Pasco 1, Chiawana 0: Cassidy Rush scored in the 44th minute as the Bulldogs pulled off a big upset of their rivals Thursday in a Class 4A District 5 elimination game at Chiawana.

Rush scored after Abby Buckenberger headed a corner kick to Rush’s feet, and Rush blasted home the golden goal into the upper left corner of the goal.

From there, the defense and goalie Carrie Nolan made the score standup, going into a defensive mode and not allowing the Riverhawks many chances.

“We’ve lost five or six one-goal games, and we’ve decided we are a defensive team,” Pasco coach Justin Carey said. “Once we got that goal in, that is what we were looking for. We just held onto the ball when we got it, and just played very, very strong defense.”

Pasco will play at Richland at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the district title match, with both teams advancing to the Class 4A Eastern Washington regional tournament.

On Thursday, though, it was the Pasco defense that helped erase the bad memories of Chiawana’s 4-1 and 2-1 regular-season wins.

In the 30th minute, the Pasco defense cleared a ball off the line, helping stifle one of Chiawana’s few chances.

“We had a lot of confidence coming in that we could win the game,” Carey said. “We knew we could defend. Just didn’t know where the goal was going to come from.”

Scoring—1, Pasco, Cassidy Rush (Abby Buckenberger), 43:50. Shots—Pasco 5, Chiawana 10. Saves—Pasco, Carrie Nolan, 7; Chiawana, Cydni Cottrell, 2.

WENATCHEE 2, SUNNYSIDE 0: Macenzie Butler finished with 11 saves, but the Grizzlies fell on the road to the Panthers.

Scoring—1, W, Olivia Doerr, 23:00. 2, W, Emily Rader, 37:00. Shots—S 10, W 19. Saves—S, Macenzie Butler 11. W, Jackie Bollinger 6.