Steelheads claim first NWPLi win with breakthrough over Force

SNOHOMISH, WA—The Snohomish County FC Steelheads claimed their first Northwest Premier League Indoor (NWPLi) win on Saturday night March 5 with a 6-3 conquest of the Oly-Pen Force at the Snohomish Sports Dome.

Anna Roslander scored twice and Memory Phiri scored a goal and dished out three assists to lead the Fish. Snohomish County charged out to a 5-0 lead before the Force began a rally that fell short.

Three In The First

The Steelheads scored three unanswered goals in the first quarter. Anna Roslander (Eastern Oregon U.) made it 1-0 with 11:05 to play when she guided home a shot off an assist from Memory Phiri. It was 2-0 just over a minute later when Jordyn Bartelson (Western Washington U.) blasted a shot that was too hot to handle after getting a pass from Alicia Barker.

Roslander made it 3-0 on a great combination play which she started. Anna put the ball near the end board where Nicole Nsa quickly flipped it back in the middle to Mireya Grey. Grey lofted it back to Roslander who shot far post and into the net.

Phiri In The Second

Zambian-born offensive threat Memory Phiri continued her assault on the Force in the second quarter with another assist and a goal of her own. Maggie Tonkin was fed nicely by Phiri for the fourth Steelheads goal at 8:20 to go in the second. It was 4-0 Fish.

Phiri was waiting at midfield with just over 2 minutes to play in the half and gathered a ball, racing all the way to roll it home for a breakaway score. It was 5-0 Snohomish and the undefeated Force were reeling.

Oly-Pen gave themselves a lifeline with a nice outside strike with just over a minute to go from Jessica Haga and it was 5-1 Steelheads at halftime.

Forcing The Door Open

Oly-Pen was ready for the second half kickoff. The Steelheads helped the visitor’s cause with some spotty defense and a rout became a match. The Force took an errant goalkeeper pass and converted at 9:06. Then less than half a minute later they scored again. Suddenly it was 5-3 and the goals, by Sabrina Wilk and Teresa Morrelland, meant game on.

The Steelheads regrouped even as the Force continued to press. A series of power play chances for Oly-Pen were killed off as the home side’s defense rose to the challenge. It remained 5-3 going into the fourth quarter.

Barker Completes The Win

Alicia Barker (U of Illinois) had a monster match. She was rewarded for her overall excellent play when she took a pass from Phiri and blasted it home with ten minutes to play. The Steelheads had some room to breathe and the Force lost momentum. There were no goals the rest of the way and the Fish improved their NWLi record to 1-1-1 (4 points.) The Force dropped to 2-1-0 (6 points.)

Next the Steelheads travel north to Bellingham to face the Whatcom Waves at 6:30 PM on Saturday March 12 at the Bellingham Sportsplex.

2022 NWPLi Standings (through March 6, 2022)