TACOMA STARS TO HOLD TRYOUTS ON OCTOBER 19
The Tacoma Stars of the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) will hold their public open tryouts on Sunday October 19 from 3-6 PM at the Tacoma Soccer Center. Players are asked to register online at http://www.tacomastars.wordpress.com. The Tacoma Soccer Center is located at 2610 E. Bay Street off of I-5.
Trialists must register and pay in advance. Players cannot enter the field until they have paid their $25 trial fee. Bring indoor soccer shoes, as cleats are NOT allowed. Tacoma Stars head coach Darren Sawatzky will conduct the tryouts. Tryouts are open to ages 16 and older. Players participate at their own risk.
Players with semi-pro indoor / outdoor soccer experience may contact the Stars in advance of the open tryouts at thetacomastars@gmail.com.
SEATTLE IMPACT TO VISIT TACOMA FOR FRIENDLY WITH STARS
Seattle Impact FC of the professional national Major Arena Soccer League and the Tacoma Stars of the semi-professional regional Western Indoor Soccer League announce that the two clubs will play a pre-season friendly on Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Tacoma Soccer Center to celebrate indoor soccer in the Northwest and the upcoming arrival of both sides’ regular seasons.
“Seattle Impact FC are excited to work with the Tacoma Stars in making this a special occasion,” said Impact owner Dion Earl. “We hope to work with the Stars and the WISL to build up arena soccer in the Puget Sound area.”
The Seattle Impact FC are preparing for their first season in the MASL as a professional club on a national stage with a home slate of matches to be played at Kent’s Showare Center. The Impact season begins Saturday, Nov. 8 when they host the San Diego Sockers.
The Tacoma Stars are helping launch the Western Indoor Soccer League, a regional indoor semi-pro league for players to keep amateur status while crafting their skills and entertaining supporters in local indoor soccer centers.
“The Tacoma Stars look forward to the opportunity to play the Impact and to give our fans a treat at home in the Tacoma Soccer Center,” said Stars owner Lane Smith. “We think we can give them a good match and we are thankful the two clubs are doing this together.”
The match will feature several former Tacoma Stars favorites who are now playing with the Impact.
Tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for kids ages 12 and younger. An upcoming release will announce when tickets will go on sale as well as further event details.
Fans can follow the build-up to the Stars debut season in the WISL via the club’s website at http://www.TaccomaStars.wordpress.com. Impact news is available at http://www.www.SeattleImpactFC.com.
DOCKYARD DERBY DAMES RETURN FOR NINTH SEASON OCT 4
Calling all derby fans. The Dockyard Derby Dames are back for season nine. There is an exciting change to this year’s season. The Dames will be hosting an outside team at each bout. For our first bout watch season eight champs, the Marauding Mollys, take on the Andromedolls from the Emerald City Roller Girls. Then the home teams Femme Fianna and The Trampires will square-off.
The beer garden will be open to those 21-and-over and VIP tickets are available, which guarantees a seat close to the action. VIP tickets include an exclusive poster, two beverages from the beer garden, and a special VIP skater bar tender that can answer all of your questions about roller derby.
Buy four and get one ticket packages are available for groups. Advance tickets are $12 and $15 at the door. VIP tickets are $20 and only available to fans 21 years and older. Kids five and under are free at the door. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the first bout will begin at 6 p.m. Visit http://www.dockyardderbydames.com for more details.
LADY LOGGERS KNOCK OFF LINFIELD IN SOCCER SHOWDOWN
The Puget Sound women's soccer team's strong defensive effort held Linfield to only one shot on goal in a 1-0 win Saturday afternoon, with Robin Vieira providing the heroics on the offensive end for the Loggers.
Vieira netted her second goal in the 68th minute on a pass from junior Liz Blonden.
In the first half, the Loggers (4-1 overall and 2-0 in NWC league) attacked early and often. Cassie Winter and Annie Jonsson took shots that forced the Wildcats’ (4-1, 1-1 NWC) goalkeeper McKena King to make saves. Linfield mustered four shots in a five-minute span midway through the first half, but the Puget Sound defense stepped up and blocked or cut the angle off to not allow a shot on goal in the period.
Starting the second half in a scoreless tie, the Loggers came out and dominated possession of the ball. That perseverance paid off with Vieira's second goal of the season. The Logger defense came up big, to block or step in front of several would be shots on goal. SophomoreEmily Prasil blocked a shot on a corner kick in the final minutes to help secure the 1-0 win for Puget Sound.
The Loggers outshot the Wildcats (9-8) and had more corner kicks (8-5). Goalkeeper Lauren Thomas recorded one save.
Puget Sound will look to carry this momentum into its next home match on Saturday, Sept. 27 against George Fox at 12 p.m.
LADY LUTES USE GOLDEN GOAL TO TURN AWAY PACIFIC
Pacific Lutheran had chances throughout, but it wasn't until the final minutes of overtime that the PLU women's soccer team broke through as Lauren Larson's Golden Goal in the 107th minute gave the Lutes a 1-0 Northwest Conference victory over Pacific Sunday afternoon.
The Lutes' first conference win of the season improves their record to 1-1 in the NWC and 3-2-1 overall. Pacific falls to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference with the loss. PLU returns to action with a pair of home matches with the Lutes set to host Lewis & Clark on Saturday, Sept. 27 and George Fox on Sunday, Sept. 28. Both matches will kick off at 12 p.m.
PLU outshot Pacific 16-6 in the match, including a 14-4 advantage in regulation. The Lutes had two shots go wide in the 90th minute of play, nearly closing out the win before going into overtime. Once in overtime, however, Pacific nearly claimed the victory when Deanna Qaudrel sent a shot wide as the match remained scoreless.
The Lutes clinched the win in the 107th minute of play when Blake Warner took the ball on the right side and crossed it to Larson in the box. Larson wasted no time sending it into the net for her team-best fourth goal of the season and her second game-winner.
Larson finished with three shots, including the one on goal, while Emily Hanna led the team with six shots and three on goal. McKenna Davidson led Pacific with three shots, all on goal. Takara Mitsui played all 107 minutes for PLU to pick up her second shutout of the year, tallying three saves in the win. Kristina Morris went the distance in goal for Pacific, saving five balls while allowing the one goal.
DOWNING NETS FOUR GOALS IN LUTES WINNING WEEKEND
If the season opener is any indication of what's to come, the Lutes are going to have a great year. Men's soccer opened their conference season with a home game against George Fox and beat the Bruins 2-0, followed by a 3-1 victory over Pacific on the following day. The wins push PLU's record to 5-3.
PLU's Jordan Downing had an impressive game, scoring both goals for the Lutes. The first came in the 34th minute of play with an assist by KC Phillips. Downing scored from about five yards out; into the upper corner of the goal to bring the Lutes up 1-0 on the Bruins.
Three minutes into the second half, Downing took a second goal from the Bruins with an assist by Rigoberto Loreto. Downing's second goal was from 18 yards out and brought the Lutes up 2-0 quickly in the second half. Downing's goal brought him up as a leading goal scorer for the Lutes, tied with Eddie Na, having made three goals this season. The score remained 2-0 throughout play to give the Lutes the victory.
The Lutes outshot the Bruins, 13 to 9 with the Lutes having three shots on goal to George Fox's 2. PLU's Mike Arguello played all 90 minutes of the game and made two saves for the Lutes. GF's keeper, Ricardo Sotelo also played all 90 minutes, making only one save and allowing two goals.
Downing would score two more goals the following day in the Lutes 3-1 victory over Pacific.
VOLLEYBALL SWEEP CONTINUES STRONG SEASON FOR LUTES
Pacific Lutheran volleyball completed the sweep of visiting Whitman in an early evening match on Saturday. The Lutes won with scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-17. They advance their overall record to 9-2, 2-0 in conference play.
Lucy Capron led the Lute attack with 12 kills while Samantha North set up the offense with 27 assists. Libero Amber Aguiar led with 21 digs. PLU finished with nine services aces and four services errors while the Missionaries had two aces and six serving errors.
In the first set, the Lutes overcame a 2-6 deficit to tie things up at nine apiece. The set would see five more tie scores before PLU took 11 of the final 13 points to secure the 25-18 set victory.
Once again, the Lutes had to overcome an early deficit in the second set. A ten-point rally allowed PLU to jump ahead 18-9 on its way to the 25-15 win. The Lutes took an early 6-0 lead in the third set, never relinquishing the set advantage and completely the sweep of the Missionaries.
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS PARTICIPATION INCREASES FOR 25TH STRAIGHT YEAR
According to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the number of high school sports participants across the country has reached an all-time high with nearly 7.8 million student-athletes, which is an increase for the 25th consecutive year.
In Washington, student participation remains above 150,000 for the fifth-straight year at 159,458. Washington also remains in 17th place in participation by states. Missouri has 172,494 at 16th place, while Indiana remains a spot behind Washington at 152,383. The state with the most participation is Texas with 805,299 students.
"Washington remains one of the most active states in athletic participation and the WIAA member schools should be applauded for their efforts in providing opportunities for students," WIAA Executive Director Mike Colbrese said. "The Association is committed to supporting the member schools and the value of school programs."
Washington saw an increase in participation in one boys' sport, track and field, as it was increased to 13,005 participants, 256 more than 2013. In girl's participation, cross-country saw the biggest influx with the addition of 251 student-athletes to 4,820 in 2014. Next was swimming and diving, which is up 179 from 2013 to 4,497. Girls track and field also saw a rise in numbers by 69 participants to raise the total to 9,988 students. Volleyball remains Washington's most participated girls' sport with 10,924 students, while football is the leader on the boys' side with 21,036 student-athletes.
At the national level, girls' participation increased for the 25th consecutive year with an additional 44,941 participants from 2012-13 and set an all-time record of 3,267,664. Boys' participation eclipsed 4.5 million for the first time (4,527,994), breaking the mark of 4,494,406 in 2010-11.
"This past year's report on sports participation in our nation's high schools was another great statement about the importance of these education-based programs," NFHS Executive Director Bob Gardner said. "We are encouraged that schools are continuing to respond to the funding challenges, and are particularly pleased to see that the increase this past year was evenly distributed between boys and girls."
The participation survey has been compiled since 1971 by the NFHS through numbers it receives from its member associations. The complete 2013-14 High School Athletics Participation Survey is posted on the NFHS website at http://www.nfhs.org.