idol Section
«
lugars topple competition
ave coached state champions, but not a team
this-!99
- Tracy Nelson, Head Soccer Coach
N.P. Delzell Clackamas Print
Tiana Meduri does the hustle by going down hard for a ball during the season’s play. Meduri scored two goals during
iionship game, aiding in the six goal shutout of Tacoma. The Lady Cougars finished an impressive season with an even
•essive championship game, setting a record for the most goals scored in an NWAACC championship game.
they put on a scoring exhibition and fly right over the outstretched
left no doubt in the minds of théir hands of the Tacoma goalie.
Moments after Meduri’s goal,
fellow competitors who the best
will go down as a day of team in the NWAACC was this sea Tacoma had two golden opportuni
ties to tie the score at one apiece.
the women soccer pro- son.
The Cougars wasted no time in On both occasions the ball handler
t Clackamas, for on this
for
Tacoma
n won the school’s first the season’s last
had a break
championship in the game by scoring
away and a
te the fact that the team first, thanks to a
one-on-one
heir third year of exis- killer penalty shot
"I
didn
7
expect
to
chance with
by
freshman
blow away the
Cougar Goalie
linning their first two Tianna Meduri.
Jessica
he playoffs by way of The Clackamas
competition like
Engeman.
i Lady Cougars took the forward lined up
we
did,
but
the
Engeman was
iip game to a different from about 25
able
to
¡not only got their third yards away from
team stepped up
approach the
I the 2004 postseason, the net, and let one
and did what they
attacks from
had to do to win.”
the opposition
and change the
trajectory of
their shots to
Tracy Nelson
preserve thé
Head Soccer Coach
Cougars’ 1-0
lead.
Just min
utes after the
two missed Tacoma chances,
Clackamas began to pull away.
The Cougars’ second goal
came from freshman Emily
Ingalls. The goal was assisted
by Amanda Triller, who placed
a perfectly positioned ball into
the goal box from the corner.
To finish off the first half,
Southwest Division MVP
Vicky Rodríguez added two
goals no more than 45 seconds
apart from each other to give
the champs a commanding 4-0
halftime cushion.
Cougar Head Coach Tracy
Nelson couldn’t have been
more proud of the team for the
effort they put into the game.
As the second half began,
the relentless effort of
Clackamas
continued
as
Meduri added her second goal
of the game.
Then, with less than five min
utes remaining and with the
Cougars having all but won the
championship, something spe
cial happened. In her final
game as a Cougar, sophomore
Katie O’Brien ended her com
munity college career in a fit
ting fashion, scoring the
Cougars’ final goal of the year
shley Webster, number 8, shows off her dribbling skills in a and capping off a perfect sea
son with a 6-0 victory.
son match-up.
I McCormack
tmas Print
The Cougars put up some
impressive numbers this season and
not all of them came from the
offensive end of the ball. With a
defensive effort from Megan
Diebel, Trisha Little and Stephanie
Rodríguez, not to mention the stel
lar goalkeeping of Engeman,
Clackamas only allowed five goals
all season and shutout an astonish
ing 17 of 22 opponents faced.
Along with that exceptional
defense came an explosive offense
which scored 80 goals for the sea
son.
“I didn’t expect to blow away the
competition like we did, but the
team stepped up and did what they
had to do to win,” Nelson said. “At
the end, everything came together;
that was one of the best games we
had played all season.”
With the season over now the
Cougars can look forward to
defending their title next year.
“We need to recruit for a new
team every year; it would be great
to have all 11 freshmen come back,
but you never know,” Nelson said.
The Cougars will lose sopho
mores Katie O’Brien and Megan
Diebel, but know that by winning
this championship it can only help
their future.
The Clackamas coaches are
aware that there are players from all
around who want to play for a win
ner, and that is what Clackamas has
proved to the NWAACC this sea
son.
Nelson was honored the
Southwest Conference Coach of the
Year award and freshman Forward
Vicky Rodríguez was elected as the
MVP.
In addition to Rodríguez, five
players were elected to represent
Clackamas in this year’s All-star
game between the Southwest and
Northeast divisions
of the
NWAACC,
Medurri, Triller, Little, Engeman,
and for the second time in as many
years, Diebel will play in the game
of the NWAACC All-stars.
Coach Nelson couldn’t be happi
er for her players and said, “I have
never coached an undefeated team
before ... I have coached state
champions, but not a team like this.
Coming into this program, it was
our five year goal to be where we
are right now.”