Kamiakin Trips CV Quick Start Trips Bears; Mead Edges Ike

State 4A soccer

Wind, cold, field, opponent.

None of that mattered to the Central Valley girls soccer team Saturday afternoon.

That’s because the Bears didn’t bring their A game to the State 4A playoff match at Sig T. Hansen Field.

The result was a lackluster 3-0 loss to the Kamiakin Braves in the first-round game.

“We did not show up and play,” CV coach Craig Griffiths said. “We were just not as intense as these girls are capable of playing.”

The Bears were outshot 20-10 and never tested Kamiakin keepers Jennifer Wehr and Brenda Flodin.

The same can’t be said for Mead, which went to Yakima and defeated Eisenhower 1-0.

The Panthers (13-3) play host to Kamiakin (15-4) at 6 p.m. Friday at Albi Stadium.

“It was a huge win for our team defensively,” said Mead coach Travis Hanson, whose team won the Greater Spokane League. “We talked to the defenders about their two strikers who were dangerous with a lot of speed and that we’d be fine if we could just shut their two stars down and that’s exactly what we did.”

Kamiakin coach Chris Erickson said Central Valley looked tense in the early stages “and, we had the wind.”

CV (10-8) won the opening coin flip and elected to play into the wind. The plan was to keep the game close and then attack.

That backfired when Kamiakin pounded in three quick goals.

Julie Bates started the onslaught by bending a corner kick into the goal 9 minutes in. Just a minute later, Kate Woodworth dribbled the ball down the left side, cut inside the penalty box and put a low shot into the far corner.

Defender Maureen Wishkoski got the final goal when her free kick from 30 yards went through keeper Jody Scott’s hands just under the crossbar.

“I don’t think the wind affected the game that much,” Erickson said. “It helped on the free kick but she was smart where she put it. If anything made a difference it was the size of the field.”

Erickson, who knew nothing about the Bears, had forgotten the CV field was smaller than usual playing surfaces.

“You can’t play boot ball,” Erickson said. “You have to keep the ball on the ground and rely on your passing game.”

Even with the wind, which died a little, the Bears had trouble attacking.

“The first half really put us on our heels,” Griffiths said. “Kamiakin took advantage and we didn’t recover.”

Mead 1, Eisenhower 0

Freshman Jennifer Sherwood scored her third game-winner of the season. She took a cross from Stasha King and volleyed it in from 17 yards out 2-1/2 minutes in.