Johnson’s 2 goals propel Hounds to victory

PULLMAN — Sidney Johnson had one goal to her name entering Pullman’s Thursday girls soccer match with Deer Park.

In a three-minute span within the match’s first 10 minutes, she scored twice.

“It was really unexpected, actually. I just kind of hit it as far as I could and hoped it went in; it was pretty far off,” Johnson said of both of her goals. “I’m usually an assister, not a scorer.”

Johnson’s two goals were enough for the Greyhounds to earn a 2-1 win over the Stags in 2A Greater Spokane League play.

Johnson prevails early — twice

Johnson delivered from the jump, drilling two elegant goals in a span of just over two minutes.

The junior defender executed a textbook crosser and used her open field to send the ball sailing through the air and over the goalie’s head. In the seventh minute, Pullman (9-2, 6-1) led 1-0 over Deer Park (6-4, 3-4).

Johnson wasted little time putting on another show as she executed a similar crosser, saw a passage of green and delivered another authoritative kick that seemed to glide to the back of the net in slow motion.

Pullman coach Katie Evermann said that she and her staff had encouraged Johnson to take more shots.

Johnson said she typically assists on goals, rather than shooting herself, but with nothing but green grass in front of her, she decided to strike on two occasions to put the Hounds up 2-0 nine minutes into the game.

“I saw an open channel. It was pretty far out, I could have passed it, but I also just thought it’s just way open out here so I just shot it as far as I could,” Johnson said.

Good defense leads to good goals

Johnson credited the defensive play of her teammates for opening up her early scoring opportunities.

“I wouldn’t have been able to score if it wasn’t for our defense building it up,” she said.

The Greyhounds played a persistent brand of soccer, staying on their assignments and making Deer Park deal with a whole pack of Hounds at every turn, especially in the box.

The Stags turned the Hounds away with the ball in the box early in the first half. Deer Park’s Samantha Fausti made a leaping save on Pullman’s next shot.

Pullman got a corner kick several minutes later, but could not convert.

A disorganized second half

The Hounds took four shots to Deer Park’s two in the first half, but only got one shot to the Stags’ two in the second.

“We were a little bit more disorganized, and had to fight a little bit more to defend our side of the field,” Evermann said. “But we held it together and pulled it off.”

The Hounds persisted, keeping Deer Park at bay but failing to create many offensive opportunities for themselves.

Eventually, the Stags broke through. Deer Park’s Katelyn Reiter zipped the ball from the right side of the field to the left corner of the goal to cut Pullman’s lead in half.

The Greyhounds clamped down and held on to win 2-1.

“We definitely need to take more shots and get it off our foot faster,” Johnson said. “We’ve had problems scoring.”

Outlook for the Greyhounds

The Hounds sit in second place in their league behind West Valley (10-0-1, 7-0), which beat them 8-0 on Tuesday.

The Greyhounds have five regular season games remaining, concluding with a home match versus West Valley on Oct. 30.

For the Greyhounds, this season is the best they have had in well over a decade.

“We’re trying to go to State; it’s been 15 years since we’ve been to State. That’s our main goal,” Johnson said. “Right now we’re second in league — which is like the first time in 10 years — so we’re doing really good this year and we’re hoping to keep that up.”

Deer Park 0 1—1

Pullman 2 0—2

Pullman — Sidney Johnson, 7th.

Pullman — Johnson, 9th.

Deer Park — Katelyn Reiter, 70th.

Shots — Pullman 5, Deer Park 5; Saves — Pullman: Lillian Cobos 4; Deer Park: Samantha Fausti 1.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.