SNOHOMISH, WA—The Snohomish County FC Steelheads topped the Whatcom Waves 6-3 in a pre-season indoor women’s soccer match Sunday February 6 at the Snohomish Sports Dome. It was the first pre-season match for both new teams as they prepare for the kick off of the Northwest Premier League Indoor (NWPLi) season on February 12.
The Steelheads rostered 20 players for the match. They have a player pool of over 30 to pick from.
“I loved seeing how much depth we have,” Steelheads Head Coach Sean Large said after the match. “Some of the players that hadn’t caught my eye in training made strong cases for themselves tonight. I also really appreciated the work rate they put in across the board.” Assistant Coach Corey Hendrickson was also pleased. “I liked that I was able to see what we’ve been working on in practice being used during the game. The ladies showed well for their first indoor game.”
Replay: Watch the entire match on SnoCo FC YouTube
Historic First Goal For Nsa
Nicole Nsa scored the first ever goal for the Steelheads with 7:32 left in the first quarter. It came after a defensive take-away from Alicia Barker. Barker then ran the pitch and dished over to Nsa waiting on the right flank.
After the match Nicole talked about the goal and the overall team performance in a video you can view here.
The Fish made it 2-0 in the second quarter when Kiana Jacobson scored on a pass directly from a free kick by Kiley Norkus. It was a power play (one player advantage) goal for SnoCo FC. The first half ended with Snohomish County up by a score of 2-0.
Megan Jones extended the Fish lead to 3-0 with a blast at 10:25 of the third quarter. Jones trapped the ball against the boards near midfield then dished off to Anna Roslander. Roslander completed the give and go for the assist.
The Waves struck back with two goals to challenge the Steelheads. Scores at 8:32 (power play goal) by Mali Mack and 5:13 by Teya Mischaikov brought the match to 3-2 and it was game on.
Snohomish County restored its advantage with 2 goals before the end of the quarter. The Fish made it 4-2 at 4:46 when Nikki Bowlden managed to put one home from a sharp angle against the boards. Mariah Roggow made it 5-2 at 2:31 when she took a ball in the box and calmly slotted it home. The play began at midfield with a pass from Brooke Pingrey. Nicole Nsa got a slight touch along to Roggow.
Kiley Norkus scored the sixth goal for the Steelheads. It came at 9:32 left in the fourth quarter when Sarah Stochel delivered a perfect pass into the penalty box that Norkus quickly shot past the opposing goalkeeper. It was now 6-2 and the Steelheads had their biggest lead of the night.
Kaitlin MacKenzie started in goal for the Fish but the team used several other players in goal along the way to get a look at depth in that position. The Waves got one back at 8:12 when a ball played in took a strange bounce and rebounded into the net. The goal was credited to Maddie Nolton and the final score was settled at 6-3.
Stuff to Work On
The Steelheads displayed dominance and ball control, along with a good awareness of angles and using the boards, but the coaches will be addressing some points before the league opener Saturday February 12 in Bremerton against the Oly-Pen Force. “I do think we need to work on game management a bit,” Large suggested. “There were moments when we got frantic and gave up unnecessary chances to our opponent.” Hendrickson wants to highlight indoor tactics. “Subbing, we need to be quicker and smarter with our substitutions so that we aren’t leaving ourselves vulnerable to counterattacks,” the assistant coach said.
UP NEXT: The Steelheads open NWPLi play away at the Oly-Pen Force in Bremerton at 7 PM on Saturday February 12. See the seasons schedule here.
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