Mt. Spokane blanks Shadle Park in 3A District soccer

If the postseason is all about second chances, the Mt. Spokane boys soccer team seems poised to make the most of them.

Five days ago, the Wildcats were in last place in the league they won in 2014; now they’re two wins from state.

“It feels really good, knowing that all the hard work that we’ve done has paid off,” said Chance Champoux, who scored the opening goal in Mt. Spokane’s 2-0 win over Shadle Park in a District 8 3A loser-out match Tuesday night at Spokane Falls Community College.

The win not only puts the Wildcats into the District title match Friday night against Greater Spokane League rival North Central, it guarantees them a home match in next week’s regional tournament.

Home, for the time being, is on the friendly artificial surface at SFCC.

“I think that all of a sudden we’ve become a turf team,” said coach Ryan Campanella, who usually prefers to play on the grass at Mt. Spokane. However, on Tuesday, he liked how the ball bounced – or didn’t bounce – on turf.

“I told our guys to keep their shots low, get them on frame and our chances are going to come,” Campanella said.

The chances came early and often, as Mt. Spokane outshot the Highlanders 20 to 4. Barely two minutes in, the Wildcats capitalized when midfielder Tanner McNamee found space on the right side and put a nice cross into the goalmouth. The ball eluded Shadle goalkeeper Connor Harlow and was corralled by Champoux for what proved to be the winner.

“Chance has had so many chances on the back side, it was good to see him put that in,” said Campanella, whose team improved to 4-8 overall.

The Wildcats had several other good opportunities in the first half against the Highlanders, but couldn’t capitalize on several close-in chances. Ironically, it was Tyler Smith’s long shot that found the mark.

Still leading 1-0 with 13 minutes gone in the second half, Smith took a throw-in from Jake Morse, let it bounce 25 yards from goal and sent a rocket inside the left post.

For Smith, the goal and the win were big confidence boosters.

“We’re making sure nobody is giving up and keeping our heads up,” Smith said.

Shadle Park finished 1-13.

District 8 4A

Down a goal midway through the second half, Ferris rallied for a 2-1 win over University in a loser-out match at SFCC.

The win puts the Saxons (11-5) into a semifinal Thursday night against top-seeded and unbeaten Central Valley.

U-Hi, which lost 3-0 at Ferris three weeks ago, played solid defense and took the lead in the 28th minute when Luis Mulero scored on a cross.

But Ferris, which finished second at state last year, equalized in the 59th minute on a free kick by Kandon Simon, then went ahead for a good 8 minutes later on a great solo effort from forward Terry Cox.

Dribbling from the left side, Cox moved past several defenders before hitting a strong right-footed shot from 20 yards.

The Titans finished 7-6.