Little separated Centralia College and South Puget Sound’s women’s soccer teams on Wednesday at Bob Peters Field in Centralia, where the Trailblazers and Clippers played to a 1-1 draw.
It’s the second time the two teams have played to a draw this season, as they finished deadlocked at 0-0 in their first meeting on Aug. 29.
Like the first matchup, chances were few and far between early, as the two sides combined for just three shots in the first half.
It didn’t take CC long to break the deadlock after the break, though. In the 50th minute, Anna Souja sprinted up the left side of the field and fired a shot towards the net. That shot was saved, but the rebound went straight to Yu-Wei Chen, who scored to give the Trailblazers the lead.
“The intensity level was good,” CC assistant coach Henry Gallanger said. “They did a really good job of playing on that side. It was great to see them do some things that we know and believe that they’re capable of doing.”
The Trailblazers looked ready to add on, but the Clippers started to flip the field around the 60th minute. That pressure paid off in the 65th minute, when Tyralyn Peralta slotted a shot into the bottom left corner to tie the game at one. Alexa Saenz was credited with the assist.
In the final 15 minutes, things got chippy, as four yellow cards and a red card were handed out, but neither side was able to find a winner through all of the chaos.
It’s CC’s fourth straight tie and ninth overall in 17 games this season, including seven ties in 14 NWAC matchups.
For South Puget Sound, it’s their third straight positive result in the past 11 days. On Oct. 10, the Clippers drew with Lower Columbia, and on Oct. 17, they defeated Pierce 1-0.
“I’m proud of the fight they’ve continued to put in,” South Puget Sound coach Ben Willis said. “It’s because of their constant intensity, their constant competitiveness that they’ve shown the last three weeks in training. It’s carried over into these games, and it’s really cool to see these results starting to flow in a little bit.”
Because it was the second game of a doubleheader with the men’s team, the Trailblazers weren’t able to do their Sophomore Night festivities pregame, instead opting to do it during halftime.
The Trailblazers honored their 14 sophomores — Emy Parson, Alexis Gomez, Aniya Gonzalez-Padilla, Sienna Perez, Emily Jones, Amaya Lewis, Ashlyn Lloyd, Souja, Andrea Worthley, Bailey Evans, Yadhira Valentina Martinez Castillon, Trinity Edwards. Maia Deebach, and Allison Woods — who all played their final game on Bob Peters Field.
“This group that has stuck and stayed is just a group that continues to help us grow and build our program and take it in a direction that we wanted to go into,” Gallanger said. “It’s been really nice that for the past four or five years, every group of sophomores is adding something and helping us increasingly improve and get better as a program every year, and this group is no different.”
Both CC and South Puget Sound have been eliminated from playoff contention entering the final week and a half of the regular season, but both coaches mentioned the importance of finishing strong and building momentum for next fall.
Willis is especially excited to build on the Clippers’ recent run of results, especially as his 16 freshmen continue to adapt to the college game after a tough stretch earlier in the season.
“It’s one of the coolest things to see them grow and develop on the field,” Willis said. “They’ve been buying into everything that my coaching staff and I have asked them to do. Seeing them buy into it and really just get into it on the field with each other, fighting for each other, it’s awesome to see it starting to be a collective group on the field.
“To see them put together a couple good performances and be competitive against good teams, it makes me really happy and really excited for the future of this team,” Willis added.
South Puget Sound (4-6-5, 2-6-5 NWAC) will host Grays Harbor on Saturday, while CC (5-3-9, 4-3-7 NWAC) will head to Green River next Saturday, Oct. 28.
