Arthurs’ save tips Mead
Jamie Arthurs didn’t guess.
Arthurs made a sensational diving save, smothering a last-minute penalty kick to preserve Richland’s 1-0 victory over Mead in a 4A regional championship Saturday night at Albi Stadium.
Mead’s Marissa Mykines was tackled from behind inside the 18-yard box with a minute remaining and awarded a penalty kick with a chance to knot the score. She blistered her shot toward the left post, but Arthurs dove and found herself in perfect position to make the save and secure the regional title for her team.
“You’re not supposed to save those, you just make the best effort you can,” Arthurs said. “The pressure’s all on the shooter. Like I said, you’re not expected to make the save, so when you do it’s great. … I try not to guess. It can throw you off. I just went the right way.”
While the regional title is a nice award, it’s a distant second behind the state championship for which both teams feel they can contend. Not that a regional crown is meaningless, but both teams realize it’s not the accolade they’re seeking. Richland topped Mead in last year’s regional final, but the Panthers later scored the bigger victory when they met again in the second round of the state tournament.
Mead senior Jaimey Etten said the Bombers are “driven” to succeed, a primary reason why Richland outscored opponents 62-8 during the regular season and boasts a program highly regarded on a national level.
Richland’s Jenevieve Lackey didn’t hesitate to thrust her head into a crowd when she butted the ball into the net 2 1/2 minutes into the second half for a 1-0 advantage.
“Personally, I’m really” mad, Etten said. “But it’s the same as last year. It should give us motivation to keep going.”
Mead coach Steve Snider said the Panthers will host a first-round game in the state tournament at Albi at 6 p.m. Tuesday against the fourth seed from District 2/4. Richland will host Pasco on Tuesday.
Mead (14-2) and Richland (13-3) will be favored in those contests and will square off a second time Saturday if they win their opening-round games.
“I’d love to play them again,” said Mead defender Jackie Hakes.
In the other 4A regional match, Missy Everson scored 13 minutes into the second half to propel Pasco to a 2-1 victory over Shadle Park (11-5) for the third and final seed to state.
“Dee Dee Garbe scored off a corner kick in the 12th minute of play and West Valley (15-4) held on for a 1-0 victory over Cheney (16-3) in the District 7 2A tournament at Spokane Falls Community Colleges. The win sends the Eagles to the state tournament as the No. 1 seed. Cheney heads to state as the No. 2 seed. West Valley will host Prosser or Ellensburg on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Cheney will travel to East Valley of Yakima for a 4 p.m. match on Tuesday. Also at SFCC, Niina Al-Hassan and Kendra Heim both had a goal and an assist to spark Pullman (17-3) to a 2-1 loser-out win over Riverside (9-9) for the third seed to state. Pullman will play at Selah on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“Callie Paul had a goal and an assist and Katie Baran added a goal as Lakeside (12-7) handed Cashmere its first loss in two years, 2-1 in a 1A regional match in Wenatchee. Lakeside earns the No. 1 seed to state and will host Naches Valley at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Cashmere is the No. 2 seed.