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PRINT: Sports_____________________________
Wednesday, November20,2013
$ 7
SOCCER: Cougars place third in
NWAACC
Continued from Page 1
A chill breeze and dark clouds
rolled in momentarily, but the
clouds passed and sun peeked
back out. All-Star Claudia Florez
attacked with a goal attempt that
went over. The action flowed back
towards the Cougars’ goal, Dija
Kirkland took a hard fall while
defending and a foul was called on
Edmonds. Kirkland landed face-
first outside the line and was down
for a moment.
“She, like, kicked my ankle and
I slid on the turf and twisted my
ankle,” said Kirkland.
After the resulting free kick,
Edmonds brought the attack back
again, but Mecca Krutsinger tena
ciously defended and deflected
the ball. Then a comer kick by
Edmonds brought a shot on goal,
which Trumbull saved by smack
ing the ball away with both hands.
Edmonds received another comer
kick.
Edmonds sought another attack
on goal and Trumbull showed how
scrappy and resourceful she can
be. With the pressure all on her,
she saved multiple back-to-back,
point-blank shots on goal. The
Cougars used excellent teamwork
and defense to stifle the attack.
Trumbull was fired up. She yelled
in triumph and pride for her team’s
performance.
The Cougars picked up some
momentum and started getting the
better o f the headers, defending and
attacking. Towards the end o f the
first half Marci Haynes showed
solid defense as Edmonds attacked
again. Then Edmonds shot, but it
went over the goal.
...The clouds returned and the sun
was gone, dropping the temperature
All-Star Forward Claudia Flores precisely maneuvers the ball through oncoming attackers.
at 42 minutes on the scoreboard.
As the first half neared its end,
Tori Roberts took a great long shot
that was just wide. It was 0-0 at
halftime.
The second half began with an
offside call against Clackamas.
The play moved back toward
Clackamas’ goal and a defensive
slide tackle that looked like it hit the
ball cleanly at first, was declared a
foul, right outside the penalty box.
Edmonds took an indirect free kick
and managed to put together the
first goal o f the game. Clackamas
was down 0-1.
Trumbull had a couple o f really
nice saves towards the beginning of
the second half. The second attempt
was a long shot that was set up
by Edmonds, quickly driving up
line. On the offensive, Clackamas’
Marci Haynes intercepted and
deflected an Edmonds’ pass and
almost scored, but it went just wide.
At 67:38 on the scoreboard, Haynes
caught an assist from Roberts and
scored after great teamwork and
passing up-field. The score was
tied 1-1.
“Tori crossed it and Marci shot
and scored,” said Krutsinger
Trumbull showed more moxie
and bravely challenged an attack
by Edmonds, defending well. Then
at 71 minutes on the scoreboard,
Trumbull deftly saved a straight
shot at goal. In an unfortunate turn
o f events, Carly Turner fouled
while defending inside the Cougars’
penalty box. A direct penalty kick
was awarded to Edmonds. Hannah
Shouse took the kick and made it
past Trumbull for her team’s second
goal. Clackamas was behind 1-2.
“Defense was such a good effort,
but when we messed up is when the
goals happened,” said Krutsinger.
Shortly after Edmonds fouled
just outside their penalty box at
75:16 on the board. Butler took
the free kick straight towards goal.
But Edmonds’ goalkeeper, Alecia
Longsine, saved it. Tani Harr took
another long shot later that was
also saved. The Cougars were
still battling, trying to attack and
keep good defense. At 88:50 on
the board, Kirkland showed more
solid defense in front o f the goal.
A comer kick by Edmonds shortly
after, turned into a shot on goal that
was saved by Trumbull. Trumbull
grabbed 11 saves throughout the
game.
“I think it was really strong,”
Flores said. “We fought all the way
to the end, just couldn’t get a goal
in, we couldn’t finish. We were
fighting hard equally.”
The Cougars felt the sting
o f defeat as the match came to
a close. Clackamas 1. Edmonds
2. Clackamas took third place.
Edmonds lost to Peninsula Sunday
and got second place.
“I thought we did good,” said
Kirkland. “If we had done as good
as we did against Spokane, we
would have won. We tried.”
The Cougars played a strong
game and had an inspiring run this
season that brought them to the
semifinals. Overall, they grew as a
team and helped each other improve
individually. Here’s to another great
season turned in by the Clackamas
Cougars women’s soccer team.
Cougars secure play off spot
Larissa Harper
The Clackamas Print
The
crow d
yelled
and
screamed as the Cougars vol
leyball team stepped onto the
court to conquer Linn-Benton
on Wednesday, Nov. 13 — the
last home volleyball game o f the
2013 season. It was also the last
game on CCC’s court for the
two sophomores, Skylar Fate and
Kiki Stonebraker.
“This was actually my first
year playing here,” said Fate. “I
transferred from California. It is
[on a] different level here but I
am proud to be a part o f the team.
I love these girls.”
The first set started out
with numerous amazing plays.
Stonebraker set up the ball a cou
ple o f times for a spike and slid
across the floor to save the ball.
No. 14, Courtney Lofton, spiked
the ball to perfection and earned
a point. Sierra VeraCruz, No. 7,
the defender and libero o f the
team, continuously saved the ball
and avoided the loss o f points by
digging. The ladies worked very
hard to win the first set with a
score o f 25-21.
The second set went ju st as
the team wanted. They domi
nated in plays and continually
racked up points. Again, Fate
played the front row well and
spiked the ball, which made the
opposition cringe and dive. But
they couldn’t recover. Then she
simply tipped the ball over the
net and it fell to the floor.
No. 13, Bre Gibbons, spiked
the ball as well after a great set up
and earned a point. A lexa Toth,
No. 9, saw the ball was heading
for the floor and threw herself
after it, making the save and end
ing with a somersault. There was
a spike, a block and another dig;
CCC got the point. Lots o f vol
leying o f the ball was done in this
match and they pulled through.
CCC won set No. 2 w ith a score
o f 25-14.
Set No. 3 included a serve
that stunned the opposition
and went straight to the floor
as the Cougars cheered. No. 2,
Taylor Balkan, set up the ball for
Stonebraker to spike and earn a
point. One more tip over the net
earned one last point. The match
ended w ith CCC winning 25-22.
“We played amazing,” said
Fate.
VeraCruz agreed. “We reached
the point we are capable of,” she
said. “We played a great game.
We were very aggressive.”
As Coach Woods said, this
w in was important to the whole
team in regards to finalizing the
Southern R egion league play.
The results o f the final game
determined who was going to be
number two and three in league
standings. I f the team had lost
the m atch, they w ould have
been third. I f they won, they
would be tied for second with
Linn-Benton. The w in against
Linn-Benton in three sets was
necessary in order to obtain the
second seed for the NWAACC
Tournament (post season play).
They did ju st that' and earned
the spot. Clackamas and Linn-
Benton ended Southern Region
play tied for second. The team
will now play their first match
o f the NWAACC Conference
Cham pionships on Thursday,
Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. against the No.
3 seed team, Shoreline CC from
the Northern Region.
/ ‘I couldn’t be more proud,”
said Woods. “We’ve worked so
hard, we came together well.”
Coach Woods, assistant coach
es, the team and CCC Cougar
fans should be very proud o f the
team and all their hard work this
season. Congratulations as well
on being ranked sixth out o f 29
teams in their league as they head
into Tournament Championship
play.
The Cougars gathered during a timeout to pump themselves up for the remainder o f the set. They shut out the Linn-Benton Roadrunners.