It was quite a day on the men's side as the East division nearly saw all three advance to the semifinals. East men's champion Spokane took care of business Saturday against visiting Tacoma, but needed overtime in the snow to move on 2-1. Third seed Walla Walla tied the top seed out of the South 2-2, eliminating Portland in the shootout to move on. Tied 1-1 with West top seed Highline, Columbia Basin nearly made it three East reps in the semifinals for the first time since the four-division format started in 2005, but the tiebreaker eliminated the Hawks in the sixth round.
The women of the East being kept out of the semifinals for the first time marks just the second time since 2005 that the division will only have representatives in one set of semifinals. It previously happened to the men in 2011. See the full history below.
Unbeaten East champion Walla Walla found themselves in a hole they were unable to climb out of in a 3-2 loss at home against Tacoma while Spokane came up empty in a 3-0 loss at Highline in their quarterfinal contest.
Editorial Note: Post delayed awaiting the announcement of All-Stars (which have been selected but not released)... will put those up later!
WOMEN ##############
W2 Tacoma 3-2 E1 Walla Walla
The unbeaten season came to an end for the Warriors, who were unable to erase an early deficit, and stop Isabelle Creighton. She tallied in the ninth minute and converted a penalty five minutes later for the commanding lead. Dominique Velazquez (Othello, WA) connected with Haley Wammock (Yakima, WA) to pull back within one in the 18th minute, but the game went 40 minutes scoreless before Creighton restored the two-goal advantage. Jessica Garcia (Eltopia, WA) struck via Madison Brownell (Selah, WA) with 11 minutes left, but the Warriors were unable to find the equalizer.
E2 Spokane 0-3 W1 Highline
The contest went over an hour before Highline broke the stalemate when Jewel Boland scored via Bianca Acuario in the 67th minute. McKenzie Buell added some insurance with eight minutes left and Acuario found Jenna Jensen (Spokane, WA) in the final minute to cap the game. Savannah Hutchinson recorded the shutout, making just two saves in a contest in which they outshot Spokane 18-4.
S2 Lane 0-3 N1 Peninsula
Peninsula outshot Lane 18-7 in the match, but the opening goal did not come until three minutes before the break via Samantha Guzman. Janis Martinez-Ortiz tallied at the hour mark and Taylor Graham finished things up in the 77th. Akari Hoshino registered the shutout with three stops.
N2 Whatcom 1-6 S1 Clark
Clark scored all seven goals in the contest with Madison Ochoa tallying the opener in the third minute and an own goal evening things up just three minutes later. Facienne Graham restored the lead just over a minute later. Jenna Young tallied in the 23rd to round out the scoring for the half with Clark in front by two. Ochoa and Young added a second goal for a brace each in the 68th and 80th, respectively, and Maddie Topaum finished things off in the 89th.
Final Four (Starfire Complex - Tukwila, WA)
Friday, November 10
W2 Tacoma v N1 Peninsula 12:30
W1 Highline v S1 Clark 3:00
Sunday, November 12
All-Star Game: North/West v South/East 9:30
Championship 2:30
MEN ##############
E3 Walla Walla 2-2 (5-4 SO) S1 Portland
After a scoreless first half Daniel Betancourt put the hosts on the board in the 51st minute, but Freddy Rodriguez (Hermiston, OR) wasted no time in finding a reply, scoring two minutes later for the Warriors. Enrique Leal (Hermiston, OR) then put Walla Walla in front in the 73rd. Betancourt scored again in the 80th to ultimately send the match to a shootout.
W2 Tacoma 1-2 OT E1 Spokane
Jesus Meraz-Rodriguez (Pasco, WA) scored in the 35th minute to put the Bigfoot on the board first. Kyle Rivers scored nine minutes into the second half for Tacoma to tie things up and the match was deadlocked the rest of the way. Just two minutes into overtime, though, Ian Schimandle (Cheney, WA) struck for the game-winner for the Sasquatch to send Spokane back to the Final Four for the third consecutive year.
E2 Columbia Basin 1-1 (3-4 SO) W1 Highline
The Hawks grabbed the lead two minutes into the second half when Israel Gonzalez (Grandview, WA) scored via Jessy Medina (Tieton, WA). The joy was short-lived though with Highline answering just 30 seconds later through Dane Evanger. The Hawks' hopes of reaching the Final Four, though, were dashed in the sixth round of the shootout.
W3 Pierce 0-4 N1 Whatcom
Alan Eyoub scored twice in the first half for Whatcom and Kanjoura Tandia tallied both second half goals and they rolled to the victory, outshooting Pierce 17-8. Rusty Crowder made five saves for the shutout.
Final Four (Starfire Complex - Tukwila, WA)
Friday, November 10
E1 Spokane v N1 Whatcom 5:30
W1 Highline v E3 Walla Walla 8:00
Sunday, November 12
All-Star Game: North/West v South/East 11:15
Championship 5:15
HISTORY ##############
EAST Teams in NWAC Final Four
2017 M: Spokane / Walla Walla
2017 W: ---
2016 M: Spokane^
2016 W: North Idaho / Spokane
2015 M: Spokane^
2015 W: Spokane#
2014 M: North Idaho^
2014 W: Spokane
2013 M: Walla Walla
2013 W: Walla Walla
2012 M: Walla Walla^
2012 W: Spokane^
2011 M: ---
2011 W: Walla Walla#
2010 M: Columbia Basin
2010 W: Spokane / Walla Walla#
2009 M: Spokane / Walla Walla^
2009 W: Columbia Basin^ / Walla Walla#
2008 M: Spokane / Walla Walla#
2008 W: Walla Walla^ / Columbia Basin#
2007 M: Spokane^
2007 W: Walla Walla^
2006 M: Walla Walla
2006 W: Walla Walla^ / Spokane#
2005 M: Spokane / Walla Walla^ / Wenatchee Valley#
2005 W: Walla Walla^
^ Finalist / # Champion (Since creation of four-division alignment)
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