COEUR D’ALENE — Walla Walla Community College sophomore captain Chelsea Marozik led the way to a pair of goals as the undefeated Warriors topped North Idaho, 2-0, in a Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer match here on Wednesday.
Walla Walla (8-0-1 overall, 4-0-0 in the East) finished the day atop regional standings with Columbia Basin (3-1-1) idle following its loss to third-place Spokane (2-0-1) on Tuesday. North Idaho (2-1-0) remained fourth.
“Overall, I’m extremely happy with how the game went today,” Warriors coach Jordan Hacker said. “We got a valuable three points at a very tough place to play.”
Walla Walla will jump back into action on Saturday, when the Warriors take on Spokane at noon.
At North Idaho, Marozik set the stage for Walla Walla’s first goal with a serve into the box around the 20th minute.
Freshman Jennifer Inions then fed classmate Haley Wammock, who notched her team-best fourth goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.
Marozik gave the Warriors a little cushion around the 32nd minute when she knocked a free kick through the hands of North Idaho goalie Kinzie Hunter. Marozik’s goal tied Wammock, as well as freshman Madison Brownell, for the team lead.
Hunter ended up making six saves to keep the Cardinals within striking distance as the Warriors pressured her all day with eight shots on goal, where as the stingy Walla Walla back line defense limited North Idaho to only one late in the second half.
Warrior sophomore goalie Paige Kubista answered with a sudden reaction save to keep North Idaho off the scoreboard and record her seven shutout of the season. Wenatchee on Monday became the only team to hit the back of the net against her.
“Today, we showed what kind of team we can be,” Hacker said. “For 90 minutes, we kept the gas pedal on. We executed in every aspect of the game. We defended extremely well, we possessed better than we have all year, and we were able to finish on two set pieces.”
Union Bulletin
