Opportunistic Titans hold off Mt. Spokane

Good teams find ways to win regardless of the circumstances.

University was just good enough Wednesday in its 3-2 escape of Mt. Spokane to remain unbeaten as the Greater Spokane League girls soccer leader.

While the Titans were on the defensive against the aggressive Wildcats for much of the afternoon at Mt. Spokane, they also came up with big goals at opportune times and never trailed.

“We had little difficulties with connecting our passes today, for sure,” said U-Hi coach Kevin Houston. “They (Mt. Spokane) probably came out to redeem last year’s playoff game. They definitely had an agenda today and played very well.”

The Titans (10-0, 8-0, 23 points) maintained a one-point lead over Gonzaga Prep (7-1), which won 2-0 at Shadle Park (6-3).

Mt. Spokane (6-3, 5-3) controlled tempo over a seemingly lethargic U-Hi early in the first half by beating the Titans to every loose ball.

“I felt we had a great practice yesterday and were all looking forward to this game,” said U-Hi’s Tonya Schnibbe, who recorded her 11th GSL goal after returning from a basketball recruiting trip to Ogden, Utah, and giving an oral commitment to play at Weber State. “When everyone stepped on the bus, everyone was dead. I knew I was tired, probably the most tired I’ve been.”

Then, like a bolt from the blue at the 17-minute mark, sophomore midfielder Abby Goss took a pass from Rachel Lopez and lobbed a 20-yard kick over the defense and into the right side of the net.

Ten minutes later, veteran midfielder Alex Marquard found herself alone in front of the net and Lopez found Marquard, whose nifty push shot off the outside of her right foot found open goal.

But the lead wasn’t comfortable, because Mt. Spokane turned up the heat again. Freshman Averi Hallman broke free down the right side, dribbling past Titans defenders, and directed a pass to Amanda Mollison, who scored from out front at 35 minutes to halve the lead.

“They came out and basically won all the 50-50 balls,” said Houston, “and won every air ball that I saw in the first half.”

Mt. Spokane opened the second half with a flurry inside the goal box, but keeper Allison Seymour made a save in traffic. There followed another close-in attempt 2 minutes later that failed.

At the 50-minute mark, Schnibbe corralled a loose ball on the right side of the field and sliced another long crossing shot into the left corner of the goal for a 3-1 lead.

The Titans, including the hustling Goss, found their legs and kept the home team at bay until 10 minutes remained. That was when Mt. Spokane broke through again and Tiara Pittman made a wide-open shot.

The Wildcats kept things interesting with their runs until the end, but U-Hi hung on.

Mt. Spokane first-year coach Ryan Campanella was not disappointed with the effort of his team. The Wildcats’ three GSL losses – to the Titans, G-Prep and third-place Ferris – have been by a total of four goals.

In other matches, G-Prep scored midway through the first half at Shadle when Tara Cronin dribbled wide and played a through ball to Caitlin Davis, who finished to the back of the post. Cronin converted a chip shot early in the second half on a cross from the left side by Erica Hart. … Mead (8-2, 6-2) moved into fourth place with a 3-1 win over visiting North Central (2-8, 1-7). Alyshah Smith had an assist on the winning goal and added insurance with 2 minutes left. … Seven different players scored goals as Lewis and Clark (4-7, 3-5) posted a 7-0 win over Clarkston (0-12, 0-9) at Hart Field. Jenny Lenz scored in the first half and had two assists in the second. … Ferris (7-2, 7-1) won 6-0 at Rogers (0-9, 0-8) to remain two points out of the GSL lead. The Saxons scored three goals in the first 9 minutes, Aly Spear getting hers a minute into the match and adding two assists. … Cheney’s Yvette Strampe got open on a breakout pass from Molly McClure and scored at the fourth minute of overtime as the Blackhawks (5-5, 3-5) won at home, 3-2 over West Valley (3-8, 1-7). … Home-standing Central Valley (6-5-1, 5-3) beat East Valley (6-4, 5-3) for the first time in three years, 2-1. Defender Bailey Simpson scored an unassisted goal that proved to be the winner 5 minutes into the second half.