Quick goals equal win for East Valley

EPHRATA - It all happened so fast for East Valley that the rest of the game turned into a Texas hold'em.

Within 12 minutes of the game, the Red Devils had dribbled in two shots on the Tigers in the first round of the CWAC district playoffs. Ephrata was left dazed by the start and allowed East Valley to slow them down the remainder of the 68 minutes of regulation.

"We have been preaching all week to our players to score first because it takes a lot of weight off of us," East Valley head coach Gary Mellick said. "(Ephrata) didn't have a chance to get in a rhythm and they were shell shocked."

The Tigers weren't without their chances, but when it came time to cash in, the opportunities were evaded by the Tigers themselves.

"I don't know if it took the wind out of our sails, but it definitely surprised us," said Ephrata head coach Hillary Coomes. "It was hard to come back, but in the second half we were back in there."

The last time the two teams met, Ephrata scored first and East Valley tied at 1-1 at the end of the game and forced a shootout that gave the Red Devils the win.

It was expected that the two teams would come out swinging and taking shots like last time, but keeping the game close. Ephrata's missed opportunities and inability to get its key pieces generating offensive pressure, allowed East Valley to pick up the win.

"It was hard and it looked like we had trouble finding each other on the field," Coomes said. "We have an all-star team, I think, and it was hard for them to get going."

Neither shot scored by the Red Devils were commanding, but enough to get by Ephrata goalkeeper Miriam Hall. The first one came after 38 seconds ticked off the clock, the second came in the 12th minute.

Hall went out to challenge East Valley's Kelsey Lounsbury on the second goal and the two collided inside the goal box. The head official blew his whistle to sound a penalty while the ball was out of the box, but overruled himself after the ball rolled into the goal.

The second half saw more action and potential from the Ephrata players taking aim at the Red Devil goal, but just missing shots.

The Tigers finished with 10 shots on goal for the game, while East Valley put up 16 shots. Hall finished with 12 saves and Licea had seven saves for the Red Devils.

Ephrata is now in a must win situation and will face the winner of Naches and Chelan on Saturday.

"I don't think they think their backs are against the wall," Coomes said. "We aren't going forward in the bracket like we wanted to, but we still have a chance and an opportunity to go forward in the bracket, just not the way we wanted to."