By Quint Turner
The Mavericks have probably one of the hardest schedules in the Wesco 3A league, having to play Shorecrest, Shorewood and Glacier Peak all in a row — all in the second half of the season.
The game started with a quick shot from Glacier Peak’s David Linney that just went high. The Mavs had a good chance when Mitch Hatzenbeler got the ball the other way and swung in a cross that would be punched away by Andrew Weakly, the Grizzlies’ keeper. Glacier Peak then would get the majority of the chances the rest of the way, with shots taken by Linney, Juan Machuca-Garin and Gregor Troost, although a lot of dangerous shots near the goal box went either high or wide.
In the 21st minute, the Mavs got one of their best chances: A Peter Mataya free kick from the corner of the box that swung in to a Grizzly that would be cleared. The Grizzlies got all the rest of the chances in the half, including Linney getting a great shot to the bottom-right corner that was saved, and a chip shot from Jeff Stenberg that went on top of the net, not in. A strange play just before the half ended happened when Shane Miller tried to make a bicycle kick but ended up hitting Nils Odegaard in the face. Miller would get a yellow as the half would end in a stalemate.
In the second half, the Mavs once again were back on their heels with many corners from the Grizzlies. Troost took a corner that was cleared, then got a cross that was just out of reach. Miller came down the side and took a shot that got by Gove but was just wide, followed by another corner from Bjornethun that went to Linney whose shot was blocked. After two more shots by Linney, he finally got a goal on a shot 30 yards out that curved right around Gove and into the net for an unassisted goal. The Mavs had two more chances to tie. A cross from Mataya was blocked by Glacier Peak’s Weakly in the 68th minute, and another Meadowdale attempt in the 78th minute was blocked. The Grizzlies would hang on for the 1-0 win.
The JV Maverick team tied 0-0 in their match. The Mavs will play again on Saturday at Edmonds Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
Sports correspondent Quint Turner is a student at Meadowdale High School.
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