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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Soccer team will play District 6 crossover game for state playoff berth
SPOKANE--Three days after knocking its rival Davenport out of the NE2B playoffs, the Reardan soccer team came up one game short of winning a league title in the program's sophomore campaign. St. George's took the league crown by defeating Reardan 3-0 on a mild Tuesday afternoon Nov. 2.
St. George's and Reardan battled back and forth for the first 15 minutes, but no goals were scored. St. George's then struck first in the 14th minute and took a 1-0 lead into halftime after senior Ayden Krupke's potential game-tying goal sailed barely left of the goal.
Reardan turned up the offensive attack to begin the second half, but were unable to find the back of the net. The Dragons took advantage of their chances, netting two second half goals to take the league title.
"We were trying to get a ball in the net and create that moment where we were excited," Reardan head coach Brian Scott said. "It was just one of those days where you feel like you hit everything except the net, and credit to St. George's. They played well."
Reardan reached Tuesday's game riding high after beating Davenport on the road 2-0 in the league semifinals Saturday, Oct. 30. Reardan entered the game as the No. 4 seed, while Davenport was seeded No. 1 after winning the regular season league title.
Freshman Noelle Raczykowski carried the offensive load for Reardan Saturday, scoring a goal in the first two minutes from the left side and converting a free kick late in the second half. Reardan's defense prevented Davenport from getting many real chances, with a missed breakaway by eighth-grader Glenna Soliday being the Gorillas' best chance to score.
Reardan rebounded after falling to Davenport 4-0 in the regular season finale Oct. 26.
"Today, they executed the plan perfectly," Scott said Saturday. "The first goal came from a deep left-wing attack, which we dialed up. The second goal was kind of a weird call...I felt bad for Davenport on that one...but we worked on set pieces yesterday, and they did it perfectly."
The game meant that for the fourth time in as many games, Davenport and Reardan's soccer matches were won by the road team.
Davenport's season ended with the defeat.
"We've had trouble all year trying to get the right combination up front to score," Davenport head coach Monty Soliday said. "We didn't come ready to play that first drive...it was a collective miss. We don't give up goals, so for them to get two was pretty impressive for them."
Reardan may have lost its chance at a league title, but its hopes for the state playoffs are still alive. The team will have a one-shot District 6 crossover contest against the winner of Liberty Bell vs. Brewster Saturday, Nov. 6 on the road. St. George's will host the loser of another crossover game. In each instance, the winner will advance to the state playoffs, while the loser's season will conclude.
"I think we need to stick to our tactic, but believe in it a little more, because it's hard when you're under pressure to do these super technical things," Scott said. "So we'll do the same (game plan)."
Reardan will enter the District 6 crossover game as the District 7 No. 2 seed in a road game against the District 6 No. 3 seed. Liberty Bell and Brewster play Nov. 4 to determine the seeding of those crossover games.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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