Corvallis and Crescent Valley play to a scoreless deadlock in the Mid-Willamette game

It’s what you might expect when two quality high school soccer programs meet in a rivalry game.

Back-and-forth play, quality chances and great saves from goalkeepers.

Thursday night’s Mid-Willamette Conference showdown between Corvallis and Crescent Valley was all that and more.

In the end, nothing was settled between the crosstown rivals as CV’s Kelsey Gillen and CHS’s Rachel King each made some key saves as the teams battled to a 0-0 draw at CV’s Field of Dreams.

“We expected it to be a very tough game coming in here,” CHS coach Dan Finnen said.

It was.

The Spartans (5-2-2, 1-0-1) had the majority of the opportunities in the first half, but Gillen was solid in net for the Raiders (6-2-1, 1-0-1).

“It was nice to see how we came out in the first half,” Finnen said. “I think that we were really composed and had good control during the first half and created some opportunities.”

Added CV coach Andrew Donaldson: “They destroyed us in the first half, tore us apart in the first half and Kelsey Gillen again came up huge.”

The Spartans may have been able to take advantage of some of CV’s youth in the first 40 minutes.

“Dan’s done a great job with his team,” Donaldson said. “He has them very organized. In the first half they really knocked it around.”

Then it was CV’s turn in the second half, as the Raiders had more scoring chances and controlled possession.

And it took a save from King in the final three minutes on a back heel shot from Meghan Drost after a corner kick to keep the game scoreless.

“We expected CV to come out in the second half and put some more pressure on us and they did,” Finnen said. “We absorbed it pretty well and Rachel made a huge stop for us at the end to preserve the tie.”

While the MWC is just two games old, if the season turns out as expected, CV and CHS could end up with identical 6-0-1 records and tied for the crown. Both coaches would like to see a playoff game to determine the top seed to the state playoffs; however, a coin flip is more likely.

And while both teams expect to finish tied for first, there is still work to be done.

“We just want to keep building every game,” Finnen said. “We did a good job of doing what we wanted to do (Thursday) which was keep things in front of us, stay composed defensively and not give up any silly goals.

“We are playing better defense and I think we’re just going to keep getting better as we go along. That’s what we want to focus on. Play smart, and we’ve been doing that lately.”

Donaldson and the Raiders have a similar approach.

“Every game we need to play against ourselves instead of the other team,” Donaldson said. “We talk about every day assessing how we play and then building off that. Are we playing that well every day? Are we improving?

“This was a great test for us.”

Both teams return to action in the quest for a 6-0-1 record on Tuesday. Corvallis is at South Albany while CV hosts Dallas.