threat we were in the past, but give us a couple more games,” Birrer said. “We’ve been in this position before. If we keep playing as hard as we have in the last three games, and as well, we’ll be a threat. We’ll be there.”

Mead beat Prep 3-2 in a shootout and 2-0 last year before the Bullpups beat the Panthers in the district playoffs and went on to finish second at state.

“Their pressure was really intense,” Cullen said. “They’re a tough team collectively and individually they have some tough people. We had some shakey moments, but overall I thought the defense played well.”

Kris Walters and Matt Kennedy assisted on each other’s goal 2 minutes apart early in the second half to key Shadle Park’s win over NC (2-2, 6-4). Ryan Vane put the Highlanders (3-1, 5-4) on the board 10 minutes in and Jake Person added a late goal.

Kelly Tifft and freshman Grant Falco scored two goals apiece as U-Hi beat Rogers.

Tifft scored the first two goals as the Titans (2-1, 4-3) took a 3-0 lead at the half. Keeper Neil Pierson faced 37 shots and made 22 saves for the Pirates (0-4, 0-10).

Lewis and Clark edged CV when the Bears knocked the ball into their own goal with 10 minutes to play.

The Bears (1-3, 3-7) led 2-1 in the first half and made it 3-1 early in the second before the Tigers (3-1, 4-5) rallied.

, DataTimes