Moses Lake records 10th shutout, wins CBBN league title
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake forward Madi Krogh takes a sliding shot against Eastmont in the second half.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake's Denali Knowles (maroon) tries to deflect a corner kick next to Eastmont goalie Kora Fry.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake midfielder Morgan Skone jostles for possession next to Eastmont's Alyssa Konarek.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake freshman Natalie Bunch chases down the ball against Eastmont.
MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake’s players echoed the same sentiment throughout mid-season interviews: Play for each other, win for each other.
That kind of camaraderie led to a perfect 6-0 record over the second half of the Columbia Basin Big Nine schedule and a 3-0 win against Eastmont on senior night to clinch a league championship, the first since 2014.
Members of the varsity had been on the other side of disappointing losses in years prior.
Not on Thursday.
“This team has been such a family,” captain Denali Knowles said. “A lot of these girls I’ve played with since I was five years old and so just to be able to finish this league season being on top it means a lot.”
Eastmont entered Thursday’s game with a come-from-behind win against Moses Lake, 3-2, earlier in the month. The match-up played markedly different the second time.
A coronation might sound like hyperbole, but the Chiefs stayed in control of possession for large swaths of the game and squelched most Wildcat attacks swiftly.
“I can’t say enough for our defense with Taya Rogers, Emily (Mendoza) and Gabby (Avalos) and Maddy Balsz — all four of those defenders are all-conference caliber defenders and they complement each other well,” head coach Ric Char said.
Moses Lake’s defense, which capped the regular season with its 10th shutout, denied any clean opportunities and senior Abbigail Rosenow stayed active between the posts with five saves.
“Abby has been a rock for us back there all season,” Knowles said. “I’m always amazed at her abilities. She’s awesome.”
The game’s first goal came by way of shear persistence.
Eastmont failed to clear consecutive corner kicks from Avalos. On the third attempt, Morgan Skone elected to take the corner. Skone’s offering took a high bounce off an Eastmont defender and landed in the vicinity of Knowles’ right foot.
“Everything towards the goal at that point,” Knowles said.
Her sense of direction proved true as the ball was one-timed into the back of the net in the 21st minute. Skone, an all-state midfielder last season, leaped between two defenders and fired a shot into the upper deck of Eastmont’s goal two minutes later.
Moses Lake came out of halftime aggressive, unwilling to let another lead slip away.
The clincher came on a textbook right-to-left pass from Skone to fellow senior Madi Krogh, who buried the ball past Eastmont goalie Kora Fry just before second-half stoppage time.
“Eastmont’s a really good team so at halftime we just told them we’ve got to keep pressing on the gas because a 2-0 lead is not going to stick around very long.” Char said.
Scoring
ML — 2 1 3
E — 0 0 0
Highlights: Morgan Skone 1 goal, 1 assist; Denali Knowles 1 goal; Madi Krogh 1 goal
Next: vs. TBD, Oct. 30, 6 p.m.