Gonzaga Prep rallies to set up Richland rematch

The stage is set for the Gonzaga Prep girls soccer team to avenge last year’s state quarterfinal loss to top-ranked Richland, and getting there hasn’t been an easy task.

The Bullpups (15-1) opened the State 4A tournament Saturday with a 2-1 comeback home win over Big Nine Conference regular season champion Kamiakin (15-3), scoring two late second-half goals.

Richland defeated visiting University 5-0 in another state opener, to set up Saturday’s match against G-Prep at Bomber Field in Richland.

G-Prep faced an early challenge, losing junior defender Molly Cronin. Kamiakin also did its job on defense, shutting down junior forward Sarah Dean, the Bullpups’ leading scorer.

Kamiakin, which G-Prep defeated 4-1 in last year’s state opener, scored first in the 30th minute when freshman forward Whitney Brannan snuck the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Elise Kuhar-Pitters, marking the end to nine consecutive shutout victories for the sophomore.

But the Braves’ fluke goal only seemed to bring out the best in the Bullpups. Sophomore defender Kao Packwood-Chandler led the defense while Kuhar-Pitters played a perfect second half in goal.

“We’re a second-half team,” Kuhar-Pitters said, “and we knew we needed to come out strong and pick up our game after the first half.”

The Bullpups also made changes on offense, moving senior midfielder Alex Butler to forward and leaving the defense short one person.

“We were just going for it,” G-Prep head coach Christian Birrer said. “We figured we would rather lose 2-0 then not give it a try.”

The move paid off, as freshman midfielder Sophie Johnson back-heeled a shot past Braves goalkeeper Heather Davis for the Bullpups’ first goal at the 66-minute mark. Davis had a 10-game shutout streak during the Big Nine regular season.

Two minutes later, Kamiakin finally heard from Dean when she broke away from two Braves’ defenders and placed the winning goal in the lower-right corner from 10 yards out.

The Bullpups face defending state champion Richland at 1 p.m. Saturday in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, which they lost 2-0. Coach Birrer said the secret to defeating Richland will be defense, backed by Kuhar-Pitters in goal.

“Our defense is strong and Elise is one of the biggest reasons we have the success we have,” Birrer said. “If we come out strong and defend our goal, we have a good chance at getting Richland.”

Richland 5, University 0

Justine Jones returned to the Bombers’ lineup after missing most of the season with a leg fracture and scored a goal as Richland advanced with the shutout over the Titans (13-6).

The Bombers (16-1) went on a scoring tear in the second half, scoring four goals in a 10-minute span.

“Richland has a lot of quickness and speed, and they closed down effectively against us today. They never gave us a chance to get a good look,” said Titans coach Kevin Houston.