Title-greedy Sehome topples Cheney in overtime

SUMNER – It wasn’t a good day for Cheney to face a boys team from Sehome.

The Mariners had already won a state baseball title and a team championship in track and field earlier in the day.

The Blackhawks pushed the Mariners into overtime for the state boys soccer title Saturday night at Sunset Chev Stadium, but junior forward Nino Tursic scored on a header from senior midfielder Tony Mihovilovich in the 84th minute to give Sehome a 2-1 win and its first State 2A championship. The Mariners also won a 3A title in 2002.

Mihovilovich said teammate Anders Crabo told him to kick the ball longer on the cross than usual. The ball went over the head of a Cheney defender and Tursic hit it in for the goal.

“Tony put a great ball on my head,” Tursic said.

It was the second consecutive overtime game for the Blackhawks (20-3). They needed a 4-2 advantage in the shootout Friday night to break a 1-1 stalemate against Quincy and advance to the championship.

Similar to the match against Quincy, where two goals were negated by offsides penalties, Cheney lost one when sophomore forward Alex Adams beat goalkeeper Logan Barnett 1-on-1 in the 67th that would have given the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.

“I’m not sure what they called down there,” Cheney coach Steve Davis said. “I coach, they officiate.”

The Mariners (17-6) scored first in the 73rd when forward Mike Klein’s shot from 23 yards out found the right side of the goal.

“Their keeper (David Sigley) is awesome,” Tursic said. “We just had to settle down and play our game. They’re a better team than we thought.”

Cheney didn’t lose its composure after the goal and scored a minute later when senior forward Mitchell Weller put a rebound past Barnett to tie the match.

“When adversity hit, we responded with a goal,” Davis said. “I felt so proud of them for coming back. They showed a lot of heart.”

Besides the rescinded goal, the Blackhawks had a few other scoring opportunities. Perhaps the best came in the 46th minute when Barnett blocked three shots. Davis acknowledged that his team had opportunities to win in regulation, but added that Sehome had its share as well.

As difficult as the loss was, he noted that this was the top finish in school history. Cheney’s previous best was a fourth-place finish in 2006.

“This is as far as the school’s got,” Davis said. “That’s something to take with them. Particularly the seniors.”