G-Prep Stops Highlanders To Secure State Playoff Spot
In host Gonzaga Prep’s 2-0 boys soccer triumph over Shadle Park Saturday, a hockey game nearly erupted.
G-Prep’s Joe Ascolese was given a yellow card, Shadle’s Matt Kennedy yapped it up a little with the Bullpups’ Jed Druffel, and referee Ernesto Leveque threatened to give a card to G-Prep’s Tim Bishop.
“I’ll give you a yellow card,” Leveque told Bishop. “This is not Hollywood.”
There was no acting in this one, though. Both of the teams were hungry for a state playoff berth, and, in the end, G-Prep (14-3) came out on top in the Just A Kick District 8 soccer match.
Some said Shadle (8-7) was an upstart that emerged from nowhere. But G-Prep coach Christian Birrer knew better.
“They were probably the most consistent team in the league this year,” Birrer said of Shadle. “There was a lot of up-and-down play, us included. They may have finished in fourth place, but they were in every game.”
The difference on Saturday was the Bullpups’ ability to capitalize on chances - and Shadle’s inability.
In the first 7 minutes, the Highlanders saw the ball bounce around the G-Prep goal twice. One shot sailed to the left, the other, Prep goalie Ryan Wittstruck smothered.
“We just didn’t put those chances away,” said Shadle coach Scott Saunders. “You can’t blow opportunities like that against Prep.”
After a scoreless first half, Druffel ended the drought at 53 minutes when he took a pass from Nick Byrd and punched the ball past Shadle goalie Scott Peterson.
At 78 minutes, Jacob Bettesworth added some insurance with a goal after receiving a sweet pass from Ascolese.
Sweeper Joe Schwehr came up big for the Prep defense. At 6-foot-2, Schwehr won numerous balls in the air. On the ground, he denied a potential breakaway to Kennedy just before Bettesworth’s goal.
G-Prep will face league champ Mead at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mead Junior High. The winner hosts a first-round state playoff game against the second seed out of the Big Nine Conference. The loser travels to Big Nine No. 2.
, DataTimes MEMO: Changed in the Spokane edition.