Changes No Barrier To Pirates

It was the classic “Now what?” expression.

The look passed across the field between Jen Tissue and Haley Nichols early in the season when Whitworth College women’s soccer coach Daman Hagerott decided to separate the two most prolific scorers in the school’s history.

“It was almost humorous,” said Hagerott. “They’re just like attached in that way. They both wanted to be in the center of the field and they’re always 15 to 20 yards from each other.

“So we put them at opposite wings.”

The move has not hurt the Pirates, who enter the second half of the season ranked 15th in the NAIA with a 10-2-1 record, including a 5-1-1 mark in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges.

Tissue, a Shadle Park High School graduate, and Nichols, who graduated from Central Valley, remain the backbone of the team as their college careers head into the stretch.

The Pirates qualified for postseason play during Tissue and Nichols’ first three years at Whitworth. They earned their best finish last year, when they lost to Willamette in the conference tournament’s championship game. This year, the Pirates, who were ranked as high as No. 2 before falling to Seattle University, are again looking ahead to the postseason. And for good reason.

“We’re solid all around,” said Tissue. “There’s not a weak position. We’ve got 21 players who can play.”

That includes many more than forwards Tissue, who leads the team with 16 goals and five assists, and Nichols, who’s second with 12 goals and five assists. Senior goalie Jennifer Peterson has shut out the opponent eight times in 13 matches, stopping 76 of 151 shots on goal. She has given up .85 goals per game.

Whitworth’s season continues Saturday when it plays host to conference leader Willamette (11-1, 7-0). Earlier this season, the eighth-ranked Bearcats beat the Pirates 1-0.

“We hope to get to nationals (in San Antonio) this year,” said Tissue, who holds the school record with 56 goals. “And that’s an achievable goal.”

Whitworth men

First-year coach Sean Buchey has set a realistic goal for his Pirates: Finish in the top four out of eight schools in the NCIC and, in the process, earn a playoff berth.

The Pirates are right on the mark and, realistically, they are in a position to win the conference. Currently, they stand second with a 5-3-2 overall record, including 4-1-2 in NCIC games. Pacific, a team Whitworth already has defeated 2-1, holds first place at 8-2, 5-2-0. The two meet again in Forest Grove, Ore., on Oct. 20.

“If we lack anything, we lack experience,” said Buchey, who was an intern coach at Evergreen State College last year. “We lack the composure under pressure.”

Washington State

“We know we can play with any team in the country,” said third-year Cougars women’s coach Lisa Gozley.

In the next five weeks, Washington State will get that chance now that the Pac-10 Conference is in full swing.

The Cougars, coming off a 4-13-1 season, enter this week with a 3-4-1 record, 0-1 in Pac-10 play, with a loss to USC. Last weekend was perhaps the team’s most encouraging. They were edged by Wisconsin 1-0 and they beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2-0 in the Lanzera Tournament at Pullman. Wisconsin’s Badgers are ranked No. 11 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll.

“We noticed at first we’re having a lot of problems scoring,” said freshman forward Kristin Mak of Inglemoor High School in Redmond, Wash.

Mak recently moved up front alongside attackers Jody Pane and Tina Walsh. Her goal against Milwaukee was only the team’s ninth of the year. Sophomore Amy Chippendale leads with two. However, WSU opponents have only scored 10 goals off keeper Jessica Glazer.

“When we get great scoring opportunities, we’re not putting it in the net. And that always comes back to haunt you,” Gozley said.

Gonzaga

Men: The Bulldogs’ six-match winning streak was snapped last weekend, when they lost at Oregon State 3-2. Nonetheless, the West Coast Conference members are off to their best start at 6-4-1 overall, 0-1 in the conference.

Credit much of the success to forward Jeff McAllister, whom GU coach Einar Thorarinsson describes as “one of the best players in the West.”

McAllister, who is from Portland, had a six-game scoring streak snapped at OSU. Sunday, in a 2-1 WCC loss against Portland, he broke his own single-season record with his 10th goal. With 22 overall points, McAllister is tied for first in the Far West region.

GU keeper Josh Fouts of Kailua, Hawaii, leads the Far West with a .80 goals-against average. The sophomore transfer from Quincy (Ill.) University has given up eight goals (33 saves on 124 shots on goal).

Five of Gonzaga’s remaining regular-season matches are against WCC opponents. The Bulldogs also have a match scheduled against Washington, ranked No. 2 in the Soccer America poll and No. 3 in the Soccer News poll, on Oct. 27.

Women: Gone are the days of giving up double-digit scores - the most goals GU has allowed this year was seven against Utah - but the Bulldogs continue to suffer from growing pains. Gonzaga enters the heart of the WCC schedule with a 1-8-2, 0-1 record. Its only win was recorded against Utah State, 1-0 on Sept. 13.

Midfielder Katie Tyrell, who has two goals, leads the team in points with five. Although the Bulldogs have only scored nine goals and have allowed 35, their scoring total is just two short of their final 1995 total.

Community Colleges of Spokane

Men: CCS has been hit with injuries, but they haven’t hurt the team in the NWAACC standings. The Sasquatch are second in the Northern Division with a 6-2-1 record. Edmonds leads at 6-1-2. The two meet Saturday at Edmonds and again at the Falls for the last regular-season game on Nov. 13.

“Except for the injuries, we’re off to a much better start this year,” said third-year assistant coach Jim Martinson, who doubles as a sweeper with the Spokane Shadow while coaching under Cor van der Meer at CCS.

The Sasquatch lost center/midfielder Tim Seely, a North Central High grad who also plays for the Shadow, in the second week of the season with a knee injury. Shadow teammate Chad Brown, a center/midfielder from Central Valley, is nursing a sore right foot.

The injury list includes keeper Chris Daugherty, who is out with a rib injury. In seven games, the former Mead High School student had two shutouts.

Women: The Sasquatch’s make-or-break game is coming up Wednesday against Tacoma at the Falls. Tacoma leads the NWAACC Northern Division with an 8-0-1 record. CCS is 7-0-1 after Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Walla Walla. Earlier this season, the teams played to a 1-1 tie.

CCS assistant Kammie Jacobs, a four-year assistant under van der Meer, has taken her teams to the playoffs the past three seasons, but she describes this year’s team as “the strongest I’ve ever had.”

Sophomore keeper Kami McGowan, from Spokane’s North Central High School, usually holds the opposition to one goal or less. Mead High grad Heidi Vanwert, a freshman who has been converted from keeper to striker, also has earned high praise. A freshman from West Valley, Katie Snow, leads in scoring.

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