College soccer: WSU, GU, EWU and Whitworth all continue to improve
Whether the expections were high, low, or in-between, several regional college soccer teams exceeded them this year.
There was the out-of-nowhere appearance of Eastern Washington in the postseason …the surprising fifth-place West Coast Conference finish by the Gonzaga women … another conference title for the Whitworth men … and above all, Washington State’s historic fourth straight NCAA appearance under its third head coach in four years.
Even though the Cougars were a lock to reach the NCAA tournament, selection day “never gets old,” coach Steve Nugent said Monday after WSU (10-4-4) earned a first-round home game Friday night at 5 against Seattle University.
Since taking over this year for Keidane McAlpine, Nugent said he’s leaned on this year’s seniors to carry on the winning tradition in Pullman. Nugent said he was most pleased with the team’s 7-1-1 record on the road, particulary a sweep of Utah and Colorado two weeks ago that all but clinched a postseason berth.
“We were very good on the road, and that’s a byproduct of being focused,” said Nugent, whose possession-based offense, balanced scoring and a 0.68 goals-against average by goalkeeper Gurveen Clair were the keys to a 5-4-2 record in the rugged Pac-12.
Formerly at North Carolina-Greensboro, Nugent said he was “never really surprised at the level the Pac-12 is at.” That strength was evident in the Cougars finishing 0-2-1 in the regular season after 1-0 losses to top-ranked UCLA, USC and a 1-1 tie with Washington.
“Every game presents a different challenge, and you see different positives,” said Nugent, who was pleased that the Cougars played UCLA straight up for 90 minutes.
Gonzaga women
Despite a season-ending 3-0 home loss to Portland on Saturday, the Bulldogs enjoyed their best season in West Coast Conference play.
Coach Amy Edwards credited seven seniors – Mikayla Anderson, Cassie Geerdts, Cricket Harber, Tori Lee, Katey Pennington, Kasey Rubosky and Jordan Travis – for a 4-4-1 WCC season, good for fifth place.
“We’re truly grateful to them and wish we would have been able to give them this win in their career as they’ve given us so much,” Edwards said
The Bulldogs also 9-9-1 overall, finishing at .500 or better for the first time since 2007.
“We certainly made some strides this year and our competitiveness within the conference has certainly improved,” said Edwards.
Whitworth men
After missing the playoffs last year in coach Morgan Cathey’s first season, the Pirates rebounded by winning the Northwest Conference title.
For that, Cathey credited the newcomers as well as senior captains Matt Bray, David Starkovich and Nathan Fosket.
“I knew we had a very talented class coming in, players who could compete right away at a very high level,” said Cathey, whose team will open Division III tournament play on Friday in Atlanta against Covenant College of Georgia.
The biggest addition was forward Micheal Ramos, a former University High School star who formerly played at Seattle University before transferring to Whitworth for his final year of eligibility.
Ramos finished with 13 goals and 12 assists to finish atop the NWC scoring chart.
“He’s been an amazing addition to our group, somebody who wants it as much as anybody else – and he’s only been here for a few months,” Cathey said.
Eastern Washington
The Eagles, under first-year coach Chad Bodnar, were the surprise of the Big Sky Conference.
Picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the Big Sky, Eastern went 8-9 overall, 5-5 in the conference and earned its first postseason bid since 2009.
Crediting the seniors, Bodnar said, “There’s not a game that we didn’t have a chance to win. I think that group has showed a lot of character to work as hard as they did and really try to build something.”
Along the way, Eastern scored in each of its first 10 matches, the longest scoring streak to open a campaign in the program’s history. The Eagles finished the year with 27 goals, the second-most all-time and just one shy of the program’s single-season record.