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KENNEWICK -- Chalk another one up for Team Erikson.
The Kamiakin girls soccer team, the top seed out of the CBBN, was pushed to overtime for the second straight game but pulled out a 1-0 victory over University in the waning minutes Tuesday at Lampson Stadium to advance to the 4A state quarterfinals.
The Braves have been wearing yellow wristbands that read 'Team Erikson' in support of their coach, Chris Erikson, who was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma during the summer. They have used Erikson's inspiration to guide them when the chips were down during an injury-filled season.
They drew on it once again when Kristyn Bohlander set up for a corner kick in the 87th minute of a scoreless tie.
"The girls had it in their head that they were going to do a repeat of the other day," Erikson said, recalling Saturday's 2-1 overtime win over Moses Lake, when Brianna Brannan scored off a Bohlander corner in the third minute of overtime.
Bohlander, a sophomore midfielder, served the ball in front of the net, where University blocked one shot attempt before the ball bounced to Shannon Gunion just outside the 6-yard box.
Gunion, a senior midfielder, drilled a shot into the upper- left corner of the net past Titans goalkeeper Kolby Falco to give Kamiakin its 13th straight victory and a trip to the 4A quarterfinals.
"I couldn't believe it. I was shocked I actually got my foot on the ball," Gunion said after her third goal this season. "I had a few opportunities. I was there on a lot of corner kicks, but I nailed that one."
The Braves (17-1-1) will face Greater Spokane League co-champ Lewis & Clark (15-4-1) either Friday or Saturday for a chance to return to the final four in Lakewood.
"I just wanted to get the game over with," said Erikson, who has guided the Braves to 11 state quarterfinals in her 23 years as coach. "They were serving a lot of long balls in and putting balls in the air that created a lot of pressure."
Kamiakin outshot University 17-9, but the Titans did manage to create more chances for themselves in the second half. U-Hi coach Kevin Houston substituted liberally while Erikson stuck with her starters for much of the game.
"That did slow down play. I think Coach (Erikson) thought they were trying to break down our game plan," Gunion said.
The Titans spent a good amount of time in the Braves' defensive zone in the second half but had difficulty generating any quality opportunities.
Whenever a U-Hi player would get the ball in Kamiakin's zone, several white shirts would converge to break up the play and clear the ball out.
"Kamiakin closed down fairly quickly on defense," Houston said. "We needed to settle it a little better on the turf. We lost some good opportunities for shots."
Braves goalie Madi Meyer recorded her seventh shutout of the year, but the first-year keeper admitted that she was a little nervous when it came to the prospect of what would have been Kamiakin's first shootout.
"I seriously prayed every time we'd get the ball down there," Meyer said. "I couldn't really tell what's going on. You just wait for the hands to go up and the cheers."
Kamiakin 1, University 0 (2OT)
Scoring--1, K, Shannon Gunion (Kristyn Bohlander), 87:00. Shots--U 9, K 17. Saves--U, Kylie Wallace 3, Kolby Falco (40:00) 2. K, Madi Meyer 4.
