Whitworth Soccer Players ‘Clicked From The Very Start’

Jennifer Tissue came from the North Side, Haley Nichols from the Valley.

Yet the two Whitworth College soccer players go together like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Hope and Crosby, Young and Rice.

“You won’t find two players who complement each other as well as they have,” said their coach, Damon Hagerott. “The only way I can explain it is they have a combination of personalities that fit together.”

Tissue, from Shadle Park, and Nichols, from Central Valley, have played together for nine years.

They began as eighth-grade teammates in the Skyhawks club program. The last four years have been at Whitworth.

Tissue, the Greater Spokane League’s second-leading basketball scorer in 1993, is Whitworth’s all-time soccer scoring leader with 60 goals and 25 assists. She had a season-best 20 goals and 14 assists and was this year’s conference MVP.

Nichols finished as second-leading career scorer with 34 goals and 26 assists. This year, she was not far behind with 14 goals and 9 assists.

Indeed, most often she has been right beside her friend. The problem on the field, said Hagerott, is they remain too close. He has literally been forced to separate them.

“We ran into each other a lot of times on the field,” Tissue admitted. “A couple of games ago I stole the ball from Haley and she stole it from me. We looked like we were on opposite teams.”

As a last resort, Hagerott moved Nichols from forward to midfield to get some distance between the two.

“I’ve never had to do that with a pair of players,” said Hagerott.

Their friendship, said Nichols, was cemented when they were seniors in high school. The two currently live next to each other in Spokane apartments. They room together on road trips.

“We like the same stuff and have the same personalities,” said Nichols.

It has gotten so that they know what the other is thinking and can anticipate each other’s moves during a soccer match.

“We just kind of clicked from the very start, when we were age 13 or whatever it was,” said Tissue. “After nine years I know her tendencies pretty well. I get the ball, sometimes listen and hear her footsteps.”

Said Nichols, “In nine years we’ve always been 10 feet apart. I knew she was there to play off of.”

There has never been any selfishness between the two. If Nichols scored 40 goals and she had none, said Tissue, it would be fine. If she gets an assist, Nichols said, it means that Tissue has scored.

The pair have distinctive styles, they say, which is probably what makes them so compatible.

“I don’t know how to put it in metaphorical terms,” said Hagerott. “One is more subtle, the other explosive.”

Tissue used finesse to maneuver herself into scoring position. Nichols is more aggressive. She will challenge a defender and beat her.

“She’ll get her nose in there,” said Tissue. “I’m one to run away.”

Both are family oriented and chose Whitworth to remain close to home. Initially, neither knew the other was going to attend the same school.

“It just sort of happened,” said Tissue. “When we found out, it was neat.”

Now their Whitworth soccer relationship is about to end. Both are in the market for teaching jobs.

But the pair vow to remain close.

“It’s sad to have it come to an end, but it’s a little easier for me. I go right into basketball and I’ll have no time to think about it,” said Tissue. “But you can’t say we’ll never play again because college is over. There’s always summer tournaments and coed leagues.”

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