In the battle for second place, Skyview (6-2-1) trails Union (7-2-1) by three points but has one more match to play than the Titans.
In a back-and-forth match where scoring chances were few, Allison’s strike seemed to come out of nowhere.
A pass deflected off a Skyview defender to Allison at the top of the penalty area. In one swift motion, the senior hit a waist-high rocket that blazed inside the right post by the diving goalkeeper.
“That was a great goal by Riley,” Camas coach Roland Minder said. “From the time it left the foot to the time it was in goal was basically a fraction of a second.”
Allison said she has been practicing hitting shots quickly, knowing that good defenses won’t allow time to control the ball and set up a shot. Her training kicked in, she said.
“Minder has been on me about scoring goals, so I just had to” Allison said. “It felt right when it came off my foot. I looked up and it was in the goal.”
That Skyview held its own with Camas was no surprise. The Storm are the only team to have managed a draw against the unbeaten Papermakers this season.
“Some games you know you have to work extra hard to get the result,” Minder said. “We talked about the fact that this was one of them. You knew Skyview was going to bring their best game. The effort was there.”
Winning the league title has ramifications beyond trophies and bragging rights. The league champs will host the district tournament, which involves the top six teams in the 4A GSHL and begins Nov. 1.
Camas mounted most of the pressure during the first half. The Papermakers’ best scoring chance came 35 minutes into the match, when Fiona Samodurov’s shot from 20 yards was turned away by Katie Isaac’s diving save.
After Allison’s goal, Skyview pressed forward. But the Camas defense always seemed to snuff out a Storm scoring threat one pass before a scoring threat turned into a real chance.
“This was the biggest game of the year,” Allison said. “We worked hard for it, and it showed in how we worked.”