Missed penalty kick is the difference in Tigers' 3-2 loss to Cashmere

EPHRATA — It’s not like they’ve played much soccer so far this fall with all the wildfire smoke playing havoc with the schedule.

It was just the second game of the season and it looked like it at times during Ephrata’s non-league soccer match with Cashmere. The only difference in the Tiger’s 3-2 loss was that they missed a penalty kick and the Bulldogs did not.

Mya Spencer scored unassisted in the 20th minute to make it a one-goal deficit, but her penalty kick in the 64th minute slipped just outside the left post as she tried to beat Bulldog goalkeeper Elli Pheasant low and away.

Cashmere put two in the net in the first half with goals by Justine Wood and Aimie Martin. The difference was the Bulldog penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half when Chloe Diaz hammered one home just under the elbow, high and away to make it 3-1 in the 50th minute.

“I thought we started off slow tonight,” said all-league midfielder Katelyn Ostrowski. “Once we got going, we got into it. We were trying to get a lot of touches wide, building from the back and trying get a shot off when we got closer to the goal.”

Cashmere finished with seven shots on goal to Ephrata’s five. Tiger goalkeeper Renessa Cole is playing in her first varsity season. The Ephrata freshman made six saves to Pheasant’s nine.

“They were a little more fresh and started more aggressive,” Tiger defender Sydnee Pixlee said. “The key we need to focus on is coming out ready to go. I think we’re playing very well so far. It’s early and a lot of this is to be expected, but I think we need to come out and play harder from the first whistle.”

The Tigers (0-2) played well in spots and had their chances late. McCall DeChenne got a step inside the Bulldogs defense and put a big shot on goal from 15 yards out, but Pheasant came up with the waste-high save. Pixlee drove it hard down the near sideline into the corner and sent a crosser to the mouth of the goal with 5:07 remaining, but the Tigers just weren’t able to put a head on the ball or keep any real pressure on the Bulldog keeper.

DeChenne finally got one to go with 1:50 remaining when a corner kick bounced loose in the box and the Ephrata junior was able put it into the back of the net to make it a one-goal difference down the stretch.

“We always play to the end. We’ve seen it before where we score in the last minute,” Ostrowski said. “We scored at the last second to beat Ellensburg in double overtime, so you never know what’s going to happen.”

Ephrata hosts Othello at noon on Saturday.

Score by halves

Cashmere 2 1 - 3

Ephrata 1 1 - 2

C - Justine Wood (Grace Erdmann assist), 20:10

C - Aimee Martin (Grace Erdmann assist), 30:29

E - Mya Spencer, 31:35

C - Chloe Diaz (penalty kick), 50:25

E - McCall DeChenne (unassisted), 78:40