In the first matchup on the field this spring, the West Valley boys pulled away from Lathrop, but the girls, Malemute and Wolfpack, were unable to break out of a scoreless stalemate. The rivals will face off one more time in a week.
Lathrop Girls: 0, West Valley: 0
Entering the game, West Valley exuded confidence and Lathrop showed poise.wolf pack
It started with a dance circle, and the malemutes held a kind of prayer circle on the opposite sideline.
Malemutes had the first chance to score, but he let the ball fly just in front of the goal and then did the same with a high shot moments later. While West Valley caught up late in the second half, Malemutes had a number of shots on goal in the first half but was unable to break through the defense of West Valley and goaltender Nyla Welteren.
Early in the second half, Wertheren narrowly beat Lathrop's Madison Spencer's ball on the edge of the penalty area, denying a potential goal. Immediately afterwards, he also refused a free kick.
Meanwhile, West Valley nearly won the game when Anna Basinger sent the ball over the goal post. Malemutes continued to send more balls towards the net, including Maya Scanlon's well-placed shot midway through the second half, but it didn't have enough heat to get past Vertelen. She made a diving save on Spencer's breakaway a few minutes later.
The Wolfpack's Laura Seitz flicked the ball toward the opposing net, but it was ultimately saved in the final minutes, giving both teams the only narrow scoring chance in the final minutes of the game.
The tie ended West Valley's winning streak at four. West Valley is yet to lose in seven Railbelt Conference games and continues to rank second among Division 1 teams according to ASAA's new RPI metric.
The Wolfpack Girls will be back in action for their first game of the season against North Pole on Friday, May 10th at 7:30 p.m., and Lathrop will play the previous day against the Patriots on Thursday, May 10th at 5:30 p.m. They compete against each other, and then suddenly turn around to face Hutchison.Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Wolfpack and Malemute will play again next Monday, May 13th at 7:30 p.m.
West Valley Boys: 4, Lathrop: 0
The West Valley boys team entered the game as perhaps not as much of a favorite as the Wolfpack girls, but they were eager to treat the game against their crosstown foe like any other game.
“Yeah, this is a Lathrop game so it’s one of those games where there’s kind of a rivalry, but I told the players to approach it as a separate game and not get too excited about it being a Lathrop vs. West Valley game.” We're telling them not to. It's another game,'' West Valley head coach Nick Hertzberg said after the game. “As long as we do our jobs and do what we're supposed to do, things will work out.”
Less than 15 minutes into the game, Alex Emmers scored from close range on a header from Jack Babcock to give West Valley the lead. Moments later, West Valley's goalie stopped the ball near the right corner of the net.
Five minutes later, he stumbled into a shot and saved a penalty late in the second half. West Valley then extended its lead when senior striker Isaac Ivey scored after receiving a corner kick.
Lathrop's Tucker Sarkisian tried to nearly cut the deficit in half at the end of the first half, but his shot missed just a foot to the right of the goal. West Valley eventually extended its lead after the intermission.
“We talked about letting the players settle down in their half and try to pass the ball around a little bit better. I think we did a better job in the second half and were able to be more dangerous and keep the pressure on them. “I think so,” Hertzberg said.
The Wolfpack scored their first goal of the second half at about the same time as the first. The goal this time was a header from Ebrahim Shihadeh. Peter Hilpert sent a shot from the left side of the field past Lathrop's keeper and into the left side of the goal, scoring West Valley's fourth goal.
Malemutes scored a few near-goal goals late in the game, and West Valley responded several times late in the game, ending the game 4-0. The win improved the Pack to 4-3-2 overall and kept it in third place in the Railbelt Conference, just ahead of Lathrop (5-4 overall).
The West Valley boys team will be back in action for its first game of the season against North Pole on Friday, May 10th at 5:30 p.m., and Lathrop will play the Patriots the previous day on Thursday, May 10th at 7:30 p.m. The Wolfpack and Malemutes will play again next Monday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Contact Gavin Struve at gstrave@newsminer.com or 907-459-7544. You can follow him on Twitter/X @gavinstruve.