Scrimsher’s hat trick leads Kamiakin rout over Mt. Spokane

Facing an opponent that had only one victory this season, the Kamiakin High School boys soccer team expected to win its opening game of the Mid-Columbia Conference/Greater Spokane League subregionals Wednesday at Lampson Stadium.

The Braves came out and dominated.

Lucas Scrimsher had Kamiakin’s first hat trick of the season and Isaiah Arechiga scored twice as the Braves rolled to an 9-0 victory over Mt. Spokane (1-13) in their loser-out game to advance to the double-elimination part of the Class 3A tournament.

“Coming into it, as a sophomore, I really had no idea what we were getting into,” said Scrimsher, a midfielder/forward. “I asked the seniors what their thoughts were about the GSL, and they said it wouldn’t be too easy, but we should be able to pull it off. I felt comfortable, and it was just a good game.”

The Braves (8-9) play North Central (4-10) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane, needing two wins in their next three games to advance to the glue crossover.

“I thought the guys played well,” Kamiakin coach Jeff Bennett said. “It was a good opportunity for us to work on things we have been working on for ... the whole season.

“It was good to see that they were able to execute, especially going into the playoffs, so hopefully we’ll be able to carry that into the games coming up.”

Andrew Scrimsher got things started in the seventh minute by heading home a cross from Caden Egli. Chace Jenkins finished a low cross from Garrett Grillo in the 19th, Lucas Scrimsher walked in a loose ball in the 24th off a set piece, and Christian Anguiano fired a laser into the bottom left corner from 12 yards out in the 36th to give the Braves a 4-0 lead at halftime.

Isaiah Arechiga and Lucas Scrimsher poured in two goals each in the first 20 minutes of the second half, then Eder capped the scoring with a shot from 25 yards out in the 77th that the keeper misplayed.

“I was a little stressed coming into the game just because I didn’t know if we were gonna win or not,” Lucas Scrimsher said. “I would have hated for soccer season to be over because it’s my favorite time of the year.

“Knowing that we have (at least) two more games, it just pumps us up, gets us going. We should be able to push hard for the rest of the season.”

Bennett said a blowout win to start the playoffs could help his team build confidence, but that “it can also have the negative effect of building too much confidence.”

So how does a team manage its hubris after a nine-goal postseason victory?

“We’ll find out in the next three days,” Bennett joked. “There’s a lot of emotion coming out of a game like this, and there’s a lot of emotion going into the next one.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Scrimsher’s hat trick leads Kamiakin rout over Mt. Spokane."