Tukwila, WA - For the second time in the past two seasons the EvCC men's soccer program advanced to the NWAC semifinals. The Trojans' path through the NWAC playoffs began with a 2-1 win over Spokane at home and a decisive road win over South Region champions, Rogue CC, setting up the final four match up with the west region co-champs Clark College.
The Penguins featured a stout defense and a high powered offense, second in the NWAC in goals scored. The first 12 minutes of action were controlled by Clark who held the majority of possesion and tested EvCC goalkeeper Paddy Murphy early. After surviving four shots and four corners without conceding a goal, Everett finally got their first shot attempt, but Alhagie Ceesay's attempt was blocked by a Clark defender. Trojan leading goal scorer Cristiano Whitaker then got a chance in the 18th minute but it was saved by Clark's goalkeeper Jake Bilsborough.
The Penguins finally broke the scoring open in the 32nd minute. A throw in, into the box was not cleared by the EvCC defense and Clark's Milos Mavrak placed a low shot past the outsretched arm of Murphy. Clark kept the pressure on for the remainder of the half, but EvCC limited the damage to just the one goal. The Penguins outshot EvCC 11-4, and Murphy made two saves.
Into the second half Everett showed some resurgence in their attack. Two corners were generated within the first 7 minutes, one of which was headed by Caleb Hirata that just missed the target. His attempt was deflected past the goal line which resulted in the second corner. Lunden Fenster took the corner from the other side of the field and this time connected with Cristiano Whitaker who put a powerful header into the back of the net tying the game at 1-1.
Clark turned an EvCC freekick into a near transition goal scoring opportunity in the 60th minute but Paddy Murphy made an excellent save to keep the score even. Moments later however a shot that deflected off the post landed right at the feet of Clark's Abraham Alvarez-Cast and he gave the Penguins their second lead of the game. Everett was caught on their heels and nearly went down 3-1 in the 70th minute but a would be goal was called back for offsides.
The Trojans had two solid opportunities to tie the game back up, the first came by Caleb Hirata in the 83rd who let fly a hard shot from 25 yards out, but Bilsborough made a diving save. Then in the 88th minute another Lunden Fenster corner found Cristiano Whitaker. This time on his foot, but the shot was deflected, and collected by Bilsborough for his second game-saving save.
The final whistle blew five minutes later, sending Clark on to the championship game, and Everett home with a heartbreaking defeat.
Despite the loss, Everett had many accomplishments on the 2024 campaign including setting an EvCC men's soccer record for the most wins in a single season with 15. Cristiano Whitaker led the team with 13 goals scored which ranks 6th all time at EvCC in a single season. He adds 13 from his total of 20 last year for a career 33 goals ranking him 2nd all time. Fellow sophomore Noah Harrison-Russell tallied 7 assists on the season which bumped his career total up to 22, making him the all time assist leader at EvCC. And Paddy Murphy's 7.5 shutouts are tied for the most all time. Sophomore defender Dilon Spahia led a Trojan backline that was among the best in Trojan history for two years, the 2023 team that gave up a program best 0.89 goals per game, and this season 1.3 goals per game which ranks 3rd in program history. Head coach Kieren Raney became the all time winningest coach at EvCC and now has 50 career wins at the completion of his 4th season. Three Trojans made first team all region, Dilon Spahia, Cristiano Whitaker, and freshman Alhagie Ceesay who finished the year with 5 goals and an assist. Second team honors went to freshman Lunden Fenster (7 assists) and defender Brock Larsen.
Everett will graduate five sophomores, and potentially return 20 freshman from this year's team, eleven of which started regularly and played considerable minutes. Look for EvCC men's soccer to make another run in 2025 toward the program's first ever NWAC championship.