Cheney wins district with 2nd win over EV

There wasn’t a particular surprise in Cheney beating East Valley for the District 8 3A boys soccer title, because the Blackhawks handed EV its only previous loss.

Maybe there was, though, in the manner of doing so, as Cheney dominated possession, scoring chances and finishing as the Blackhawks routed the Knights 4-1 Tuesday at Spokane Falls Community College.

After beating EV (12-2) 3-2 in overtime on April 19, Cheney (13-4) put this one away early in the second half.

“I’d say we just played our game,” said Cheney midfielder Jesse Retan, a big part of the Blackhawks’ control of the middle of the field. “Our skill level is very high – it’s just putting it together, and I think today we were all working really hard together and it just gave us that extra push.”

It started early for Cheney, as the Blackhawks forced four corner kicks in the first 13 minutes and finally capitalized on an opportunity in the 18th minute when a pair of sophomores hooked up.

Nathan Lewis found Mitch Weller slashing into the box, and Weller deposited a header inside the far post past Knights keeper Josh Peck.

Before the end of the half, the Blackhawks struck again.

In the 38th minute, Jess Donnerberg, a reserve senior forward, outran a Knights defender onto a long ball.

Donnerberg right-footed it past Peck from about 15 yards for a 2-0 lead.

From there, the game diverged from last year’s district championship.

“We just wanted it, because of last year when we almost went into overtime with them,” said Weller, referring to Cheney’s eventual 3-2 win last year after losing a 2-0 halftime lead.

“We just wanted to come out strong and not let down after halftime like we did last year.”

Five minutes into the half, Tyler Colston hit Weller, whose header sprang Ben Parker ahead of the defense, and Parker beat Peck one-on-one.

Weller created another goal in the 54th minute, when he collided with Peck in pursuit of a loose ball. Adam Brock collected it and scored over a retreating defender.

“We’re trying to get some kind of combination play where we get a chance to get a shot on goal, or some type of set play,” Cheney head coach Steve Davis said of the four-goal night. “It’s been successful for us.”

Cheney moves on to host a winner-to-state match Saturday against the winner of a playoff Thursday between West Valley-Yakima and Sunnyside.

EV will play a winner-to-state match Saturday at Mid-Valley No. 1 Hanford.

North Central 3, West Valley 2: The Indians (11-5) grabbed the GSL’s third seed into regionals behind two goals from Travis Green and a penalty kick by Ryan Matern.

NC will host the Mid-Valley No. 4 seed, Selah, Saturday afternoon in a loser-out match.