College Recap - CCC & Frontier: Rocky Mountain sweeps Frontier; Northwest, Concordia have same opportunity

Not surprisingly, the top two seeds in the Cascade Collegiate Conference's tournament, Northwest and Concordia, were victorious in the semifinals. On the men's side, the College of Idaho closed the season on a positive note with a pair of shutouts against Oregon Tech while others were playing for the postseason. Chief among the other results was Warner Pacific spoiling Concordia’s bid for an unbeaten season.

In the Frontier Conference, Rocky Mountain captured the league championship with a pair of victories over their state foes on the weekend, blanking Great Falls and narrowly slipping by Carroll in the season finale. The title sends them to Tennessee, where they will square off with Martin Methodist College of Tennessee (14-3) Saturday for the Frontier / TransSouth Unaffiliated Group championship. The men made it a sweep with a victory over the Argos, sending them to Salt Lake City to face the same MMCT Saturday.  

College Recap - CCC & Frontier: Northwest spoils Concordia title sweep in CCC

The Concordia women suffered their second straight loss in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, this time to second-place Northwest University, allowing the Eagles to take the conference lead and ultimately win the regular season championship. Meanwhile, the race for the postseason came to a dramatic finish with Corban needing help from one-win Eastern Oregon and nearly had the final berth with Southern Oregon scored late for a draw. The Concordia men remained unbeaten and clinched a 13th regular season title in 15 years as three of the four playoff teams are set heading into the final weekend of play.

INW Collegiate Recap - CCC & Frontier: Yotes struggle, Westminster prevails vs RMC

 It was a tough week for the College of Idaho. The Coyote women dropped a narrow one-goal decision to unbeaten Concordia before posting a big win, but the men suffered a pair on 1-0 defeats. In the Frontier Conference, Westminster got a good split with Rocky Mountain, winning men's contest and playing to a draw in the women's.

Week 5 Collegiate INW Best XI – Women

For games through Sunday, September 16. Next week a new feature will debut, giving you an opportunity to select the Players of the Week via Facebook.

INWsoccernews.com WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE WEEK

F - Cassie Black (Battle Ground, WA) – Eastern Washington :: It was difficult to choose over Montignani’s pair of hat-tricks, but Black was crucial against two quality opponents. She struck for a goal and an assist as the Eagles defeated the University of Idaho Friday and tallied the game-winner in a 2-1 victory against the University of Hawaii Sunday.

Around the Rankings - September 18

 A number of Inland Northwest teams highlight the national rankings for the various collegiate divisions. Here is a look around at the three main polls/rankings from the NSCAA, Soccer America, D3soccer.com and Top Drawer Soccer, which incorporates its projection of the tournament fields into its ranking.

Conference Play Preview – Frontier Conference - NAIA

With the conference featuring only three men’s teams and four on the women’s side, the conference matches are spread out among a number of addition non-league games. One conference meeting has already occurred for both with another pair set for Friday when Rocky Mountain College plays host to Great Falls in a doubleheader featuring the two INW schools that play men’s and women’s soccer. Montana-based Carroll College, which has only women’s soccer, plays its first conference match September 26 at home against Great Falls.

Last year, the Frontier’s three men’s teams played as unaffiliated teams in the NAIA with four other schools, but this year will be paired up with the four teams of the Tran-South Athletic Conference. The women’s foursome were paired up with the California Pacific Conference’s four teams a year ago, but are now paired with the Tran-South Athletic Conference’s three teams.

Week 4 Collegiate INW Best XI – Women

For games through Sunday, September 9.

INWsoccernews.com WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE WEEK

F - Cassie Black (Battle Ground, WA) – Eastern Washington – The sophomore striker scored two unassisted goals to lead the school to its first-ever victory against Boise State, defeating the Broncos, 3-1, at Portland State’s Viking Classic. She struck for the opener 20 minutes and capped the victory with three seconds remaining. 

Around the Rankings

A number of Inland Northwest teams highlight the national rankings for the various collegiate divisions. Here is a look around at the three main polls/rankings from the NSCAA, Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer, which incorporates its projection of the tournament fields into its ranking.

Corban, Carroll win on final night of Red Lion Challenge soccer event

Emily Tsugawa (L) and Katelyn Weaver (C) scored for Corban | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

While the slate of other sports events continues for the Red Lion Challenge between the NAIA’s Cascade Collegiate Conference and Frontier Conference, the soccer portion of the first-year series based in Spokane came to a close Saturday evening with Corban University and #23 Carroll College posting fairly easy victories in women’s soccer against the University of Great Falls and Eastern Oregon University.

Corban’s victory proved to be the only one on behalf of the CCC in eight men’s and women’s matches as the Frontier’s Montana contingent dominated in the win column.

Montana schools post comeback wins on first night of women’s Red Lion Challenge

Sullivan opened the scoring on a dramatic night | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

The 23rd-ranked Carroll College ladies rallied for a 2-1 victory in a three-goal first half against Corban College on the opening night of the two-day Red Lion Challenge at the Dwight Merkel Sports complex in Spokane, but it was the second half of the doubleheader that stole the spotlight as Great Falls came back from two down with three goals in the final 25 minutes to edge Eastern Oregon in the final minute of play.

Boise's Saur bags three in Carroll's win; Idaho schools sweep

Gonzaga outshot Washington State, but it was the Cougars who were able to convert Sunday afternoon in Pullman as they posted a 3-0 victory to open their season. Goalkeeper Susan Brown was unable to beat Micaela Castain to the ball 15 yards out in the 24th minute, allowing the striker to put the ball past the attempted block of defender Morgan Manchester (Spokane Valley, WA). It was the only goal of the half as Kasey Rubosky (Spokane, WA) was able to make a sliding clearance off the goal-line early in the half after Jocelyn Jeffers had beaten Brown.

Carroll College win season opener, 3-1, vs Northwest U

The 25th-ranked Carroll College (Frontier Conference, NAIA) women’s team opened the season with a non-league victory against Northwest University (Cascade Collegiate Conference, NAIA) Thursday in Helena, Mont. The match was the first official game of the season for any of the schools in the Inland Northwest.