INW College Recap - Week 12: NWAACC Final Fours are set; players announced for All-Star games

The Warriors of Walla Walla CC were the lone sides from the East to survive the NWAACC Quarterfinal Round contests Wednesday as they won both at home while Spokane was swept on the road and the Columbia Basin was knocked out on the women's side.

Everett CC 0 :: 3 Walla Walla CC - WOMEN 

The Walla Walla women returned to the Final Four after seeing their run of seven consecutive semifinal appearances come to an end last year after winning three-consecutive league titles. The Warriors blanked Everett, the third seed out of the North, 3-0. Olivia Rodgers (East Wenatchee, WA) put them in front after two minutes on a ball from Delaney Romero (Yakima, WA), but the Trojans kept them off the board until she scored her second six minutes into the second half courtesy of Alli Madril (Boise, ID). Mackena Carkner found Tash Anderson (Bend, OR) in the 74th to put it out of reach.

"We played well in spurts and had majority of possession in the game," said WWCC head coach Chad Bodnar. "We found a lot of room on the flanks like we thought we would, and got in early and scored an early goal which took some edge off.

"Olivia Rodgers continued her goal-scoring streak with two goals today. Our back line was very solid throughout the match and goalkeeper Aiko Johnson kept another clean sheet. We are extremely excited to make another final four appearance."

The semifinal contest against defending champion Peninsula may be the most difficult opposition for the Warriors at the Final Fur as they finished their league campaign a perfect 16-0-0. Statistically, the two were dominant this season with WWCC finishing first in goals scored (99) and few goals allowed (6) with Peninsula second in both categories (85 & 12). The Warriors have victories this season over the other two semifinal opponents. They blanked South champion Clackamas 3-0 in the second game of the season with goals from Lexi Miller (Pasco, WA), Delaney Romero and Olivia Rodgers and in league play drubbed North champion Edmonds 6-0 with Romero scoring the first three before Mackena Carkner, Oryian Matheny and Rodgers adding tallies in the second half.

NWAACC Championship at Starfire Stadium (Tukwila, WA) 

Semifinals - Saturday, November 16 
Clackamas vs. Edmonds 10:30
Peninsula vs. Walla Walla 1:00

All-Star Game - Sunday, November 17 10:30
Final - Sunday, November 17 3:00

Whatcom CC 1 :: 2 Walla Walla CC - MEN

Returning to the Final Four for a second consecutive year was not an easy task for the Warrior men as the North's third seed Whatcom proved to be a difficult out despite coming in with just four wins (4-7-2). After a scoreless stalemate in the first half, Mario Guizar (Kennewick, WA) finally broke the deadlock in the 56th minute for the hosts but Whatcom found an answer with the equalizer in the 65th minute. It looked like the contest was destined for overtime when Cesar Rodriguez (Yakima, WA) put the Warriors through in stoppage time.

"We didn't play as well as we would have liked, but all credit to Whatcom - they played extremely hard and moved the ball well," said Bodnar. "As in many quarterfinals it came down to a break here or there, and we got one in [stoppage] time. I thought our boys battled hard and wanted to play another week. We have a few days to prepare and look forward to playing Peninsula on Saturday."

The semifinal will be a rematch of last year's championship game in which Peninsula prevailed 1-0 to earn a sweep of the the soccer titles as the ladies downed CC Spokane in penalties after a 1-1 draw. The Pirates got the championship winner in the 87th last year. Should they advance, the Warriors could face West runner-up Highline, whom they have not played this year, or South champion Clark, the only team to beat the Warriors this year with a victory in the season opener. The Penguins  snared the rare 3-2 victory in a back-and-forth contest in which the Warriors' Michael Mollay (Boise, ID) and Guizar scored in the first half and Clark received two from Antony Gonzalez. Juan Ayala-Jimenez provided the 70th minute winner for the Penguins.

NWAACC Championship at Starfire Stadium (Tukwila, WA) 

Semifinals - Saturday, November 16 
Clark vs. Highline 3:30
Peninsula vs. Walla Walla 6:00

All-Star Game - Sunday, November 17 12:30
Final - Sunday, November 17 5:30

OTHER RESULTS

MEN - CC Spokane (4) 0 :: PK :: 0 (5) Clark College
The Bigfoot were bounced in penalties after keeping the second-leading offense (70 goals) in the league scoreless for the entire match. It was only the second time this season that the Penguins were shutout and the just the third they did not claim a victory with 18-1-1 overall record featuring another draw against Spokane (3-3) and a loss to unbeaten West winner and defending NWAACC champion Peninsula.  Curtis Hill (Spokane, WA) had the shutout with eight saves for Spokane.

WOMEN - CC Spokane 0 :: 2 Clackamas CC
In a rematch of last year's semifinal won by the Bigfoot 1-0 and this year's season opener won 2-1 by CC Spokane, the South champions avenged the losses with goals at the severe ends of the match, catching Spokane off guard with the opener 11 seconds into the game and then clinching the victory in the 88th minute. Both goals wet from Hope Butler (Hermiston, OR), but it was their defense, tied for second in the league (12 GA), shutting down the Sasquatch on the narrow field in CC Spokane's first night game that was key to the victory.

WOMEN -- Columbia Basin College 0 :: 3 Edmonds CC
The goalkeeping of Dakota Wickard (Pullman, WA), with nine saves, made things a difficult task for the 12-1-3 North champion Tritons, who were unable to break through against the East's third seed until the 73rd minute. Once the seal was broken though, the match was wrapped up in quick fashion with the second goal coming just six minutes later and the third in the 86th.

2013 NWAACC HONORS

The NWAACC also unveiled its honors for the 2013 season, releasing the rosters for the All-Star games set for Sunday at Starfire. Players from the East Division that are on the North/East All-Star squads are comprised of nearly all Walla Walla CC and CC Spokane players. On the men's side the two programs swept the All-Star spots from the division with Spokane's Kenny Krestian earning the Coach of the Year nod for the East. Spokane's Jim Martinson was the East's Coach of the Year on the women's side which saw a player each also make the the All-Star squads from Yakima Valley CC and Columbia Basin College.

East Division's All-Stars - MEN

East Division MVP: Mario Guizar (Kennewick, WA) - Walla Walla CC
East Division Coach of the Year: Kenny Krestian - CC Spokane 

G: Ulisses Faurrieta (Redmond, OR) - Walla Walla CC; Curtis Hill (Spokane, WA) - CC Spokane… D: Brett Butler (Yakima, WA) - Walla Walla CC; Jacob Fitterer (Spokane, WA) - CC Spokane; Travis Hill (Spokane, WA) - CC Spokane; Jhony Mendoza (Yakima, WA) - Walla Walla CC; Geovani Vasquez (Kennewick, WA) - Walla Walla CC… M: Mario Guizar (Kennewick, WA) - Walla Walla CC; Alex Opland (Rathdrum, ID) - CC Spokane; Max Smith - Walla Walla CC… F: Saif Al Rikabi - Walla Walla CC; Brian Clark - CC Spokane; Devin Leon - CC Spokane

East Division's All-Stars - WOMEN

East Division MVP: Tasha Luu (Colville, WA) - CC Spokane
East Division Coach of the Year: Jim Martinson - CC Spokane

G: Aiko Johnson - Walla Walla CC… D: Shauntice Perrigo - Walla Walla CC; Serena Robertson (Richland, WA) - Walla Walla CC; Taylor Schutzenhofer (Kennewick, WA) - Columbia Basin College; Kassie Torres (Coeur d'Alene, ID) - CC Spokane… M: Yzarely Castro (Yakima, WA) - Yakima Valley CC; Lexi Miller (Pasco, WA) - Walla Walla CC; Rainey Pelzel - CC Spokane; Laura Seymour (Spokane, WA) - CC Spokane; Kat Tsoukalas (Kennewick, WA) - CC Spokane… F: Tasha Luu (Colville, WA) - CC Spokane

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