May 6, 2009

Playoff Picture

After dropping the 3a teams out of the final standings the top eight teams will take part in the district playoffs.

After just one playoff appearance in the history of the program your Suns are now making back to back playoff appearances. This time as the third seed we will host a home game against eighth seed Walla Walla. We hope to have as many fans as possible in the stands to support the boys, the games we've played our best in we have had wonderful fan support. This game is a momentous occasion as a win will send us to the Regional Tournament for the first time ever, a loss on the other had will end our season. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

Pasco plays Kamiakin in the District Championship, with both teams already having secured a regional berth.

Davis plays host to Moses Lake and Eisenhower will host Kennewick in loser out contests.

We're Back

Sorry I haven't had a post for a while, after the Davis game we had to focus on getting back to playing Sun Soccer and that took all of our time and energy.

Some quick recognition from the Davis game; Jake Zoulek scored his ninth goal of the year, on Taylor Barnes first career assist. We were only the second team to score at Davis this year and the first in a month. Goalkeeper Brandon Hale played a great game making seven saves including two 1v1 breakaways.

The West Valley game saw our return to form as we battled one of the toughest teams in the league. The Rams were on a nine game win streak and were led by in form striker Junior Ayala, who had tallied a league best 23 goals. He would however prove no match for the suns physical play as Senior leader Corey Grady made it his goal to knock Junior down early and often. This set the tone for the match and the rest of the team stepped up and matched the intensity. We were unlucky to have a first half goal called back for a foul. Adolfo Garcia sent a high cross into the box off a rebound from a corner kick and Grady rose up to smash the ball into the back of the net. It was the referees view that Grady pushed off a defender to gain an advantage and the goal was disallowed. Junior Captain Jarad Brisbin had to headers saved by the keeper, as the Suns were able to dominate the aerial attack. Once again Brandon Hale's play between the pipes was stellar as he made eight saves and picked up his school record 10th shutout of the season.

The game would go to sudden death overtime and in the closing seconds Freshmen Jake Zoulek's upper 90 shot was saved by the West Valley keeper. So the game was to be decided in a shootout and despite an opening round save from Hale, and spot kicks converted by Brisbin, Tanner Crass, and Garcia the Rams won the shootout and kept second place for themselves while we settled for fourth.