Moore not less

PUYALLUP, Wash. – Kellie Zakrzewski has been terrorizing opposing goalkeepers the entire season.

So when East Valley of Yakima’s defense figured out a way to hold the Cheney senior scoreless Friday, it certainly was an impressive feat.

All it really did, however, was let the Blackhawks showcase their offensive depth.

Enter Madie Moore.

The junior scored a pair of goals, helping Cheney notch its 19th consecutive victory with a 2-0 win over the Red Devils in the State 2A girls soccer semifinals at Sparks Stadium.

The Blackhawks (20-1) will meet Archbishop Murphy (22-0) for the state championship at 4 p.m. today.

Archbishop Murphy posted a 3-1 win over Sehome (19-3) in the late semifinal Friday.

“It feels pretty unbelievable right now,” Moore said about her two-goal game. “We still have one more game, though, so you can’t get too excited. We want first place.”

East Valley (18-3) brought a seven-game winning streak into the match, registering 93 goals during the season.

But like the previous nine opponents Cheney has faced, East Valley failed to find the back of the net as Blackhawks goalkeeper Nora Ifft turned away all eight shots by the Red Devils.

Cheney, which has not lost since dropping a 1-0 contest to Pullman on Sept. 15, has outscored opponents 46-0 over the last 10 games.

“Nora’s just been incredible,” Cheney coach Robyn Smith said. “Because of the league we play in, she sometimes doesn’t get challenged as much as we’d like to see, but today she was huge for us. She stopped a corner kick in the first half, which really could have changed the complexity of the game had it gone in, and had two big saves in the second half.”

The teams battled back and forth during the opening 20 minutes of the first half with neither establishing control.

In the 37th minute, Moore worked the ball to the right side, shaking free from the defender before attempting to center the ball.

The shot, however, curved perfectly, sailing over the outstretched arms of East Valley goalkeeper Hollie Thierolf and finding the upper corner of the net, giving the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.

“I was surprised it went in,” Moore said. “I was just trying to be aggressive on offense.”

All four of East Valley’s first-half shots were on goal, but Ifft was able to turn everything away, including a dangerous header at point-blank range from Jessica Baken at about the 34-minute mark, which drew a gasp from the crowd before a leaping Ifft corralled the shot.

“We were able to settle into our game once we got that first goal,” Smith said. “It took some pressure off. We’ve had different players step up every playoff game.

“In the last three games we’ve had five different scorers. That’s nice to see. Maybe we are peaking at the right time.”

Cheney came out as the aggressor in the second half. Five minutes into the second half, a powerful shot from Zakrzewski just missed and ricocheted off the post.

Tanya Baker also came away empty-handed 10 minutes later after her shot went wide right, missing by only a few feet.

Moore added her second goal in the 67th minute, weaving through traffic and hurdling a defender before driving it into the net.

“The first goal really came out of the blue,” Moore said. “The second one I really wanted. They are such a good team, we knew we weren’t safe being up 1-0. This team is playing with a lot of confidence right now.”