Outburst helps EV rout North Central
A flurry of late goals cured 70 minutes of doubt in East Valley’s 5-0 victory over North Central during a match between 3A upper-division Greater Spokane League boys soccer foes on Friday at East Valley.
But some of the luster was already gone when the Indians took on the league leaders an important man short.
“We were missing one of our key players, James Matern,” said NC coach Tim Cox, “and weren’t able to make many substitutions. Our guys got pretty tired.”
Matern, a freshman midfield standout, has been in Costa Rica playing with the Region IV U.S. Olympic Development Team.
After giving up a goal early in the match, the Indians (5-3) battled the Knights (8-0) to a standoff until the final 12 minutes when Matern’s absence was acutely felt.
“He was their best player, from what I understand,” said EV coach Jeff Rose.
Within a 4-minute span, the Knights scored three goals to turn a close contest into a statistical breather.
Until then, Rose expressed concern.
“I was a bit worried,” he said. “They gave us all they could handle. When it was 1-0 there were a couple of close fouls that could have gone either way.”
But Rose was also thankful for the competition in preparation for Monday’s first-place showdown at home against Ferris (7-1).
It is the second of four successive tough opponents standing between the Knights and a repeat league championship. Next week, EV is at third-place Cheney (6-2) and Lewis and Clark (5-3).
Early against NC, it looked as if EV would have its way. The contest was just more than a minute old when the Knights caught the Indians in defensive confusion.
Jeremy Jacobs found a wide-open Cole Abramson for the easy score.
“We got caught sleeping,” said Cox. “Other than that, we played pretty solid and had our chances.”
Neither team would score for the next 66 minutes of the 80-minute game. Both goalkeepers, EV’s Josh Peck and NC’s Zach Saugen, were impenetrable and the defenses did their job on ball.
But then, the fancy footwork of midfielder Ben Funkhouser, whose ability to glide through defensive seams is uncanny, produced. He took a pass from Matt Schneidmiller and a hard left-to-right shot from the top of the 18-yard box went into the far side of the goal.
“Every day for the last two years Ben does something amazing,” said Rose.
That play took the steam out of NC. Abramson, who had misfired on a couple of earlier chances, notched his 10th GSL score on a penalty kick at 72 minutes.
The Knights added two more two minutes apart.
“Cole is such an intense guy, the more upset he gets the better he plays,” said Rose.
Rose also lauded Peck and defender Josh Polello, whom he called “nails.”
“We hadn’t played a tough team since Mead,” said Rose. “This was good for us right before we play Ferris.”
“In other matches, Joe Hatcher scored in the second overtime as Ferris escaped visiting Mt. Spokane 1-0 in a prelude to Monday’s first-place match with the Knights. The Wildcats had a breakaway with time expiring in regulation, but a sprawling keeper D.J. Bray made the save on a shot at the far post. Hatcher’s score came off a long throw-in from Galen Brooks through the face of the goal that bounced and was headed home. … LC moved into fifth place with an upset 2-0 home victory over Central Valley (6-2) at Hart Field. Forrest Gilles scored right after halftime and Matt Hurst scored from about 35 yards out late for insurance. CV was without its two forwards, Jay Vela (suspension) and Josh Antles (injury). Between them they have 14 GSL goals. … Seven different players scored in Cheney’s 8-0 win over visiting Clarkston (1-7). Mitch Weller scored his ninth and 10th goals for the third-place Blackhawks. … David Luden’s first-half goal that went through the legs of Rogers’ goalkeeper, stood up in West Valley’s (1-7) 1-0 victory over the Pirates (0-8). … Mead (7-1) outshot host Shadle Park (2-6) and moved into a fourth-place tie with its 3-1 victory. The Panthers broke a 1-all halftime tie on Jason Hamer’s goal. Andy Stulc’s second assist to Mike Shriver sealed the win.