MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake High School girls soccer team hosted The Lady Riverhawks at Lions Field last night, looking to nail down first place in Big 9 action.

But a win wasn't in the cards as the Lady Chiefs dropped the match 1-0.

"It was a disappointing loss," coach Ricardo Char said. "But we have to put it behind us and get ready for Richland Saturday."

The two teams played to a 0-0 score at the half as defense dominated the period. Moses Lake fired off a half dozen shots on goal, but couldn't get the ball in the Chiawana net.

"We had a lot of missed opportunities in the first half of play," Char said. "But that's soccer. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't."

A hard shot on goal by Lizzi McGraw six minutes into the second half of play hit the top of the Chiawana cross-bar, but caromed back into the field of play.

"That was a great shot, but unfortunately it didn't go in," Char said. "If it was just a hair lower, she would've scored to put us ahead."

Neither team's offense had any success until mid-way through the period, when Lexi Ellingsen drilled a shot from 25-yards out that got by the Chiefs goalkeeper Heidi Palmer for the score, and a 1-0 lead.

Char, obviously frustrated with the loss, had nothing but praise for the visiting squad from Chiawana.

"I have to hand it to them," he said. "They worked hard and earned the win."

Moses Lake, try as they might, was unable to match the goal as time ran out in the second half.

The loss drops the Lady Chiefs record to 6-2 in league play. The win for Chiawana improves the Riverhawks record to 3-6.

McGraw, the Big 9 scoring leader, was held without a goal.

Moses Lake hits the road on Saturday to face the Lady Bombers of Richland. Char expects the game to be extremely competitive.

"We are going to be in the fight of our lives," he said. "We beat them in a shoot out here at Lions Field, so they will be looking to get even."

The match gets underway at 1 p.m.