Week 4: My 4 year-old daughter’s football picks
She’s busy studying and taking notes to bring you her expert picks
My 4 year-old daughter went 6-3 last week and is now 14-11 on the season. How are you doing with your picks? Well, she has a fresh batch for tonight’s games…
Black Hills Wolves vs. Aberdeen Bobcats
Her pick: Bobcats
“They have sharp, pointy teeth.”
Olympia Bears vs. Stadium Tigers
Her pick: Bears
“They have sharper claws.”
Shelton @ Yelm – Yelm HS Stadium – 7:00 PM
Her pick: Highclimbers
“The Highclimbers are just better.”
River Ridge Hawks vs. Hockinson Hawks
Her pick: Hockinson Hawks
“The Hawks fly faster than the Hawks.”
North Thurston Rams @ Lincoln Abes
Her pick: Abes
“He was a president!”
Timberline Blazers @ Wilson Rams
Her pick: Blazers
“The Blazers can fun faster than the Rams.”
Rochester Warriors @ Hoquiam Grizzlies
Her pick: Grizzlies
“The Grizzlies have pointy teeth and could eat the Warriors.”
Rainier Mountaineers @ Elma Eagles
Her pick: Mountaineers
“The Mountaineers can climb mountains and the Eagles can’t.”
Today (9/21): Football Friday; Geoducks volleyball hopes for first win
High school football
In the Olympia area…
Black Hills vs. Aberdeen – Tumwater Stadium – 7:00 PM
Olympia vs. Stadium – Ingersoll Stadium – 7:00 PM
Shelton @ Yelm – Yelm HS Stadium – 7:00 PM
River Ridge vs. Hockinson – South Sound Stadium – 7:00 PM
Tenino vs. Forks – Tenino Stadium – 7:00 PM
Out of town…
North Thurston @ Lincoln – Lincoln Bowl, Tacoma – 7:00 PM
Timberline @ Wilson – Stadium Bowl, Tacoma – 7:00 PM
Rochester @ Hoquiam – Olympic Stadium, Hoquiam – 7:00 PM
Rainier @ Elma – Elma High School – 7:00 PM
If I had pick one game to go to tonight in the Olympia area, it’s the game that I will be attending and calling for KMAS, the Shelton/Yelm game featuring the Highclimbers’ Ralph Kinne and the Tornadoes’ Jacob Swilley. But if you want to travel, the North Thurston/Lincoln game in Tacoma is worth the drive. Both teams are 3-0, Lincoln has a highpowered offense and North Thurston has had an outstanding defense all season long. The winner will claim sole possesion of first place in the 3A Narrows League.
Women’s volleyball
Evergreen vs. OIT – CRC Gymnasium – 7:00 PM
Wednesday scoreboard: Saints volleyball win GNAC opener; Saints soccer swept; High school girls keep winning
College volleyball
Saint Martin’s 3, Alaska Fairbanks 1 (26-24, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22) – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Carrie Starbuck led the way with 12 kills, Hallee Hernandez added 18 assists and Kristyn Ross had 16 digs and Saint Martin’s knocked off Alaska Fairbanks 3-1 in the Saints’ first GNAC and home contest of the season. The Saints have now won three straight games and are 1-0 in the GNAC. Fairbanks drops to 0-3 in league play. Hear from head coach Phil Ibarra here and Carrie Starbuck here on their big home opening victory.
Women’s soccer
MSU Billings 1, Saint Martin’s 0 – Recap from MSUBsports.com
Saint Martin’s Randi Mielki picked up a red card in the 75th minute on a handball in the box and Jennifer Larsen scored on the resulting penalty kick to give the undefeated Montana State Billings Yellowjackets the 1-0 win over the Saints in Billings on Wednesday afternoon. The Yellowjackets out shot the Saints 24-7 and had ten shots on goal compared to the Saints’ zero attempts.
Men’s soccer
MSU Billings 3, Saint Martin’s 0 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Girl’s soccer
Capital 4, River Ridge 1
Timberline 3, Shelton 0
Black Hills 3, WF West 0
Tumwater 3, Centralia 0
Gig Harbor 2, Olympia 0
Foss 2, North Thurston 1
Stephanie Taylor scored in the eighth minute and Lena Moreno broke a 1-1 tie in the 37th minute to lead Capital past River Ridge 4-1. Logan Cox scored two more goals in 53rd and 67th minute to cement the Cougars victory. Timberline’s Krista Jones posted a shutout and had five saves in the Blazers’ 3-0 win over Shelton. Alyssa Gubser scored what proved to be the game winner in the 11th minute. Alli Thompson scored minutes before halftime to give Black Hills a 1-0 lead over WF West and CeCe Noyen posted a shutout in the Wolves’ 3-0 victory.
High school volleyball
North Thurston 3, Mount Tahoma 0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-14)
Olympia 3, South Kitsap 2 (23-25, 25-13, 26-24, 26-28, 15-13)
Black Hills 3, WF West 0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-10)
Tumwater 3, Centralia 0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-11)
Capital 3, River Ridge 0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-11)
Tumwater 3, Shelton 0 (25-22, 25-6, 26-24)
Northwest Christian 3, Ocosta 2 (25-14, 24-26, 25-11, 20-25, 15-8)
Tumwater Pioneers indoor soccer team to play in PASL Premier
Indoor soccer returns to Olympia: The Tumwater Pioneers will call Tumwater Indoor Sports home for their inaugural season.
UPDATE (9/21): I spoke with Matt Stalnik today and he informed me of a couple developments since I last spoke with him yesterday. First: the NAIA will allow players to compete in the PASL so Evergreen and community college players that are hoping to go to NAIA schools will be allowed to tryout and play for the Pioneers without penalty. Secondly: tryout times have been set for October 6th and 7th. The tryouts will run from 3-6 PM at Tumwater Indoor Sports. Also, the team has hired an assistant coach. More on this later.
Olympia will be home to semi-professional indoor soccer for the second season in a row, this time with a new Olympia based team, the Tumwater Pioneers. The South Sound Shock played their four home games at Tumwater Indoor Sports but will be playing at the Pacific Sports Center in Tacoma this season. Both the Pioneers and the Shock compete in the PASL Premier, a regional league that includes the newly formed Arlington Aviators, Marysville Ruckus, Kitsap Pumas and Wenatchee Fire.
The new team is owned by Mike Rancipher, who recently purchased Tumwater Indoor Sports from Marian Bowers, the owner of the Tacoma Stars, and is in the process of opening a new facility in the old Harbor Freight warehouse across the street from the previous facility.
Matt Stalnik will lead the Pioneers as head coach and in goal (photo credit: GoalWA.net and Wenatchee Fire
The Pioneers have hired Evergreen graduate Matt Stalnik as head coach for their inaugural season. The Soldotna, Alaska native played two seasons at goalkeeper for the Geoducks in 2007-2008 and has played in the PASL for the Wenatchee Fire, Tacoma Stars and the Denver Dynamite and will likely be in goal as a player/coach for the Pioneers.
The team has scheduled open tryouts for October 6th and 7th at Tumwater Indoor Sports for players 16 years and older. Cost of the tryout is $25 and you can register by sending an email to the link in this Craigslist ad or at Tumwater Indoor Sports.
Stalnik says that the NAIA has a rule that players cannot play in the PASL without forfeiting their eligibility to play at an NAIA school for one year. “That knocks 60 players from Evergreen and the community college out of the guys we can pull from,” Stalnik said. (Note: See update above)
The PASL Premier is still finalizing the league roster and has yet to release a schedule but the Pioneers should play four or five home games starting in January. Ticket prices for Pioneers games will be $5 for adults and $3 for children and the full length glass boards that Tumwater Indoor Sports features will give fans an up close and personal view of the action.
Today (9/20): Saints volleyball opens home schedule; Girl’s soccer and volleyball galore
The Saints finally get to play a home game tonight at Marcus Pavilion (photo credit: SMUSaints.com)
Here it is, September 20th, nearly a full month into the fall college sports season and today marks the very first home game for the Saint Martin’s volleyball team, a league match against Alaska Fairbanks.
The Saints hit the road for their first five games and all of their non-conference schedule dropping three matches in Hawaii before finally getting their first wins of the season in visits to two National Christian College Athletics Association schools in New Hope Christian of Eugene, Oregon and Walla Walla University. The Saints easily knocked off New Hope, who are in their first year as a varsity athletic program, and won in straight sets at Walla Walla, a more established but still lower-rung team.
Game time is set for 7:00 PM at Marcus Pavilion.
In area high school action…
High school volleyball
River Ridge @ Capital – Capital HS – 7:00 PM
Northwest Christian vs. Ocosta – Northwest Christian HS – 7:00 PM
Timberline vs. Shelton – Timberline HS – 7:00 PM
Tumwater vs. Centralia – Tumwater HS – 7:00 PM
Girl’s soccer
North Thurston vs. Foss – South Sound Stadium – 5:00 PM
Timberline vs. Shelton – South Sound Stadium – 7:00 PM
River Ridge @ Capital – Ingersoll Stadium – 7:00 PM
W.F. West @ Black Hills – Tumwater Stadium – 7:00 PM
Wednesday scoreboard: Geoducks win third straight; Clippers fall again; T-Birds top Bears
Men’s soccer
Evergreen 3, Corban 1 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Pierce 4, SPSCC 2 – Box score
Evergreen’s Willie Spurr scored in the 16th minute, Corban suffered an own goal in the 30th minute and Brady Espinoza cemented a 3-1 win over the Warriors with a goal in the 57th minute. Spurr’s goal was the fourth of the season for the CCC offensive player of the week and Collin Harlow, the reigning defensive players of the week, had eight saves in goal. The Geoducks are now 3-0 in CCC play and moved to .500 at 3-3 overall.
Taylor Weatherly’s two goals in the 15th and 28th minutes temporarily put winless South Puget Sound up 2-1 over the Pierce Raiders in Puyallup. But Joel Carrillo tied the score at the end of the first half and Jay Williams scored the eventual game winner in the first two minutes of the second half to give the Raiders a 4-2 win over the Clippers.
High school volleyball
Tumwater 3, Olympia 1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-14, 25-21) – Box score
Today (9/19): Geoducks host Corban; T-Birds host Bears
Coming off a convincing weekend sweep of Cascade Collegiate Conference foes College of Idaho and OIT, the Evergreen men’s soccer team hosts Corban University today at Evergreen Pitch.
The Geoducks sit at 2-0 and sit at the top of the CCC table. Not only did they sweep the weekend games, they also swept the weekly player of the week awards. Junior goalkeeper Collin Harlow was named defensive player of the week after he allowed just one goal in 180 minutes and freshman forward Willie Spurr was named offensive player of the year with his three goals and two assists.
Corban is 1-1 in CCC play with a 1-0 win over Warner Pacific and a 2-1 loss to Concordia. First touch at Evergreen is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
In high school volleyball action, the #2 ranked T-Birds welcome Olympia to Tumwater this evening for a non-league contest. Game time is set for 7:00 PM.
Tuesday scoreboard: T-Birds beat Hawks twice; Girls go 6-0 over out of town opponents
High school volleyball
Timberline 3, Wilson 0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-16)
Capital 3, Centralia 1 (28-26, 24-26, 25-16, 25-20)
Tumwater 3, River Ridge 0
Northwest Christian 3, Naselle 0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-20)
Nicole Pittelkau had 22 digs, Hunter Manke added 42 assists and Halie Snaza had 25 digs in Timberline’s straight sets victory over Wilson. The Blazers are now 4-1 overall this season and 3-0 in the 3A Narrows League. Tied 1-1, Capital took the final two sets from Centralia to win 3-1 in a 2A EvCo match. Rachel Erickson led the Cougars with 21 kills. The Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association poll’s #2 ranked team, Tumwater, knocked off River Ridge in straight sets. Karlee Sampson had 10 kills and Courtney Bowen added 19 assists in the T-Birds win.
Girl’s soccer
Tumwater 4, River Ridge 0
Timberline 2, Foss 0
Olympia 1, South Kitsap 0
Capital 4, Centralia 0
North Thurston @ Wilson – No report
Tumwater scored three times in the first half and knocked off River Ridge 4-0. Mackenzie Bergquist posted the shutout in goal for the T-Birds. Krista Jones and Julia Swortz each scored for Timberline in their 2-0 win over Foss at South Sound Stadium. Brooklyn Hooper scored the game winning goal for Olympia in the 45th minute in the Bears’ 1-0 win over South Kitsap. Capital moved to 4-1 this season with their 4-0 win over Centralia. Logan Cox scored twice for the Cougars.
Today (9/18): T-Birds and Hawks twice; Bears, Blazers soccer
High school volleyball
Tumwater @ River Ridge – River Ridge HS – 7:00 PM
Girl’s soccer
River Ridge @ Tumwater – Tumwater Stadium – 5:00 PM
Olympia vs. South Kitsap – Ingersoll Stadium – 7:00 PM
Timberline vs. Foss – South Sound Stadium – 7:00 PM
Oly Sports high school football power rankings: Week 4
Capital retains the top spot after a week which saw all but two local teams come out on top
Week three is in the books and all but two of the area’s teams picked up wins. Rainier was roughed up by Rochester and Oly played tough against Timberline before finally succumbing. So where do the previous #11 and #12 teams wind up this week? Welcome to the Oly Sports high school football power rankings, a highly unscientific look at where the 12 Olympia area football programs stand, in my (not so expert) opinion…
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1. Capital Cougars (3-0)
Last week: #1 (No change)
Previous game: Capital 27, Bothell 11
Next game: vs. Tumwater (2-1) – Ingersoll Stadium – Saturday, 7:00 PM
Notes: Kai Van Sickle returned to the lineup and rushed for 224 yards and two touchdowns and 2A Capital knocked off their third straight 4A team in Bothell, who had previously lost to the #1 4A and 3A teams before falling to the #2 2A team. They open EvCo play on Saturday night at home against Tumwater in one of the more anticipated games of the season in the South Sound.
2. Tenino Beavers (3-0)
Last week: #2 (No change)
Previous game: Tenino 50, Elma 22
Next game: vs. Forks (2-1) – Tenino HS – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: Mac Shaw and Devante Harris did it again in their 50-22 win over Elma on Friday night. Shaw threw for three touchdowns and rushed for three more and Harris caught two TDs and rushed for another. They did trail 16-14 in the second quarter and took just a 21-16 lead into the locker room at half before exploding in the third and fourth quarters.
3. North Thurston Rams (3-0)
Last week: #3 (No change)
Previous game: North Thurston 50, Black Hills 14
Next game: @ Lincoln (3-0) – Lincoln Bowl, Tacoma – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: The North Thurston defense has been awesome through three games giving up just 35 points total and seven points when there was any doubt about the outcome. Between week two and the first half of week three, the Rams scored 51 unanswered points. That defense will be seriously tested this week when they face undefeated Lincoln. The Jon Kitna led Abes have scored 145 points and knocked off Mount Tahoma 55-0 on Friday.
4. Shelton Highclimbers (3-0)
Last week: #4 (No change)
Previous game: Shelton 35, Wilson 25
Next game: @ Yelm (3-0) – Yelm HS – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: Ralph Kinne rushed for 359 yards putting him at 899 yards through three games and Deshon Bell had 180 yards including three touchdowns of 13, 59 and 40 yards in their 35-25 win over Wilson. Shelton has been plagued by penalties and it put them in a hole down 18-7 at halftime but the Highclimbers played a clean second half and made nice adjustments against an offensive style they had yet to see. Friday night’s non-leaguer against Yelm should be a lot of fun if you like great running backs.
5. Yelm Tornadoes (3-0)
Last week: #5 (No change)
Previous game: Yelm 45, Stadium 6
Next game: vs. Shelton (3-0) – Yelm HS – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: The Tornadoes have scored 147 points in their three games to move to 3-0, albeit against teams that are a combined 1-8 this season. They will get their first true test on Friday when they face Shelton. Jacob Swilley rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns against Stadium on Friday and became the school’s all-time leading rusher.
6. Tumwater T-Birds (2-1)
Last week: #6 (No change)
Previous game: Tumwater 31, Inglemoor 28
Next game: @ Capital (3-0) – Ingersoll Stadium – Saturday, 7:00 PM
Notes: It took a 94 yard punt return by Andrew Brown to get past 0-2 Inglemoor on Friday night, but the T-Birds did get the win and have a little bit of momentum heading into Saturday’s 2A EvCo opener with Capital. Brown scored all three touchdowns in the second half for Tumwater, the first a 13 yard run, the second a 59 yard run before the punt return that proved to the the game winner.
7. Timberline Blazers (2-1)
Last week: #7 (No change)
Previous game: Timberline 23, Olympia 12
Next game: @ Wilson (2-1) – Stadium Bowl, Tacoma – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: I’m still not sure about this Timberline team. They knocked off River Ridge easily in week one, they then lost to Tumwater and on Friday they were only up on a struggling Olympia team by two points going into the fourth quarter. A big defensive play and a Spencer Crump touchdown run sealed the deal for the Blazers, but all things considered, this was quite the scare. The true barometer will come this weekend when they take on the aerial attack of Wilson in Tacoma
8. River Ridge Hawks (2-1)
Last week: #8 (No change)
Previous game: River Ridge 61, Ridgefield 40
Next game: @ Hockinson (3-0) – Nautilus Field, Brush Prairie – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: Since they were shutout on opening day by Timberline, the Hawks have scored 95 points. Colby Schultz has nine touchdown passes, five to Wesley Coats. Brad Wallace scored five times on Saturday night against the Spudders, his first scores of the season. The Hawks get one more non-league game at 3-0 Hockinson on Friday night. The other Hawks have outscored their opponents 143-36 this season.
9. Black Hills Wolves (2-1)
Last week: #9 (No change)
Previous game: Black Hills 34, Bainbridge 20
Next game: vs. Aberdeen (1-2) – Tumwater Stadium – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: The Wolves rebounded nicely after getting shutdown by North Thurston with a 14 point win over Bainbridge on the road. Another non-league game is on tap when they host Aberdeen, losers to two 1A schools, albeit two really good 1A schools in Montesano and Hoquiam.
10. Rochester Warriors (1-2)
Last week: #10 (No change)
Previous game: Rochester 52, Rainier 0
Next game: @ Hoquiam (3-0) – Olympic Stadium, Hoquiam – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: Rochester got on track quickly against Rainier behind five touchdowns by Tyler Yarber, four on the ground and one passing. But the Warriors travel to Olympic Stadium on Friday for what could be an ugly game against red hot Hoquiam.
11. Olympia Bears (0-3)
Last week: #12 (+1)
Previous game: Timberline 23, Olympia 12
Next game: vs. Stadium (1-2) – Ingersoll Stadium – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: Well, they scored points and played Timberline pretty tough, hence the one place climb over Rainier. They have a chance to get things going this week when they take on what looks to be a weak Stadium team in their 4A Narrows League opener.
12. Rainier Mountaineers (0-3)
Last week: #11 (-1)
Previous game: Rochester 52, Rainier 0
Next game: @ Elma (0-3) – Elma Stadium – Friday, 7:00 PM
Notes: After getting blown out by Rochester, poor Rainier has been outscored 133-18 this season. The Mountaineers do get 0-3 Elma this week, something has to give.
Oly Sports 