Shift of power in women's soccer

Clackamas CC (white) and Lane CC face off in the one of the final
southern region matches in the 2011 season. Lane (7-6-1) finished
second in the south behind Clackamas (10-5-1). Both teams are
 still alive in the NWAACC playoffs and will play Saturday.

Normally a fledgling program takes time to build a legacy. They struggle for years in futility until they finally strike gold and begin to gain traction. Other times, the complete opposite is true. Some teams hit the ground running and find immediate success. One of those teams is the still rather recently formed Clackamas Community College women's soccer program.

Started up in 2002, they finished the season an impressive 15-5-2, taking second in the powerhouse Southern Region in just their first season of play. Since then, the Cougars have made even more progress, winning an impressive six region titles and three NWAACC titles from 2004-2011. Clackamas has made it to the final four every year except 2006, when they lost to the eventual NWAACC champion Spokane CC in the first round, and 2009.

This year Clackamas has again won their region title and will be hosting a quarterfinal match, but there are some questions as to the strength of the southern region verses years past. Yes, three teams from the NWAACC south, Clackamas, Lane and Clark have all advanced past the first round, but the days of complete dominance seem to be behind us. The East and South aren't alone in women's soccer any more. 

That's not to say that the North and West haven't been there. The two conferences have seen plenty of appearances in the final four and championship games, but neither conference has won a title since 2003. That was before the NWAACC split into four divisions, and the team that won, Northern Idaho, is no longer a member of the league. 

The balance of power seems to be shifting. The South and East are still dominant, accounting for five of the eight teams still alive, but the Northern region is beginning to rear it's head with two representatives, and an impressive 2-0 defeat of the East's 3 seeded Yakima Valley. The South is having a down year, coming in second to last in non-league play just above the pitiful western region. 

2011 NWAACC Women’s Soccer Non-League Play
Division	Record	Points
East	13-7-2	41
North	11-6-5	38
South	4-10-4	16
West	3-11-2	11

Part of that shift comes from a switch that the NWAACC made a few seasons ago. It used to be that the south would play the north and the east would play the west. It wasn't uncommon to see a 10-0 win for a southern or eastern team, and both divisions dominated until region play began. Now the south and east face off, and the north and west face off. This pitches the two strong conferences against one another and the two weak conferences against one another.

That creates a problem. Squads from the power regions that would normally roll to easy victories in non-league games are starting to lose more often when matched up against better competition and teams that would normally get steamrolled are able to make headway when playing much weaker competition. That can create the illusion that the south has faltered and the north has taken it's place, if the casual fan isn't careful.

But is it really incorrect? Could the perceived success in the northern region turn the tables on the NWAACC and create a new power conference? I think so.

People tend to look at wins and losses rather than the strength of schedule, so a team's attractiveness to recruits will be based on that team's record, regardless of who they play. An Everett Community College team that normally would have finished 0-3 against the powerful east now finishes at a respectable 2-1. All of the sudden, soccer players from around the area take a second look at the team that won the "strong" north division and back away from teams in the south and west. What started artificially now begins to gain some substance as the north continues to improve and work toward it's first NWAACC title in eight seasons.

Time will tell. It could be that the south will bounce back, and the north and west fill fall into mediocrity again, but now all eyes turn to the last three rounds of the playoffs. That's when the true test of superiority will be taken. Will the north finally rise to the top? Will the south reclaim the NWAACC title for the first time since Clackamas won in 2007? or will the east continue it's reign? We'll all just have to wait and see.

Much more than a game

It seems that playing against the odds usually tends to make the best stories. We get the most excited about David vs. Goliath, a Cinderella team or succeeding despite huge setbacks. The Superbowl that everyone remembers isn’t the one where the two best teams scrapped with one another for 60 minutes, it’s the one where the nobodies came back to win against their powerhouse opponents.

It also seems there is nothing quite so inspiring as watching a player struggle with an injury, but prevail.

Yes, Clackamas lost their final home match to Lane Community College last Wednesday and yes their seven game win streak has been snapped, but that wasn’t the story of the game.

The story of the game was watching injured Clackamas goalkeeper Tori Wilkinson.

Some time between the Oct. 22 game at Clark College and the Oct 25 game against SW Oregon, Wilkinson acquired an injury to her right knee. At that time, Wilkinson had four shutouts in a row and hadn’t allowed a goal since the end of September. Coach Szpara declined to comment on the injury itself. “[I’m] taking the Chip Kelly approach,” said Szpara. “I don't really want to talk about injuries.” 

During the SW Oregon game (which Clackamas won in a 6-0 blowout), Wilkinson was being rested to help heal a minor injury heal. When the team ran out on to the field last Wednesday, it was clear that things weren’t completely back to normal.

The first thing you’d notice was the ugly black brace. If that didn’t tip you off, you might not think to watch the home end of the field when nothing was happening. You’d see Wilkinson jogging across the field after her shin guard that had gone astray. You’d see a grimace. You’d definitely see the pronounced limp after every brush of action.

Wilkinson’s first test came early in the match.

In the 5th minute, Lane’s Kenzie Harding lobbed a corner kick across the face of the goal to the far post, where Kiki McDonagh headed the ball past Wilkinson and into the net. There wasn’t even time to raise her arms before Lane had scored, putting Clackamas down a goal for the first time since losing to top ranked Spokane on Sept 24.

Normally when a goal is scored early in a match and especially an easy one, it can take the air out of the game. It happens even in big professional matches. The crowd quiets considerably and the players get chippy with one another.

Perhaps it was a lack of focus or the knowledge that the game was meaningless for Clackamas, as they’ve already clinched the Southern Region Championship. Maybe they were caught a little by surprise by Lane’s physicality.

Whatever it was, they fixed it. And Wilkinson fixed it.

From that point on, limp or no limp, Wilkinson and the Clackamas defense tightened things up considerably. After each time the Lane forwards would near the goal, Wilkinson would corral the ball and boot it back towards the center of the field. As the game continued, Wilkinson’s pain level seemed to rise and she could be spotted gingerly favoring her good knee between attacks.

Once the final whistle sounded, the injured freshman didn’t hobble over to the bench and wait to be treated by the team trainer. She jogged over with the rest of the team. The only sign that she was ailing was that instead of cooling down, she sprawled on the ground to remove her brace. 

Wilkinson’s secret? She had just put it out of her mind.

“I just don’t think about it,” said Wilkinson.

And you know what? I’d like to see more athletes like her. All too often, a minor bump or bruise will keep a player sidelined for far too long. Show some toughness.

Not without reason, of course. If you could hurt yourself worse and threaten the rest of your season, then ok, sit on the bench. But if you can play through the pain and make a difference for your team, then you should be out on the field. Or court. Or wherever it is you play.

Those are the performances that we remember. We remember watching Tiger Woods win at the US Open in 2008 with a torn ligament in his knee an a stress fracture in his tibula. We remember Brandon Roy’s return during the 2010 playoffs against Phoenix. It’s those times that you see somebody do something extraordinary that stick in your mind. Those memories help us to remember that in whatever we’re going through we should just stick it out to the end.

It’s not just a game. It’s not just a distraction from life’s worries. There are lessons to be learned and I just learned another one.