The Centralia College Women’s soccer team showed out at the NWAC Friendlies in Tukwila on Tuesday and Wednesday, taking down both Rouge and Yakima Valley 3-1.
The Trailblazers are now 4-0 in full games this preseason, excluding a game against Bushnell that was called in the first half due to nearby thunderstorms.
“It was a good preseason for us,” Centralia coach Clarence Karteh said. “We wanted to start really fast. That was the goal all along … I feel like the team is ready.”
Ajae Belliston got the Trailblazers on the board first against Rouge in the 10th minute, and the Ospreys tied the game just seven minutes later.
Similarly to both of its first two games, CC broke through with a go-ahead goal late in the second half, as Adriana Glorioso put one home in the 81st minute. Maylania Mikaele erased any doubt with another goal just two minutes later.
“We were focusing on the transition from the mid third to the attacking third,” Karteh said. “The movement of the ball seems to be working really well, and people are hungry wanting to score as well.”
That energy carried over into Wednesday’s win, where Avery Braun put the Trailblazers on the board just 42 seconds into the game. Elli Capps made it 2-0 in the 17th minute, and after Yakima Valley got on the board later in the half, Rubi Serrato scored her second goal of the season to push the lead back to two.
Once again, the Trailblazers were able to hold their opponent scoreless in the second half, which they’ve now been able to do in all four games so far this season.
“The girls hunkered down and were really intentional about how we’d play the ball out of the back,” Karteh said. “The togetherness of the team this year, it’s been really great to see that.”
Centralia has one more game before the league season begins, as it’ll host Umpqua on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Bob Peters Field.
CC Men draw twice
CC Men’s Coach Noel Vazquez also left the NWAC Friendlies feeling confident with how his team played, as the Trailblazers opened their 2024 season with a pair of 1-1 draws against Walla Walla and Edmonds.
“We’re feeling pretty good,” Vazquez said. “I thought we played really well. We gave ourselves a baseline of what level of competition we should be at.”
After a scoreless first half against Walla Walla, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead early in the second half, but Carlos Angel Hernandez scored the tying goal in the 82nd minute to earn the draw.
Matthew Orihuela scored CC’s lone goal of the draw against Edmonds in the 38th minute, and the Tritons tied the game in the 80th minute.
“Today, we struggled to connect a little bit more (than yesterday),” Vazquez said. “But there were some more tired legs as well.”
The men’s preseason will roll on this weekend and next week, starting with a trip to Everett on Saturday before a trip east to face Walla Walla and Columbia Basin on Friday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Aug. 31.
“We’re looking forward to competing and finishing strong this preseason,” Vazquez said, while noting that the goal is to keep a zero in the loss column. “It gives us a reason to keep fighting for something that we care for.”
