Knights bag soccer crown

East Valley didn’t take the suspense out of the match, but in holding off visiting Central Valley 3-2 in their regular-season soccer finale, took the suspense out of the Greater Spokane League title race.

The win gave the Knights (12-1) their second straight championship, but first outright title. They won, as they so often have, because of the brilliance of Ben Funkhouser.

“Like every game, the plan is to get the ball to Ben and let him shoot,” said teammate Cole Abramson, the GSL scoring champion. “I just try to clean up his garbage.”

Orchestrating the attack from the midfield, Funkhouser assisted on EV’s first two goals and beat challenging Bears goalie Ryan Skay for what proved to be the match winner.

“He is one of the better players I’ve seen in terms of set pieces, and they take advantage of it,” said CV coach Brandon Deyarmin. “He puts the ball on those guys’ heads, whether it’s Cole or the other forward, and they know where to put it.”

The Knights needed to win in regulation to solely secure first place, a spot they held from season’s beginning. They struck quickly.

Matt Schneidmiller outraced the defense to Funkhouser’s perfectly placed through ball and scored on a left-to-right shot barely a minute into the contest.

It was a lead that stood until Jay Vela knotted things for the Bears on a penalty kick seconds before the first half’s end.

But 6 minutes after the second half began, the Knights were ahead 3-1 and on their way to the title.

Abramson opportunistically scored his league high 16th-goal (18th overall) when Funkhouser’s corner kick bounced out of the hands of Skay. It kicked back to Abramson near the far post and he converted.

“Every free kick, I know if it’s on goal it’s coming back at me,” he said. “I charge the goal and try to get that rebound.”

Three minutes later, strong-legged defender Josh Polello sent a perfectly placed long ball Funkhouser’s way. One-on-one with Skay, he pooched the shot softly over the keeper and it had enough roll to find goal just ahead of CV’s defense.

The Bears weren’t done. Midway through the period, Vela sent a 40-yard free kick right to Lucas Chesher’s foot in front of the net and he redirected it through EV keeper Josh Peck’s legs.

“It was a really good play,” said EV third-year coach Jeff Rose.

But the Knights were able to kill the last 20 minutes for their first outright GSL soccer championship, something Rose said they must do in the playoffs.

“We talked a lot about the team that’s going to be mistake-free is the team coming out on top,” said Deyarmin. “We had the mistakes. I felt we had more possessions than they did and had our chances, but couldn’t put it away. They took advantage of their opportunities.”

Having Funkhouser on their side didn’t hurt.

“I’ve run out of things to say about a player like that,” said Rose. “He just takes control of a game and does it.”

“The Knights next play Cheney (10-3) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in District 8 playoffs at Spokane Falls Community College for seeding in to the 3A regionals next weekend.

The game follows North Central versus West Valley at 5 for the GSL’s third regional berth.

Cheney beat EV in overtime during the regular season.

District 8 4A soccer begins Monday at Spokane Falls Community College at 5 and 7 p.m. with third seed Lewis and Clark (7-6) vs. University (6-7), followed by CV (7-6) versus Mt. Spokane (7-6).

District continues Wednesday with the winners playing at 5 p.m. followed by No. 1 seed Ferris (11-2) versus No. 2 Mead (12-1) for the district title and state berth.

In other final regular-season matches, Cheney routed West Valley (2-11) 9-0 in its finale, taking 26 shots on goal. Mitch Weller scored twice, and Jesse Retan added one goal and two assists. … Mt. Spokane edged U-Hi 1-0 on Morgan Hartanov’s one-on-one goal, assisted by Nick Reilly, early in the second half. … Mead, with its penchant for close matches, won its third overtime game, 2-1 over NC (8-5). The Panthers also have three shootout triumphs. Ian Matson volleyed the winning goal in the second overtime to break a 1-1 deadlock at 88 minutes. … Ferris locked up second place and the top 4A district seed with an 8-1 win over Rogers (0-13). Taylor Yonago scored twice, giving him 14 goals for the year. Connor Hennessey had a goal and two assists. … LC blanked Clarkston (1-12) on the road 3-0, Forrest Gilles and Peter Dunau each with a goal and an assist. … Gonzaga Prep (5-8) defeated Shadle Park (4-9) in a shootout.