Everett, WA - Nine days after the first official practice on August 1st, 3rd year head coach Nicole Nsa had the team looking sharp as the Trojans hosted Pacific Northwest Christian College, an upstart two-year college out of the Tri-Cities who will be competing in the NJCAA as a new Region 18 member of Division I (full scholarship) this 2023 season. Everett narrowly missed qualifying for the NWAC playoffs a season ago, by finishing north region play one point behind Shoreline in the standings. The first scrimmage of the 2023 season showed an EvCC team that certainly displayed a sense of focus and determination to make the post season, and are led by 13 returning sophomores. Among them are leading goal scorer from last season Elizabeth Martinez (8) and Emily Marriott who last played for the Trojans in 2019 and led the team that season with 9 goals scored. Another returner, Paige Runcorn scored 3 goals and added 2 assists in the 2022 campaign.
The Trojans controlled the match from start to finish against PNWCC and ultimately came away with a 4-0 win. Sophomores Marriott and Runcorn each scored goals and two goals were added by some new faces, local freshmen Amanda Szechenyi out of Marysville, and Denisha Nash from Inglemoor High School. Freshman goalkeeper Ruby Wacker out of Everett High School recorded the clean sheet.
Everett was back in action three days later in another home scrimmage, this one against NWAC west region opponent South Puget Sound. After a scoreless first half, The Trojans earned a penalty kick after a hand ball in the box. Elizabeth Martinez took the kick and put it into the back of the net. The Clippers scored moments later off of a defensive miscue to draw the score even. EvCC had multiple goal scoring opportunities over the next 20 minutes, and reclaimed the lead in the 80th minute after Emily Morandi drew a penalty in the box. Martinez once again calmly took the kick and capitalized to put EvCC back on top for good, ultimately prevailing 2-1.
Everett hits the road on August 17th venturing across state lines where the squad will take on a couple of four-year opponents. On Thursday night EvCC faces NCAA DII Northwest Nazarene University the alma mater of head coach Nicole Nsa. Then on Saturday morning the Trojans will face NAIA College of Idaho where coach Nsa spent a season as an assistant coach in 2020. The Coyotes finished 2nd in the Cascade Standings last season with a 16-4-2 record and advanced to the NAIA Championship tournament where they upset #2 seed Truett Mconnell before falling 1-0 to #1 ranked Keiser in the 2nd round. These two matches will be the finale of the scrimmages before the Trojans begin the regular season, opening with Blue Mountain CC on August 22nd at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA.