Peninsula women No. 1 in NWAACC soccer rankings

NWAACC Women's Soccer

A few weeks into the thick of things, teams are beginning to make their marks on this young season. Three teams remain undefeated, and one, who will most likely scrape the bottom of their region's cellar, sits at a stubborn 0-4-0. Here are a few quick and easy tidbits to get you caught up:

Soaring team of the week: Peninsula (4-0-0) 27-2 Goal Advantage

Freefall team of the week: SW Oregon (0-2-0) 0-15 Goal Advantage

Score of the week: Peninsula 13, Skagit Valley 0

Bore of the week: Green River 0, Linfield JV 0

For news and notes on NWAACC soccer throughout the season, follow @JowardHoward on twitter or search #nwaaccsoccer. View the coaches rankings here.

                                                                                                                         

1. Peninsula (7-0-0) (2-0-0 West)

 Preseason: No. 1
No. 1 Coaches

Peninsula has emerged as a strong leader as region play begins. They have yet to lose a game, and their 41-4 goal advantage is far and away the best in the league.  So proficient is their attack, that there are too many goal scorers to list. Peninsula put up five on both No. 5 Columbia Basin and North Idaho College, nine on Treasure Valley, and a whopping 13 on Skagit Valley. And Peninsula's talents go beyond getting balls in the back of the net, they also lead the league with four clean sheets, an effort spearheaded by goalkeepers Danae Brooks (3 shutouts) and Laura Morgan (1 shutout). On both ends of the pitch, the Pirates are a handful. Or a hookful... 

                                                                                                                         

2. Lane (3-0-2) (2-0-0 South)

Preseason: No. 8
No. 4 Coaches

The way that Lane entered the party this season left some wondering if they knew that the point of the game was to score. However, after a goalless (scoreless draws with No. 3 Spokane and Highline) trip to the NWAACC friendlies, the Lane ladies put together several goals and remain one of three teams left undefeated in the league. Given, "several" means five, but two of those goals came in a win over No. 4 Whatcom for their first loss of the young season. If they keep things up defensively, (two goals scored in five matches, three shutouts) they will be incredibly difficult to score against.

                                                                                                                         

3. Spokane (3-0-1) (2-0-0 East)

Preseason: No. 2
No. 3 Coaches

The last of the three undefeated teams, Spokane is tied for the fewest goals allowed so far this season. They don't put a lot of points on the board, but stellar goalkeeping from Asia Porter has kept all but one goal out through four games. The only other team that can claim that hails from just down the road in Walla Walla, 3-time NWAACC champion and Eastern Region foe.

                                                                                                                         

4. Whatcom (3-1-0) (1-1-0 North)

Preseason: No. 4
No. 8 (tie) Coaches

It seems that everybody is padding their offensive numbers against SW Oregon these days. Whatcom is no different, walking off the pitch after 90 minutes with a 10-nil trouncing in hand, bringing their goal advantage to 17-1. Their next outing, however, was against No. 2 Lane, and their goalscorers were just about stifled in a 2-1 loss. That's not a loss that they should feel too badly about, as their one goal was the first by an NWAACC opponent that Lane has allowed all year long. 

                                                                                                                        

5. Columbia Basin (3-1-0) (1-1-0 East)

Preseason: No. 3
NR Coaches

When you take into account that Columbia Basin's only loss was to No. 1 Peninsula and they held down a decent offensive team in Shoreline in a 2-1 loss, and the Hawks start to look fairly impressive. Somewhat overlooked because of Spokane's goalkeeping and Walla Walla's pedigree, make no mistake: Columbia Basin will challenge for the Eastern title this year. 

                                                                                                                         

6. Shoreline (3-1-0) (2-0-0 North)

Preseason: No. 7
No. 6 Coaches

Shoreline is the latest team to engage in a drubbing of SW Oregon, flattening the Lakers 5-nil on a first half hat-trick from Angela Celedon. The Dolphin's offensive numbers are middle of the pack, but their defensive stats have a strange twist. They have three clean sheets, but have allowed the second highest total of goals through five games for a team with three shutouts. Their metal will be tested soon, as they are set to visit No. 4 Whatcom on September 26th.

                                                                                                                         

7. Bellevue (4-1-0) (2-0-0 West)

Preseason: NR
No. 2 Coaches

Bellevue's 4-1 record is impressive, as is their 19 goals scored, good for second in the league behind Peninsula. Not as impressive are their seven goals allowed in five games and just one shutout. Now, while that sounds (and may very well be) ridiculous, they are the only team in the top eight to have less than two shutouts and have allowed as many goals as Whatcom, Lane, Walla Walla, and Spokane combined. Also, they have yet to face a respectable opponent, their best looking win being a 4-0 defeat of Clark. Luckily there seems to really only be two teams competing in the West.

                                                                                                                         

8. Walla Walla (3-1-0) (2-0-0 East)

Preseason: NR
No. 2 Coaches

Walla Walla has experience a bit of a fall from grace this season.They've already lost for the first time since the 2009 season, and have mustered only 10 goals thus far while being shut out once. So far, it seems that Walla Walla's strangle hold on the NWAACC East has loosened, but there is still a lot of soccer to be played. 

                                                                                                                         

Teams added: Bellevue, Walla Walla

Teams dropped: Clackamas, Highline