MOSCOW — The Moscow Bears and Lewiston Bengals split regular season boys soccer meetings one apiece, and their district tournament encounter on Saturday at the Moscow Community Playfields was about as closely contested as one might have expected in light of that fact.
There was little to report through a scoreless first half on the windy and overcast morning; following intermission, however, both teams revealed their sense of urgency. The second-seeded Bears took the initiative and drew first blood, only for the third-seeded Bengals to strike back in the latter stages and seize a 2-1 victory.
“The team really rallied,” Lewiston coach Dalton Mauzay said. “It was good to see that — to have them keep believing and keep fighting.”
Lewiston will now visit top-seeded Sandpoint to play for the district title at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, while Moscow’s season has come to a close.
Bears break through
It was quickly apparent after halftime that Moscow (7-6-1) had come out on a mission. The Bears dominated possession and flirted with a goal for several minutes before senior leader Jonas Mordhorst drove in a header off a corner kick from sophomore Cody Brooks to move the scoreboard at last.
“The corner kicks are a mental game more than anything, and as long as you get a decent delivery, it’s just up to the player to go out and get it,” said Moscow coach Caleb Brooks, who is also Cody’s older brother. “Jonas just showed what he has all season: that he’s more aggressive and bigger, and will do the hard thing.”
Mordhorst had also supplied Moscow’s first score off an assist from Cody Brooks en route to the Bears’ 3-1 victory against Lewiston (6-7) on Sept. 16 — but in that encounter, they built up a three-goal buffer before Ryan Katzenberg finally got the Bengals on the board late.
This match ended up more closely paralleling the teams’ rematch on Sept. 23, in which Lewiston also prevailed 2-1 in spite of being outshot 4-3. This time out, the Bears took five shots on goal to the Bengals’ four, but again did not quite make the most of their chances.
“If we have the ball that much in their half, we have to put things away early,” Caleb Brooks said. “All the credit to Lewiston. They turned it around, had a lot of energy, and their striker Ryan (Katzenberg) is a very good player.”
Bengals bite back
Another 20-plus minutes of scoreless play elapsed, and the possibility of a 1-0 Moscow victory looked strong before Katzenberg found his opening, sprinting into position for a feed from Kyle Wicks that snuck past Moscow defenders and gave him a goal opportunity at near point-blank range that he would not waste.
“When we scored that first goal to tie it up, you could feel the energy shift,” Mauzay said. “When they scored, our boys did well in response, but there was kind of a slow energy shift in the seniors.”
It was only a few more minutes before the revitalized Bengals once again penetrated the Moscow defense, getting multiple players in position to gun for a goal deep in the proverbial red zone.