Peninsula men's soccer rises to NWAACC's No. 1

These rankings are the opinion of just one man, and do not reflect the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges or any of their sponsors. If you have a question or comment on this or any story for John Howard, send him an email , contact him via twitter , or leave a comment below. 

NWAACC Men's Soccer

Things have been shaken up a bit as teams begin to fall into a rhythm in their respective regions. Peninsula continues to outdistance just about everyone else in every positive category, but they aren't the only storyline this time around. The 2011 champions are back in the mix, as is a new team from the Northern Region, adding spice to a North-South race that had seemed at times like it only had one horse. Last week also saw the launch of The Week Ahead, a weekly preview of matches with a few predictions mixed in, which featured several of the top matches of the upcoming week including No. 1 Walla Walla vs. No 4 Highline. Here are a few quick and easy tidbits to get you caught up:

Soaring team of the week: Peninsula (4-0-0) 15-0 Goal Advantage

Freefall team of the week: Spokane (0-4-0) 1-16 Goal Advantage

Score of the week: Peninsula 7, Spokane 0

Bore of the week: Edmonds 0, Everett 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 (11-1-0) (4-0-0 West)

No. 1 Coaches

Previous ranking: No. 2, No. 1 coaches

All season long, Peninsula has come out and steamrolled just about everyone they've faced. They've been all but impossible to score on (eight shutouts) and have put up impressive numbers offensively as well. That said, their drubbing of No. 7 Spokane (box) was a little more than was expected of the match. Peninsula's seven goals scored amount for nearly half of Spokane's total all year, a dominant performance that the Pirates can hang their hats on until October 6th, when they visit No. 3 Walla Walla.

                                                                                                                         

2. Clark (8-1-2) (5-0-1 South)

No. 2 Coaches

Previous ranking: No. 3, No. 4 coaches

Clark has asserted themselves as an easy front runner in the North-South conference, scoring over 40% of all the goals between the southern region teams, and allowing the fewest goals of any team to play in either the Northern or Southern regions. They, like Peninsula, also picked up a signature win, dispatching then No. 6 Whatcom (box) at home 4-2. Clark's offense is led by Borce Atanasov, who is first in the NWAACC with 14 goals in ten matches.

                                                                                                                         

3. Walla Walla (8-0-2) (3-0-2 East)

No. 3 Coaches

Previous ranking: No. 1, No. 2 coaches

Looking at just the last week Walla Walla is a team that deserved a top two ranking. They edged No. 4 Highline 1-0 and then No. 7 Spokane 2-1, both on the road, making for an extremely successful and impressive week. However, the week prior wasn't so pretty. The Warriors scored a goal late in the first half to pull even with Treasure Valley (2-2-4) (2-1-3 East) but couldn't find the back of the net again, and wound up in a draw (box). Several days later, Walla Walla blew a 2-1 lead at Bellevue (box) when they let in a goal in the 84th minute and again walked away with just one point. Walla Walla is good, no doubt about it, but they need to show that they can do it consistently. 

                                                                                                                         

4. Highline (6-2-1) (3-2-0 West)

No. 4 Coaches

Previous ranking: No. 4, No. 3 coaches

Given their 2-2 record from the games from last week, Highline shouldn't feel too bad. They held the high scoring No. 1 Peninsula offense to just two goals in a 2-0 loss (box), shut out No. 5 Columbia Basin 2-0, and on September 19th they let in only one goal against Walla Walla, but stayed close for the final 75 minutes of the match before falling 1-0 (box). Highline's offense isn't particularly dominant, but their defense is what will get them attention. They beat out the teams below them, and keep things close with the teams ranked above them. However, they're still in search of something to break them out of simply doing what's expected of them.  

                                                                                                                         

5. Columbia Basin (5-3-2) (2-2-1 East)

No. 6 Coaches

Previous ranking: No. 5, No. 5 coaches

The Hawks have only lost once in five games since falling to Peninsula on September 9th. In that time, they've gone 2-1-2, drawing with Whitman College (non-league) and Treasure Valley and losing only to No. 4 Highline after giving up a pair of goals in the first half. The highlight of Columbia Basin's week was the  2-0 victory on the road over No. 8 Tacoma (box). CBC seems like a team on the fence that could go either way. Even with one of the league's best goal scorers in Richard Renteria, the Hawks still find themselves in third place in the East, and up next they find themselves facing a hungry Walla Walla team. Pick up three points from that match, and CBC's place in the rankings will be a little more secure.

                                                                                                                        

6. Tacoma (4-2-0) (2-2-0 West)

No. 8 (tie) Coaches

Previous ranking: No. 8, NR coaches

Currently sitting at third in the tightly contested NWAACC West, Tacoma has done their best to scrape out a niche for themselves. Perhaps the biggest highlight of their young season was the 4-0 beatdown against then No. 7 Spokane. That match included a pair of goals both from Chris Peterson and Cesar Esquivel, who is tied for 5th in the league in scoring with eight goals. While they're nowhere near Peninsula's sickeningly good numbers, Tacoma does come in third in the East-West conference with a more than decent 21-10 goal differential, and in points they're not far behind No. 4 Highline, who sits in 2nd position in the West with nine.    

                                                                                                                         

7. Chemeketa (3-3-4) (3-0-2 South)

No. 5 Coaches

Previous ranking: NR, No. 6 coaches

It took several weeks, but the 2011 NWAACC champions have finally climbed into the power rankings for the first time. The reason for that is what they've pulled off in the last two weeks. After a ho-hum draw with Skagit Valley (3-5-1) (1-3-1 North), the Storm came out and drew with No. 2 Clark (box), beat out then No. 6 Whatcom (box), and shut out Everett 2-0 (box).

                                                                                                                         

8. Edmonds (5-5-2) (4-1-1 North)

No. 7 Coaches

Previous ranking: NR, NR coaches

A team that struggled mightily in the preseason, Edmonds has put together quite a run now that league play has begun. They've gone 4-0-1 in their last five matches, with their one trip up being a scoreless draw with Everett on September  26th. However, in the four games they've won, they've faced teams with a combined record of 10-23-2, their most impressive victory being a 2-0 road victory at Pierce (box) on September 15th. The four wins look good, but to keep their position, they'll have to get the same result against somebody with a winning record.

                                                                                                                         

Teams added: Edmonds, Chemeketa

Teams dropped: Spokane, Whatcom

Dominant Peninsula women an easy No. 1

These rankings are the opinion of just one man, and do not reflect the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges or any of their sponsors. If you have a question or comment on this or any story for John Howard, send him an email , contact him via twitter , or leave a comment below. 

NWAACC Women's Soccer

The Northern Region is turning out to be quite the entertaining race. As of October 2nd, five teams are within two points of one another, and  three are tied for the lead. In the other regions the top two or three teams have begun to put some distance between themselves and the competition, especially in the East, where the bottom three squads have given up a combined total of 124 goals so far. In case you missed a thing or two, here are a few quick and easy tidbits to get you caught up:

Soaring team of the week: Clackamas (4-0-0) 12-0 Goal Advantage, +6 in rankings

Freefall team of the week: Wenatchee Valley (0-3-0) 2-23 Goal Advantage

Score of the week: Spokane 13, Yakima Valley 1

Bore of the week: Olympic 0, Highline 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 (11-0-0) (6-0-0 West)
No. 1 Coaches

 Previously ranked: No. 1, No. 1 Coaches

The numbers that Peninsula has been putting up so far have been absolutely absurd. They've put in 58 goals, nearly double the next team behind them. That ridiculous total might serve to mask that the Pirates have been "slipping" defensively as of late, allowing six goals through five matches and keeping just one clean sheet. That said, Peninsula has outscored them 26-6 in that time, so it doesn't really matter. One impressive thing about Peninsula is that they don't have one player doing all their scoring for them. They're led by Briana Afoa's seven scores, but they also have a player with six, five and four player with four goals apiece. Talk about a balanced attack. 

                                                                                                                         

2. Whatcom (6-1-1) (3-1-1 North)
No. 6 Coaches

Previously ranked: No. 4, No. 8 Coaches

Since the 2-1 loss to Lane on September 15th, Whatcom has gone 3-0-1, the one stalemate being a 1-1 draw (box) with No. 7 Shoreline. Whatcom easily dispatched Chemeketa and Green River, and scored midway through the first half in a shutout over Clark. They sit right behind Peninsula in goal differential, outscoring their opponents 29-6 through their first eight games, but they'll have to jump a massive hurdle to keep their ranking: they're set to visit No. 3 Clackamas on October 5th. If that's not game of the week, I don't know what is. 

                                                                                                                         

3. Clackamas (6-2-0) (5-1-0 South)
No. 3 Coaches

Previously ranked: NR, No. 5 Coaches

After a little bit of a rocky start, Clackamas has been absolutely on fire. On September 19th, they badly outplayed then No. 2 Lane (box), putting in two goals which, at the end of the day, counted for two thirds of the goals let in by Lane to that point in the season. They then shut out Green River 2-0 (box) and punched SW Oregon in the mouth to the tune of 5-0. A few days later, Clackamas followed up with a 3-0 victory (box) over Skagit Valley that shouldn't have been that close. Notice a theme? Yeah, shutouts. The Cougars haven't allowed a goal since their 5-1 defeat of Edmonds, and they've only let in four goals all season, which is tied for the best in the NWAACC. Clackamas is lead offensively by freshman Tayler Ficek, who paces the entire league with 11 goals, and is a scoring threat literally every time she touches the ball. 

                                                                                                                         

4. Spokane (5-1-2) (4-1-1 East)
No. 2 Coaches

Previously ranked: No. 3, No. 3 Coaches

After starting off strong defensively, Spokane finally opened the floodgates on the offensive end of the pitch, blowing away Yakima Valley 13-1 (box), a game in which forward Lateashea Currie either scored or assisted on six of the first seven scoring plays, and finished with five goals and three assists. A few days later, however, Spokane returned to their offensively stunted ways in a narrow 1-0 victory over Tacoma before drawing with Walla Walla. They finally picked up their first loss when they visited Peninsula and fell short of climbing out of a 3-1 deficit to lose 3-2 (box), but these last two weeks have shown that Spokane does have the ability to score, they just don't do it very often. 

                                                                                                                        

5. Bellevue (6-2-0) (4-1-0 West)
No. 7 Coaches

Previously ranked: No. 7, No. 7 Coaches

Bellevue finally got the good looking victory they were in want of in a 1-nil victory over No. 8 Walla Walla, their first over a ranked opponent. Bellevue will of course have trouble keeping up with Peninsula, but they've begun to separate themselves, however slightly, from the rest of the region. That separation stalled a little on September 26th in a 2-1 defeat at home to the hands of Tacoma, but if Bellevue continues to look how they have through most of the season, that loss should just be a temporary setback. At least until October 17th when Peninsula comes to visit. 

                                                                                                                         

6. Lane (6-1-2) (5-1-0 South)
No. 5 Coaches

Previously ranked: No. 2, No. 4 Coaches

Lane has been nearly perfect defensively, thanks to a league leading six shutouts from goalkeeper Samantha Schoene, who has let in a league best four goals (tied with Clackamas) so far this season. The issue is that Lane has scored only 11 times this season, which is tied for seventh worst in the league. All the other teams that have that much trouble scoring (10 or fewer goals) combine for a record of 8-35-6, making Lane a huge exception, most of which comes from their stellar goalkeeping. However, in order to be able to compete with the top teams in the league, Lane will need somewhat of a scoring threat to keep opponents from simply pressing them the entire game. Maybe their solution is Schoene herself. During the game against Edmonds, she got the shutout AND scored a goal. That's goalkeeping like a boss.

                                                                                                                         

7. Shoreline (4-2-1) (3-1-1 North)
NR Coaches

Previously ranked: No. 6, No. 6 Coaches

Things are tight at the top of the Northern Region, with three teams tied at 10 points apiece and those three teams all beating up on one another. What gives Shoreline the edge over Everett, who they lost to 1-0 on September 19th, is the better overall record and the dramatically better goal differential. Shoreline also got a draw out of a strong Whatcom team who will most likely assert themselves as the leaders out of the North in the coming weeks. The North will be a battle right to the finish, but from how things look now, Shoreline has a much more balanced squad in comparison to their northern compatriots  excluding Whatcom.  

                                                                                                                         

8. Walla Walla (4-2-2) (3-1-2 East)
No. 4 Coaches

Previously ranked: No. 8, No. 2 Coaches

The last time that Walla Walla had a record this bad was... uh... exactly. The NWAACC doesn't have stats online that date back that far. And while at first it seemed like Walla Walla would be right back to their good old selves, the last week was one game away from horrendous for Walla Walla. They started off with a good-natured 10-1 smashing (box) of Treasure Valley. That's when things started to fall apart, as they fell to Bellevue 1-0 before drawing with both Spokane and Highline. Is Walla Walla's dynasty over? Maybe not. They're still in the hunt for the Eastern Region title.

                                                                                                                         

Teams added: Clackamas

Teams dropped: Columbia Basin