Panthers Denied at Home as Wolves Spoil the Opener, 3-0
Not a cloud in the sky, the sun dipping out right on cue at kickoff, it was about as good as a Tuesday night in September gets. Bonney Lake opened its home slate riding a 1-0 start to the season off a road win at Kentridge, and a good size crowd turned out to see the Panthers christen their own turf. By the final whistle, though, it was Eastlake doing the celebrating, the Wolves pulling away in a non-league test with a 3-0 win.
Bonney Lake came out firing. In the opening five minutes, the Panthers controlled the run of play and drove it straight down the pitch, and Layla Davisson ripped the first real look of the night, a shot on frame that had the home crowd on its feet before the Eastlake keeper gathered it in.
Eastlake answered by taking over the run of play, camping out in the Panthers' end for a long stretch. But Bonney Lake's back line, anchored by Zoe Shoemaker, Bailey Morris, and Reese Snider-Welsh, refused to blink, and freshman goalkeeper Maggie Warmington calmly swallowed up the one shot the Wolves could muster on frame.
The deadlock finally broke in the 29th minute. Eastlake worked a corner kick into a scramble in the box, and the ball found its way through traffic and into the net, 1-0, Wolves.
Bonney Lake refused to fold. Around the 36th minute, Carly Lynch and Davisson each ripped shots on goal, keeping the Eastlake keeper honest, but neither found the back of the net. Then, in the 43rd minute, Warmington came up huge with a diving save to keep it a one-goal game, only for the Wolves to pounce on the rebound and slash it from the right side back into the middle for their second goal right before the whistle. Bonney Lake headed to the locker room down 2-0.
The Panthers came out of the break with a new face guarding the net, freshman Kate McKenzie, and kept the pressure on. Around the 58th minute, Abby Arneson drew and rifled a free kick, and Bonney Lake strung together a couple of dangerous looks, but the finishing touch stayed just out of reach. In the 59th minute, Eastlake struck again, a clinical sequence that pulled the Panther defense out of shape before working it back into the middle for the finish. 3-0, Wolves.
Bonney Lake never stopped coming. Down the stretch, London Rolbiecki fired off a couple of good looks, and Gwendolyn Crose nearly broke through as well, but the Wolves' defense, and their goalkeeper, slammed the door the rest of the way, and Bonney Lake's back line made sure the deficit stopped at three.
The final whistle drops Bonney Lake to 1-1 on the season after that opening win at Kentridge. Head coach Michael Peters and the Panthers will look to get back in the win column Thursday, when Timberline comes to town.
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