Central Valley boys cruise into district soccer title game
Momentum is riding shotgun with the Central Valley boys soccer team, and the Bears hope it’s a long journey.
It began a week ago, with an overtime win over Lewis and Clark that also gave CV its second straight Greater Spokane League title. That momentum was still alive Thursday night at Spokane Falls Community College, where the Bears beat LC 3-1 in a 4A District semifinal match.
“That win last week definitely carried over and gave us a lot of confidence, and it showed tonight,” said sophomore midfielder R.J. Stretch, who got things going in the eighth minute by scoring on a 40-yard free kick.
“I was just whacking it in there and hoping something good would happen,” said Stretch. Sure enough, his kick floated below the crossbar and just above the hands of LC keeper Josh Via.
The Bears (12-2) will play for the district title on Saturday at SFCC against Ferris, which beat Mead 3-2 in the second match of Thursday’s doubleheader. Both teams are guaranteed to play in next week’s regionals.
The Tigers (13-3, with two losses coming against CV) will play Mead in a loser-out match Saturday, also at SFCC. The winner will be the GSL’s third seed at regionals.
Central Valley 3, Lewis and Clark 1: Despite outshooting the Tigers 9-1 in the first half, CV was held to a 1-1 tie at intermission.
LC’s lone goal came in the 17th minute on a pass from Adam Thompson to Jackson Snyder, who struck a left-footed shot from 20 yards that curled over the hands of CV keeper Kendall Finley.
The Bears took control early in the second half. “We talked about controlling the midfield, and we did an amazing job of finding our forwards and our wings,” CV coach Andres Monrroy said.
J.D. Hauenstein scored the eventual match-winner on a header in the 45th minute, and junior midfielder Jake Levine added an insurance goal 10 minutes later by being in the right place at the right time.
A scramble in the Mead goalmouth ended with a shot by Nathan Grinalds that was cleared off the line by a Panther defender.
As the ball rolled back from the goal, “Everything just kind of slowed down for me,” said Levine, who had scored just one goal going into district.
“I knew this was my moment and I was going to make it,” Levine said.
The Tigers didn’t go down easily, testing CV keeper Kendall Findley several times in the second half. Twice Findley saved point-blank shots to preserve the two-goal lead.
Ferris 3, Mead 2: Like CV, the Saxons rode a quick start to an important win.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s match, freshman forward Alessandro Contos said, “I think we’re going to keep our heads high and come out the way we did tonight against Mead.”
There were plenty of anxious moments, but the Saxons (10-3) led the entire match after Andrew Fruci gave them a 1-0 lead with a blast in the 12th minute.
Contos made it 2-0 in the 31st minute after a deflected shot from Callan Martin rebounded at his feet.
Mead got back into the match in the 56th minute on a sharply-angled rocket from Peter Weller, but Ferris regained the two-goal margin when Contos tapped in an easy shot after Mead backup goalkeeper Brady Sohn missed a clearance kick.
The Panthers (9-7) got one back from Michael McLeod with 8 minutes left, but missed a pair of decent chances in the late going.
3A: Mt. Spokane faces Rogers on Friday at 6 p.m. at SFCC in match that will decide the district title. Both teams will advance to next week’s regionals. The Pirates are coming off a 3-0 win over North Central – the Pirates’ first postseason win in at least two decades.
2A: Camden Verstrate scored in the third minute of overtime to lift fourth-seeded Cheney to a 1-0 win at West Valley.
The win sends the Blackhawks (9-7) to the second round of district on Saturday at 3 p.m. at second-seeded East Valley, which beat Clarkston 3-0. The winner of that match earns a berth in regionals and a spot in the district title game next week at Great Northern League champion Pullman.
East Valley (11-4) got goals from Joey Gresch, Zach Bowsky and Trevor Jacobs.