Ferris edges Mead in GSL girls soccer showdown
History repeated itself for both teams when Mead visited Ferris in a crucial Greater Spokane League girls soccer match Wednesday afternoon.
For the Saxons, it was another thrilling come-from-behind win, as they overcame a two-goal deficit in the second half to take a 3-2 victory.
For the Panthers, the match was an unpleasant reprise of their early-season loss at Central Valley, when they led by two goals in the second half only to fall in a shootout.
Wednesday’s game might have gone that route too but for a bizarre play in the final moments of regulation. With the match tied 2-2, Mead goalkeeper Brianna Krygier had just caught the ball and prepared to roll it to a teammate when disaster struck.
As Krygier went into her windup, the ball grazed her hip and fell to the ground. Ferris senior forward McKenna Cutler pounced on the ball, ran past Krygier and tapped it into the net.
“I just didn’t want it to go to a shootout,” said Cutler, whose opportunism helped the Saxons improve to 7-4 overall and 5-1 in the GSL.
Five minutes earlier, Ferris still trailed 2-1 when Cutler took a pass from Bria Bowton on the left side of the penalty box and sent the ball at a sharp angle across the goalmouth. But what began as a pass sailed just above Krygier’s hands and into the far corner of the net.
“I was just trying to cross it,” Cutler said.
Cutler’s goal capped a remarkable comeback that seemed unlikely at halftime. The Panthers (9-2 overall, 4-2 GSL) took an early lead on two goals by Alea Acosta and could have put the Saxons away early but for a pair of shots that hit the crossbar.
“That’s our strategy: go down two goals at halftime and then come back,” joked Ferris coach Robin Crain, who was in that same situation three weeks ago against Lewis and Clark. Just as he did then, Crain said he made a few “minor adjustments” and “told the girls that the goals woud come if they stayed with the plan.”
Sure enough, Bowton found Alexis Murphy with a nice pass on a breakaway 10 minutes into the second half to cut the deficit to 2-1.
With only three matches left in the regular season, the win sets up Ferris for an even bigger match Friday night at first-place Gonzaga Prep.
In other action, Lewis and Clark picked up its first GSL win of the season after a 2-1 shootout victory over Mt. Spokane. Freshman goalkeeper Erin Carney had three saves in the shootout to lead the Tigers (5-6 overall, 1-5 GSL) over the Wildcats (9-2, 4-2). Grace Ellis gave Mt. Spokane an early 1-0 lead, but Abbi Kalin tied the match late in the first half. In the shootout, Paige Malm, Maia Angell and Sarah Curran hit their shots for LC.
Kailynn Labrosse and Natalie Cabiad had two goals apiece as Central Valley coasted by visiting North Central 5-0. The Bears improved to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the GSL, while NC fell to 2-7 and 1-5, respectively.
University outshot Shadle Park by a three-to-one margin to take a 4-0 win over the Highlanders and improve to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the GSL. The Titans outshot Shadle 22 to 7 and got goals from Kelsey Crosby, Alli Smeltzer, Piper Lawson and Sophia Orndorff. Shadle is 3-9 and 1-5.
Gonzaga Prep defeated host Rogers 13-0 behind nine first-half goals.