Titans edge Saxons

It was a long afternoon at Joe Albi Stadium for Ferris goalkeeper Liz Boyden.

Despite University’s constant bombardment on her goal, Boyden managed to keep a clean sheet throughout most of the game.

Hard driving shots. Low rollers. High arcing balls. The result was the same: The Saxons’ senior goalkeeper gamely stopped just about every ball U-Hi could launch in her direction.

All but one.

With the momentum on U-Hi’s side in the dying minutes of the second half, Titans midfielder Katy Sloyer found her way into the penalty box and deftly flicked the ball to fellow senior Abby Goss. Goss sent the ball flying past an onrushing Boyden into the left corner of the goal to win the game 1-0 for the Titans in their first Greater Spokane League match of the season.

“I got the ball from the outside back and then just turned and played a diagonal pass, and she ran onto it and scored,” said Sloyer, who already has three goals on the season.

Sloyer and Goss both play for the Spokane Shadow youth program. The seniors say they’ve worked up a good offensive partnership from all their years playing together.

“We know each other very well,” Goss said.

Despite what Goss called a ‘slow start’ for U-Hi, Ferris never quite worked up an offensive rhythm.

“We just kind of lost focus and lost control of the game and didn’t do the little things you need to get a win,” Ferris coach Ashley Jones said. “We had minutes where we’d connect and minutes where we wouldn’t.

“And the opportunities that we did have, we didn’t manage to capitalize on. Having those few breakdowns cost us.”

Ferris only managed three shots, and only two of those required any sort of movement from U-Hi’s goalkeepers. Senior Courtney Pannell came on in the second half and made two saves. Forward Carrie Barber’s shot from the right flank hit the outside wall of the goal.

But things were a little busier on the opposite side of the pitch. Boyden made six big saves as the U-Hi offense evaded the struggling Ferris defenders and kept the pressure on for a full 80 minutes.

“I made some saves, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough. It was probably because this was our first league game, and a lot of people were nervous and we didn’t know what to expect,” said Boyden, a four year starter and All-GSL first-team honoree, “We couldn’t get a flow going and they just kept pounding it right back at us.”

Ferris beat Shadle Park 3-2 on Monday for its only win of the season. The Saxons are 1-3-1 and struggling to find a rhythm.

“We just haven’t found our team chemistry yet,” Boyden said. “We’ve only got five veterans from last year. We lost 10 people.”

With the win, U-Hi improved to 3-1-1.

In other GSL openers, Taylor Mueller scored from 3 yards out in the 18th minute and the Central Valley Bears (4-0, 1-0) held on for a 1-0 victory over the visiting East Valley Knights (1-1, 0-1). … Mikayla Anderson scored a pair of first-half goals, Marissa Mykines added a goal and two assists and Jaimey Etten chipped in a goal and an assist as the Mead Panthers (4-0, 1-0) rolled to a 6-0 victory over the visiting North Central Indians (0-2, 0-1). … Kristi Wirtz found the net three times and the Shadle Park Highlanders (1-1, 1-0) scored four goals in the second half to pull away for a 7-2 win over the host Rogers Pirates (0-1, 0-1). Rogers’ two goals – by Alyssa Sipraseuth and Brooklyn Smith – surpassed its total for all last season. … Megan Lindsay had two goals and Renee Vandermause scored the go-ahead goal in the 46th minute as the Gonzaga Prep Bullpups (2-0, 1-0) defeated the visiting Mt. Spokane Wildcats (0-2, 0-1) 3-1.

Cross country

Central Valley’s Jayson Taylor (16 minutes, 57 seconds) took first place by 1 second over teammate Bryce Aguilar and the Bears rolled to a 17-44 win over the Gonzaga Prep Bullpups and an 18-43 victory over the Shadle Park Highlanders in Greater Spokane League boys openers at Finch Arboretum. G-Prep topped Shadle 23-35. Daniel Renz (17:09) finished third over the 3.1-mile course to pace the Highlanders, while Tate Kelly (17:48) placed sixth to top the Bullpups. … Kelly Lynch (17:00), Jordan Baker (17:24) and Marcus Budig (17:26) led a 1-2-3 Mead finish and the Panthers breezed to an 18-43 win over the Lewis and Clark Tigers and a 15-50 victory over the East Valley Knights at East Valley. LC beat EV 17-42. Chris Ennis (17:33) finished fourth to lead LC. No EV runner was in the top 10. … The Mt. Spokane Wildcats beat the Ferris Saxons 23-38 and the Rogers Pirates 15-50 at Seven Mile behind the first-place effort of Allen Schroeder (16:28). Ferris beat Rogers 15-48. Paul Hawkins (16:39) was second to lead Ferris. No Rogers runner was in the top 10. … Alexander Avila (17:18) edged teammate Jeff Howard by 1 second to win at Liberty Lake and send the North Central Indians to a 15-50 win over the University Titans.

“In GSL girls openers, Baylee Mires (21:02) and Calyn Torpie (21:27) finished 1-2 to lead Mead to a 23-32 win over Lewis and Clark and an 18-43 victory over East Valley at East Valley. LC topped EV 19-38. Eleanor Siler (21:48, third) led LC, while Lauren Bergam (21:55, fourth) paced EV. … Central Valley topped Gonzaga Prep 19-40 and beat Shadle Park 20-41 at Finch Arboretum. G-Prep beat Shadle 23-35. Shadle’s Andrea Nelson (20:04) was an easy winner, finishing 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Eden Lake of CV. G-Prep’s Alicia Doohan (20:55) took third. … Courtney Zalud (21:20), Amy Pomante (21:40) and Sarah Craig (21:43) finished 1-2-3 and led Mt. Spokane to a 17-38 victory over Ferris and a 15-44 win over Rogers at Seven Mile. Ferris beat Rogers 17-42. Lauren Barthman (21:44, fourth) topped the Saxons. … Stevie Gildehaus (20:22) won at Liberty Lake and led University to a 25-31 win over North Central. NC’s Elizabeth Fall (21:22) was second.