Mt. Spokane, Shadle chase regional berth
The stakes are high in tonight’s 3A District boys soccer match at Spokane Falls Community College between Mt. Spokane and Shadle Park.
The loser is done, while the winner is guaranteed a spot in next week’s regionals – at home, no less.
More than that, the postseason gives the two Greater Spokane League teams a second chance, a shot at redemption after some near-misses.
“For sure, it’s been a little frustrating this year,” said Mt. Spokane coach Ryan Campanella, whose Wildcats won the GSL regular-season title last year, but returned only three starters.
“It’s just been a crazy season, and we’ve been on the short end of the stick in a lot of games,” Campanella said.
The low point came 10 days ago in a 1-0 loss at Rogers. Mt. Spokane outshot the Pirates 18-5, but Rogers got its first GSL win since 2011.
The Wildcats got a measure of revenge on Friday, beating North Central 4-1 on Jake Morse’s hat trick and leapfrogging Rogers to earn a spot in the postseason.
“That was absolutely vital,” said Campanella, whose 3-8 Wildcats are facing their second-straight elimination game tonight. “Now we’re a much more confident team.”
Meanwhile, Shadle Park is 1-12 and needing to regroup after closing the season with losses to Ferris (5-0) and Mead (6-1).
“We’ve shown some signs of good play,” Highlanders coach Donavon Hodgson said, pointing to a shootout loss to Gonzaga Prep. Two weeks ago, they more than held their own in the second half against regular-season champ Central Valley.
Hodgson said he likes the production he’s getting from senior Michael Pieroni and juniors Cody Smith and Eddie Montiel.
The goal tonight, Hodgson said, is to “defend as a team, push up as a team and link up better.”
Hodgson said he likes his team’s chances on the turf at SFCC. “We play better on turf than we have on grass, so hopefully that gives us an advantage,” said Hodgson, whose team lost 4-0 on March 27 on the grass at Mt. Spokane.
The match, which begins at 5:30, is the first of a doubleheader that also includes a 4A loser-out match between Ferris and University.
The Mt. Spokane-Shadle Park winner faces top-seeded North Central on Friday for the District title and the top seed at regionals.
4A: District play opens tonight at 7:30 with a loser-out game at Spokane Falls Community College between fourth-seeded Ferris (10-5) and No. 5 University. The Saxons, runners-up at state last year, dominated the Titans 3-0 in a GSL match on April 15. However, U-Hi (8-5) has won three straight, including a shootout win Friday over Gonzaga Prep that clinched a postseason berth.
On Thursday at SFCC, tonight’s winner faces top-seeded and unbeaten Central Valley (13-0), with the winner of that match advancing to regionals.
In the other half of the bracket, No. 2 Lewis and Clark faces No. 3 G-Prep with another regional spot at stake. The winners of Thursday’s matches will play Saturday at SFCC for the district title. The losers will square off that same day in a loser-out match that sends the winner to regionals.
2A: District play opens Thursday with a pair of loser-out matches.
Second-seeded Cheney plays host to last-place Clarkston while No. 2 East Valley hosts No. 3 West Valley. The winners play a loser-out match on Saturday, and the winner of that match plays May 12 at Great Northern League champion Pullman for the district title.