Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 2012)
4 $5» Wednesday, Nov. 14,2012 • P R IN T : Sports _______________________________________ _________ Cougars emerge from mist to win Freshman forward No. 23 Tayler Ficek was in the middle o f the action all night in the game against Shoreline on Saturday. Ficekscored the winning goal in sudden death overtime leading the Cougars to a 1-0 victory. The win puts the Cougars in the NWAACC semifinals against Spokane on Saturday at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. David Beasley Associate Sports Editor A quiet haze fell over Oregon City Saturday evening as the chill of fall enveloped OCHS Pioneer Stadium. Thrust in to an alter nate dimension, the playing field morphed in to a Brigadoon time warp. A giant dolphin emerged out of the mist chanting and yell ing, along with him were a pod of underlings entranced by his presence. The NWAACC women’s soccer quarterfinal game against Shoreline was a surreal event for the Cougars, ending with a spectacular 1-0 finish in the 5 th minute of sudden death overtime. “Oh my gosh, it’s such a relief,” said sophomore forward Courtney Johnson on winning in dramatic fashion. “We’ve been working hard all season and it means the hard work pays o ff ” The cold weather was an added inclement. “We knew we needed to stay warm, so constantly during warm-ups we tried to stay warm and stretch,” said Johnson. “It’s definitely a change, but I think we adjusted well.” The Cougars began with excellent short passes and team work to control the ball. Then, the Dolphins picked up momen tum towards the end of first half. Clackamas showed a lot o f fancy footwork despite the debilitating cold. Often times the Cougars flicked the ball effortlessly, pass ing it behind or to their side with surprising whip kicks. Clackamas fired off some nice attempts at the goal during the last few minutes of first half and no score had been made by either team at half time. The Cougars were amped up with an aggressive start to the second half creating good shots at the goal early. However, the rigid cold reflected the stalemate of the battle. The end of regulation time showed no score from either team resulting in a ten minute overtime of sudden death. “That was one o f the most hard fought good efforts I’ve seen,” added head coach Janine Szpara. Suddenly the perfect opportu nity to score opened up, as Kelsie Knight passed a laser assist to Tayler Ficek, who scored! Goal! “I was in the right place at the right time,” said Ficek of the game winner. The home crowd erupted with cheers for the Cougars’ victory. “They played hard all year,” said fan Dan Scharbach. “Tonight they played aggressive and when they play aggressive they win.” The Cougars talked a lot about how much work they have put in Freshman forward Tayler Ficek uses some nifty footwork to split the Shore line defense on Saturday night. to get to this point. Now, they are only two wins away from the ultimate goal. “We worked really hard every day,” said Ficek. “NWAACC Champions was the goal from day one.”The Cougars advance to face Spokane in the Final Four on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. Alumni game reconnects new and old Andrew Millbrooke Sports Editor The Clackamas Community College men’s basketball team used a fresher set o f legs and lungs to ease past a team of alumni players in both 20 min ute sessions of a pre-season scrimmage on Friday night in Randall Gym. The Cougars beat the alumni 43-41 and 47-39 on the scoreboard, but the games were more a chance to meet former players and have them re-connect with one another. “It’s a lot of fun to see all these guys that played here over the years,” said head coach C lif Wegner, who is entering his 14th season at the helm o f the CCC men’s program. “They are a really good collection of guys and they can all shoot the ball.” The alumni kept it close in game one with some outside shooting and the all-around play o f two-time NWAACC player of the Chehales Tapscott, who is going to play professional ly overseas or in the NBDL, the development league o f the NBA. Tapscott said he will know where he is playing at the end o f the week. “It’s fun to play against the new guys and evaluate the tal ent,” said Tapscott. “I feel they have a pretty solid team.” The current crop o f Cougars were definitely lighter on the feet, getting up and down the court quicker than the veteran alumni squad. “We played sloppy,” said Tapscott. “A lot o f guys are out o f shape and haven’t picked up a ball in a while.” The Cougars held on to win 43-41 in the first game. The second game featured some thunderous breakaway dunks from both teams. For the alumni, Tapscott (2008-10) and Ervin Simms (2003-06) both brought the house down with rim rattling slams. Six foot five sophomore wing Brock Lutes got a head o f steam to slam one down for the Cougars as they sped away to a 47-39 victory in game two. Besides Lutes, coach Wegner liked what he saw out o f fresh man guards Michone Hopkins and Drew Walters. Wegner also’ praised the inside play of 6-foot-9 sophomore posts Matt Bryant and Jordan Barber. Ö o cn o S i. o Free Rapid HIV «< Testing 800.777.2437 cascadeaids.org/hiv-testing-resources Cascade AIDS Project No. 33 Freshman Michone Hopkinds dribbles his way to the basket in a scrimmage against CCC alumni on Friday. “I was pleased w ith our perform ance,” said Wegner. Tapscott thinks that the Cougars are in good hands with Wegner at the helm. “H e’s a great coach and a great person,” said Tapscott. “He knows what he’s doing. He does a great job recruiting and making sure his players move on to the next level.” The m en’s team begins real action with two games this week. Friday, Nov. 16 the Cougars host Northwest Indian College at 7 p.m. in Randall Gym. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18 they host Bellevue in a rematch with the team that knocked the Cougars out of last season’s NWAACC tournament. >CAI=> cascadeaids.org
