Ephrata hits overdrive early, eliminates Prosser from 2A District 5-6 playoffs 

EPHRATA — This is the time of year coaching staffs are hoping to find another gear and the Ephrata Tigers hit overdrive in the first five minutes, eliminating Prosser 7-1 in Tuesday afternoon's loser-out 2A District 5-6 playoff game at Tiger Field.

Mya Spencer finished with a hat trick, scoring two of those goals in the first five minutes, and the Tigers (11-4) controlled the match from start-to-finish.

“With this being a loser-out game, we knew we had to give everything we possibly could. We were fighting for extended life into postseason play,” said Tigers coach Hillary Coomes, whose team beat Prosser for the third time. “We needed to be on our A-game and I am pleased with how quickly we put the pressure on and found the back of the net.

“We controlled the play and moved the ball like we wanted to. We executed very well tonight.”

The Tigers run just one forward up top and fill in with five at the midfield and four defenders. At times it seemed like goalkeeper Renessa Cole was the only Tiger not in the Mustangs’ zone. Ephrata pushed up nicely, ran some give-and-goes at the midfield and created perfect space for through balls.

Spencer responded, giving Ephrata the early lead in the 37th minute when she beat Prosser goalkeeper Josephine Williams low and away. A minute and 20 later, Spencer gave the Tigers a 2-nil lead with a nifty move in the box. The Tiger junior had the hat trick waved off in the 45th minute on an offsides, but connected again at 78:38 for a three-goal night to help Ephrata move on to the next round in the District 5-6 tournament.

“I think we were pushing up too much, but it worked OK,” Spencer said. “We had good spacing tonight because of movement off the ball. We were moving more and calling for the ball. Getting the two early scores allowed us to relax.”

It was a well-rounded attack for the Tigers, who will play at Selah (12-2-1) on Thursday. Kendall Kemp scored at 21:34 to make it 3-0 and Heidi Massey went high, just under the crossbar, to make it 4-0 with eight minutes remaining in the first half.

Ephrata came out like it did in the first half, this time it was Tiger junior McCall DeChenne with a nice push up the left wing, beating Addisyn Greene, who replaced Williams in goal for Prosser at the intermission.

The Mustangs (6-9) did get on the board when Sophie Muller gathered an errant pass in the box and fired it low and away to the near post at 47:32 for their only score of the match. But Ephrata went back to work with goals from Bekah Schmuck and Spencer to close things out in dominating fashion.

“We were working on moving it up the left side and crash in the middle and shoot,” Ephrata defender Courtney Richardson said. “Today, I felt like we were on our game today. We didn’t let it go to our heads with the early scores, we continued to go all out.”

Ephrata will take on the No. 2 seed Selah on Thursday. The winner will have a Halloween game for the CWAC championship against the winner of East Valley-Ellensburg. The loser will play for third place and a chance to play a crossover game to get into the 2A state tournament.

“Tonight was one of the best games we’ve played all season,” Coomes said. “I think we’ve reached the next level. As a coach in postseason play, you want to find the next gear and hopefully we can continue on that track.”

Score by halves

Prosser 0 1 - 1

Ephrata 4 3 - 7

Scoring summary

E- Mya Spencer, 3:06

E - Spencer, 4:26

E - Kendall Kemp, 21:34

E - Heidi Massey, 32:21

E - McCall DeChenne, 45:44

P - Sophie Muller, 47:32

E - Rebekah Schmuck, 64:05

E - Spencer, 78:38