INW College Recap - Week 11: Walla Walla women win showdown for first as Warriors claim title double

The NWAACC season came to a close in a somewhat drama-free fashion aside from the first-place showdown between leaders Walla Walla and Spokane, who were separated by just one point. The Warriors rolled to a surprising 5-0 victory to avenge their lone loss of the season, leaving the duo as part of a trio across the NWACCC that finished with only one loss on their overall record along with Whatcom. Whatcom was joined by reigning NWAACC women's champion Peninsula (16-0-0) as the only unbeaten teams in conference campaigns. The East Division finished Walla Walla, Spokane and Columbia Basin for both the men's and women's seasons.

The postseason begins Wednesday with the CBC men and women on the road while Spokane plays host to a doubleheader. The winners of their contests advance to the Quarterfinals on the road Saturday versus the regular season division champions from one of the other divisions while Walla Walla awaits their first round opponents from either the North or South.

Mini-Preview

The Spokane men defeated their opening round opponent Tacoma earlier this season, 2-1, with goals Brian Clark tallying a goal and assist and tied potential quarterfinal opponent, South champion Clark, in a back-and-forth 3-3 affair. Devin Leon, who also scored in the Tacoma win, scored twice and Xavier Day (Cheney, WA) had the other as Spokane rallied from two down to pull even and then got the equalizer with nine minutes left after falling behind again. Columbia Basin lost 3-0 to their opening round opponent Highline and fell against North champion and possible quarterfinal opponent Skagit Valley 3-1 with Erik Ruiz (Boardman, WA) scoring the lone goal in the loss while trailing by two.

The Spokane women have not played opening round opponent Bellevue this season, but were 2-1 winners against Clackamas in the debut game of the campaign. After falling behind moments before the break, the Sasquatch pulled even via Tasha Luu (Colville, WA) two minutes after the intermission and she turned provider at the hour mark for Rainey Pelzel's winner. Last year Spokane rallied to top Bellevue 4-1 with all four goals coming from current sophomores Kat Tsoukalas (Kennewick, WA), Pelzel and Luu, who netted twice. Similarly, Columbia Basin has only seen possible quarterfinal opponent Edmonds this season, falling 3-0 in the previous meeting. Last year CBC lost 2-1 to Highline, their opening round opponent Wednesday.

Across the border in Idaho, the North Idaho College women fell in their postseason opener, 3-0, to Otero JC.

NWAACC EAST - WOMEN

Wednesday, October 30 

Spokane 0 :: 5 Walla Walla
The Warriors avenged their lone loss of the season in the showdown for first place in the division in convincing fashion. Alli Madril (Boise, ID) provided the go-ahead goal in the 14th minute courtesy of Lexi Miller (Pasco, WA) and the lead was doubled seven minutes later via an own goal. Madril put things out of reach when she set up back-to-back Olivia Rodgers (East Wenatchee, WA) goals in the 60th and 63rd minutes of the game and Tash Anderson (Bend, OR) capped the match in the 81st. Aiko Johnson made six saves for the shutout.

Columbia Basin 1 :: 0 Treasure Valley
Mykenzie Lilly (Benton City, WA) provided the lone tally in the 28th minute for the Hawks and Dakota Wickard (Pullman, WA) made two saves for the clean sheet.

Yakima Valley 1 :: 3 Wenatchee Valley
London Cleverly (Moses Lake, WA) put the Knights up two in the first 20 minutes when she set up Patricia Romero (Quincy, WA) in the 15th and scored herself five minutes later on a ball from Taylor Mackenzie. Daniela Vargas (Wenatchee, WA) connected with Shannon Murphy three minutes into the second half to make it three before Melina Gonzalez (Sunnyside, WA) spoiled the shutout in the 61st.

Saturday, November 2 

Walla Walla 8 :: 0 Wenatchee Valley
With the division title in hand, the Warriors finished the season with another rout. Olivia Rodgers (East Wenatchee, WA) scored three goals in the first half and added an assist in with two minutes to go on Oryian Matheny's (Grandview, WA) tally. Delaney Romero (Yakima, WA) scored the other first half goal, the second, and added two more in the second half for a hat-trick as well. Chloie Dale (Idaho Falls, ID) tallied the seventh goal.

Treasure Valley 2 :: 0 Yakima Valley
Ellena Fajardo (Eagle, ID) scored 22 minutes in and Regan Hyde (Preston, ID) locked up the victory with two minutes remaining courtesy of Allie Spencer (Meridian, ID) as Kelsey Blacks made eight saves for the shutout.

Spokane 5 :: 1 Columbia Basin

The Sasquatch rebounded from their first loss of the year by handily defeating the other East Division playoff side. Tasha Luu (Colville, WA) scored the first two goals in the 20th and 30th courtesy of Kat Tsoukalas (Kennewick, WA) and Rashelle Fisher, respectively. Tsoukalas found Lindsay DeHaas (Spokane, WA) four minutes into the second half to push the margin to three before Mykenzie Lilly (Benton City, WA) scored on a ball from Yesenia Alvarado (Richland, WA) in the 55th. Brittany Bruegeman (Spokane, WA) scored in the 65th and Kayleen Oliver (Medical Lake, WA) set up the final goal in Luu's hat-trick with 10 minutes left.

Final Standings
Walla Walla 14-1-1… Spokane 12-1-3… Columbia Basin 7-7-2… Treasure Valley 2-10-4… Wenatchee Valley 2-12-2… Yakima Valley 0-16-0

NWAACC Bracket

NWAACC EAST - MEN

Wednesday, October 30 

Spokane 0 :: 0 Walla Walla
With the standings set, the two sides battled to a scoreless draw with Derek Carver making four saves for the hosts and Bridger Peres (Spokane, WA) making seven stops for the Bigfoot.

Columbia Basin 3 :: 1 Treasure Valley
The Chukars grabbed the initial lead through Robbie Smith (LaGrande, OR) nine minutes in but he would later be sent off. Javy Carvajal (Walla Walla, WA) tied it up for the Hawks in the 53rd on a ball from Guillermo Silva (Yakima, WA) and then after Jesse Esquivel (Yakima, WA) put them ahead in the 58th Carvajal set up Erik Ruiz to give them some insurance in the 62nd.

Saturday, November 2 

Walla Walla 2 :: 1 Wenatchee Valley
The Warriors surprisingly found themselves trailing after five minutes when Josh Contreras connected with Williams Pineda (Yakima, WA) for the lead. Max Smith tallied in the 10th and Michael Mollay (Boise, ID) added the winner in the 28th for the division champions. WVC's Tim Wagner (Cashmere, WA) was sent off for the Knights.

Spokane 0 :: 1 Columbia Basin
The Hawks finished on a high note with Gerard Lomas (Richland, WA) providing the deciding goal in the ninth minute courtesy of Guillermo Silva (Yakima, WA) with Antonio Gonzalez (Cowiche, WA) making seven saves at the other end to make it stand for the win.

Final Standings
Walla Walla 10-0-3… Spokane 7-4-2…  Columbia Basin 4-4-5… Treasure Valley 3-9-1… Wenatchee Valley 2-8-3

NWAACC Bracket

NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE  - WOMEN

Friday, November 1 (NJCAA District C semifinal)

North Idaho College 0 :: 3 Otero JC 
After a scoreless first half under very windy conditions at their back, the contest was scoreless. The Cardinals would rue the missed chances - a Kellsi Parson free kick and an Audrianna Woods effort off a corner - as Otero scored off a corner at the hour mark and then added two more, one on a free kick from 35 yards and another off a wind-aided 40-yard effort. MORE

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