Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Gorillas eek past Tonasket in crossover
Davenport sophomore Glenna Soliday fights two Tonasket defenders for the ball in the Gorillas' 1-0 win over the Tigers in the District 6/7 Crossover match Friday, Nov. 3.
SPOKANE - A District 6/7 crossover game between each league's champion turned out to be a key factor toward deciding which school would get a first-round bye in the state playoffs. Fortunately for Davenport, the Gorillas managed the only legal goal in said crossover to hold off Tonasket 1-0 in a game played at Gonzaga Prep High School Friday, Nov. 3.
Two days later, Davenport was named the No. 3 seed in the state playoffs, while Tonasket dropped to the No. 8 seed.
The Tonasket game was physical and choppy throughout. Both teams were mostly able to thwart the opposition's attack, with two to four girls surrounding their opponent's forwards throughout the match.
Davenport was on the attacking end for most of the first 20 minutes, but couldn't find the net. Tonasket twice had the closest thing to a goal in the first half, as Heidi Wilson's header was inches outside the right post and Maia Deebach's deep shot hit the top of the post before halftime.
The game was a similarly defensive struggle for the first 24 minutes of the second half. Then, Emma Cormier stepped up with a 35-yard booming shot that arced perfectly into the net.
"It just kind of came rolling at me, and I thought, 'hey, maybe I can make it,' so I shot it with my left and I didn't think it was going to go in at the beginning, so I kind of leaned back and then it went in," Cormier said. "It was pretty special."
It would prove to be the game's only score, but only by virtue of an official ruling. Wilson netted the would-be equalizing goal in the final two minutes, but the shot was waived off after she was ruled offside.
The game wasn't Davenport's strongest, but the Gorillas were able to find victory regardless, head coach Monty Soliday said.
"That was not our cleanest game. They kind of got us a little bit rattled," Soliday said. "That's legit soccer. They played a good game."
Tonasket couldn't get another attack in, and Davenport got a first-round bye in the state playoffs as a result.
And the Gorillas' quarterfinal opponent will be the team that knocked Davenport out of the playoffs in the first round last year. No. 6 Cle Elum/Roslyn will travel east after knocking off Adna 3-1 in the first round Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The quarterfinal matchup will be at Freeman High School and kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11. The winner advances to the state semifinals in Federal Way the following weekend.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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