The first Noelle goal sends Reardan to districts

SPOKANE–The Screaming Eagles faced Kettle Falls in NE2B soccer action on Senior Night, Oct. 24. Behind Noelle Raczykowski's dominating performance, the Screaming Eagles defeated the Bulldogs 4-1. The win qualified them to play in a tiebreaker game on Oct. 25 at Saint George's School.

The winner of that game would proceed to the district playoffs. The opponent? Kettle Falls.

In their first matchup, the teams played much of the game in the middle of the field. Reardan's defenders Elise Cox, Mackenzie Bjornberg and Vaea LaMoureaux allowed few shots on goal and those were quickly swallowed up by goalie Jaylee Abrahamson.

Raczykowski's footwork and speed proved to be the difference. She scored her first goal midway through the first half with a high looping shot from 35-yards out that sailed over the outstretched hands of the Bulldog's goalie.

She added another goal in the first half and two more in the second by outracing her opponents and booting long shots from near the sideline.

Abrahamson, who played her last home game, was proud of her team's effort.

"We played really good together," Abrahamson said. "Our back line was cohesive, and we did a good job keeping the ball on their half of the field."

The Screaming Eagles played their second game against Kettle Falls 23 hours after their first. The game's format was atypical as it featured two 5-minute halves instead of 40.

With a playoff spot on the line, the teams played with urgency and emotion. They fought to a draw until Raczykowski was credited with a wacky goal with less than two minutes to play.

Reardan's Elise Cox, who was jockeying for position near Kettle Falls' goal, described the action.

"Raczykowski curved a shot from the left side, and it went halfway in," Cox said. "A girl from Kettle Falls, finished the score by knocking it across the line."

Coach Heaven Berarducci had never been a part of a 10-minute game before and was unsure if her team "would be able to get into their groove."

She was not disappointed.

"They fought to the end and didn't give up," Berarducci said. "They crashed the goal which is how we ended up winning."

The two wins improved Reardan's league record to 4-6. Kettle Falls ended their season 3-7.

Reardan's first playoff game was at No. 1 seeded Northwest Christian on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. The powerful Crusaders got an easy 4-0 win, sending Reardan to a third-place game at Davenport Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m.