Moses Lake shuts out Davis in second half, earns win
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake midfielder Morgan Skone gets past a Davis defender.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake forward Abby Rathbun is tripped up by a Davis defender Tuesday at Lions Field.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake forward Kennady Schlagel scores in the ninth minute against Davis.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Morgan Skone, Kennady Schlagel (3), Denali Knowles (7) and Abby Rathbun (22) congratulates Madi Krogh (2) after her goal in the first half.
MOSES LAKE — Abby Rathbun pointed toward the Moses Lake sideline and made a dead sprint to high-five everyone.
Her spectacular goal was worth celebrating.
On a corner kick from Cora Bruneel, Rathbun leaped and contorted her body to finally put her head on the ball at the right angle to score. Rathbun’s goal to start the second half put Moses Lake ahead of Davis 3-2 and, some would argue more importantly, earned her some Boston cream cake.
Madi Krogh scored the second of her two goals in the 77th minute and Moses Lake kept its grip on second place in the Columbia Basin Big Nine with a 4-2 win.
“This year I feel like I’ve had every single head on the ball I could when we ever have those corner kicks,” Rathbun said. “I was kind of getting frustrated for a while. Every time they were there I was there and finally ... That ball I actually kind of felt was a little bit difficult because I had to turn my head to get that, but it felt really good to finally, finally get it.”
Moses Lake took an early lead over Davis when Kennady Schlagel scored unassisted in the 10 minute.
However, the pesky Pirates were able to score twice in a 15-minute period to take a 2-1 lead. Davis evened the game in the 17th minute on an Olympic goal that sailed over the outstretched arms of Abigail Rosenow. Kelly Martin scored in the 31st minute on a low shot to the left corner.
Krogh gave the Chiefs a lift seconds before halftime, putting a shot on goal that trickled in just as the defense collapsed on her.
That boost was evident in the second half as the Chiefs appeared to be the more energized team, starting with Rathbun’s goal 20 seconds in.
“You could definitely tell from body language and from our play that we needed that for sure because we didn’t have that in the first half,” head coach Ric Char said. “I think that was a good motivation and momentum builder for us.”
Krogh scored the clincher off an assist from Morgan Skone, booting a left-footed shot into the net. Skone recorded a pair of assists.
Moses Lake has won five in a row and is one game behind first-place Wenatchee in the loss column. The Panthers come to Lions Field on Thursday.
“The girls know that we’re progressing forward and that we can never settle for what has been and now they’ve got that momentum and confidence boost from the West Valley win,” Char said. “We’ve got our eyes set higher now. Wenatchee’s a huge game for us and they’re right above us in the standings. The girls can do it.”
First half — 1, ML, Schlagel, 10:00. 2, Davis, 17:00. 3, D, Martin, 31:00. 4, ML, Krogh (Skone), 40:00.
Second half — 5, ML, Rathbun (Bruneel), 41:00. 6, ML, Krogh (Skone), 77:00.