LACEY — On an afternoon when the South Puget Sound Community College women’s soccer team celebrated its 10 sophomores, one of its all-time scoring leaders added another memory in her penultimate home match.
Sophomore Niki Covert converted her fourth goal of the season in the 21st minute for the lone score of SPSCC’s 1-0 win against Pierce College on Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Regional Athletic Complex. It was a sophomore-to-sophomore connection, as Jess Loto provided the assist.
SPSCC’s coaching staff was left slightly scratching their heads after Covert’s shot but certainly aren’t complaining with the result.
“We’re still trying to figure out if Niki was trying to cross it or shoot it,” SPSCC head coach Ben Willis joked. “It was a great team goal. What we really wanted to do this week was get the ball into the width and attack down the line with our wide players and get services in the box, and that’s exactly what they did. Niki is killing it in every aspect of the game.”
Covert and Loto were honored before the game alongside Tyralyn Peralta, Kiki Warbus, Madison Sutherland, Salma Diaz, Esmeralda Vega, Sara Zacharczyk, Kendra Rose and Holly Doggett.
Collectively, the group of sophomores is credited for planting the seeds for what Willis believes will be sustained success at SPSCC.
“This sophomore group is special because they’re going to be able to look back at this program and say, ‘I started that successful program,’” Willis said. “That’s one of the most exciting parts is seeing their happy faces and knowing that they’re making a difference in this program that will be here for years to come.”
The Clippers have produced back-to-back positive results to snap a five-game losing streak. Last week, they earned a 1-1 draw with Lower Columbia, and they’re motivated to spoil Centralia College’s sophomore day on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The trip to Lewis County is the first of the final four-game stretch of the regular season for SPSCC.
“The last three weeks, the momentum of us competing and training and our mindset in every aspect of the game is carrying over,” Willis said. “I’m really excited to see them continue to compete because I think that’s been the biggest difference is their competitive mindset in training. It’s carried over into the games. It’s paying off.”
