NWPL Adds the Oly Town Artesians to the League for the 2022 Outdoor Season

BREMERTON, Wash. – The Northwest Premier League is excited to welcome the Oly Town Artesians to the Northwest’s premier women’s amateur league for the 2022 outdoor season and beyond. The Artesians outdoor team will join their women’s indoor team in the NWPL after completing a successful independent schedule in the summer of 2021. Oly Town FC was founded in 2014 and their men’s sides have represented Olympia, Washington in the Western Indoor Soccer League and the Evergreen Premier League.

Kailey Utley | Photo credit: Steve Schmidt

“As an organization we feel that the NWPL brings a level of play and atmosphere that best fits the Oly Town Artesian mindset,” said Artesians owner Ryan Perkins. “We are excited for premier level soccer and a larger geographic area to compete in and we are excited to meet our new friends around the league and provide quality women’s soccer here in the capitol city of Olympia!”

The Oly Town women’s outdoor team played a five game independent schedule last season to get the program off the ground and went undefeated against a lineup of teams that included two NWPL teams. Kailey Utley scored five goals in four games and longtime NWPL goalkeeper Kyla Carter allowed just two goals over four games.

2021 Artesians | Photo credit: Steve Schmidt

The Artesians will play their home games at Black Hills High School, their home for outdoor soccer since the facility was built in 2017. Black Hills provides a seating area for 300 fans, locker rooms at the high school, public address system, restrooms and more and the Artesians often bring in food trucks and provide a great atmosphere for soccer fans.

Oly Town FC was founded in 2014 as a men’s indoor team premiering in the Western Indoor Soccer League and then joined the Evergreen Premier League for men’s outdoor play in 2017. They added a women’s indoor team in 2020 but played just two games before the pandemic hit and added women’s outdoor in 2021. For more information on the team, visit their website at www.olytownfc.com

The capitol city of Olympia has been represented in the Northwest Premier League since 2018 by Blackhills FC. Blackhills opted to leave the league this season, opening the door for the Artesians to bring their ambitious brand of soccer to the NWPL.

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ABOUT THE NORTHWEST PREMIER LEAGUE: The Northwest Premier League (NWPL) is an elite, adult, amateur women’s soccer league featuring Northwest clubs across the states of Washington and Oregon. The league currently sits at nine clubs: AC Chehalem Valley (Newberg, OR), Capital FC Atletica (Salem, OR), Northwest Elite FC (Beaverton, OR), Oly-Pen Force (Bremerton, WA), Oly Town Artesians (Olympia, WA), Seattle Stars, Twin City Union (Centralia, WA), Washington Premier (Puyallup, WA), Vancouver Victory (Vancouver, WA), Yakima United.

NWPLi Releases 2022 Schedule

BREMERTON, Wash. – The Northwest Premier League has released their inaugural 2022 indoor soccer schedule today that will feature 21 games over eleven weeks beginning in just over a month on February 12th and will wrap up with the NWPLi championship game on April 23rd. Five teams will take part in the first NWPLi season – the Oly-Pen Force, the Oly Town Artesians, Snohomish County, the Tacoma Galaxy, and the Whatcom Waves. To see the full schedule, click here.

The season will kick off on February 12th with two games. The Oly-Pen Force will face Snohomish County at the Oly-Pen Sports Center in Bremerton and the Oly Town Artesians will host the Tacoma Galaxy at The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

Snohomish and the Whatcom Waves will play their first home games the next week on February 19th. The Steelheads will host the Galaxy at the Snohomish Sports Dome and the Waves will welcome the Artesians to the Bellingham Sportsplex.

The brand new Tacoma Galaxy (more info on the Galaxy coming soon) will play their first home game on March 26th when the Artesians will travel to the Tacoma Soccer Center.

The season will wrap up on April 23rd with the championship game to be played on the home field of the #1 regular season seed. They will take on the #2 seed to determine the first NWPLi Champion.

The NWPLi began play as the Western Indoor Soccer League Women in 2020 but only played two games before the global pandemic shut down the season. The league transitioned to being operated by the NWPL in late 2021 and welcomed the Force and Artesians from the original four WISL women’s teams. Snohomish County took over for the Snohomish Skyhawks and the Tacoma Galaxy will replace Tacoma Narrows at the Tacoma Soccer Center. The league welcomed Bellingham to the fold with the Whatcom Waves.

The NWPLi Welcomes The Whatcom Waves To New Indoor Division

The Northwest Premier League is excited to welcome the Whatcom Waves to the inaugural NWPL Indoor season, kicking off in 2022. The new Bellingham based team will play at the Bellingham Sportsplex and will hold tryouts for their inaugural squad starting tonight, Friday, January 7th.

“Having a NWPLi team in Bellingham will uplift and empower young girls who are talented, driven and wish to have a soccer career after high school or college beyond the ‘adult’ recreation women’s leagues,” said Waves Executive Director Suneeta Eisenberg. “I expect a lot of talent from this area, fun-natured young women with a hard work ethic to build a community around the Waves’ code of conduct.”

The highly ambitious club has an active board of 15 people that are working to make the club the elite women’s indoor club in the Northwest. Their code of conduct includes their 4Cs core values – commitment, compassion, care and competitiveness. And their ambitiousness extends off the field as well to future projects in Whatcom County.

“I am most excited to help bring this community together,” continued Eisenberg. “By working with our city, county, port and citizens to build a new facility that will be a center for sports, recreating, energy creation and transportation. The new center will be host to games, music shows, roof-top gardens, solar panels and so much more.”

In the meantime, the club will draw players from the strong community of alumni and current players from Western Washington University and Whatcom Community College and others that call Bellingham and surrounding communities home. Much like the highly successful WISL Bellingham United club they share a facility with, the team will have a strong player pool that will take the field for the first time at tryouts on Friday, January 7th. For more info and registration, visit whatcomwaves.com.

“We plan to make a big splash in our first season on the field,” said the Waves’ Savanna Balfour. “We have a very talented pool of players expected to tryout and we plan to give our community a great performance every time we step on the field.”

The Whatcom Waves will take the field in the NWPLi and face Snohomish County FC, the Oly-Pen Force, the Oly Town Artesians, and a fifth team that is set to be announced soon. The season is slated to kick off in mid-February. For more info on the NWPLi, visit northwestpremierleague.com.

Indoor Soccer Coming To The Northwest Premier League in 2022

BREMERTON, Wash. – The Northwest Premier League is excited to announce that the Western Indoor Soccer League women’s division will become the Northwest Premier League Indoor (NWPLi) and will be operated and governed by the leadership and clubs of the NWPL. The move will bring high level amateur women’s soccer, both outdoor and indoor, under one cohesive banner for the first time. The 2022 NWPLi season will kick off in February.

Oly Town and Oly-Pen’s debut game in 2020

“The Northwest Premier League and it’s member clubs are pleased to announce that it is taking over ownership of the women’s indoor league formerly known as the Women’s WISL,” said NWPL President and Oly-Pen Force General Manager Micah McMonagle. “We will maintain a working partnership with the WISL moving forward but both entities feel that this is best for the women’s game in the Pacific Northwest.”

The Western Indoor Soccer League women’s division premiered in 2020 to raucous crowds in Olympia (Oly Town Artesians), Bremerton (Oly-Pen Force), Snohomish (Snohomish Skyhawks) and Tacoma (Tacoma Narrows). The league played just two games before it was sadly shutdown because of Covid-19.

The return to play will begin in 2022 with the league transitioning to the NWPL. Currently, four teams are committed to play in the NWPLi including two returning clubs: the Oly Town Artesians and Oly-Pen Force. Snohomish transitioned their club from the Skyhawks to Snohomish County FC. And the league will welcome a new club in Bellingham: the Whatcom Waves (more on the Waves soon). Other teams are still being considered for a short time and interested parties should fill out the NWPL expansion form here.

“Making this move will further enhance the strong presence the outdoor game has in the PNW by adding nearly year round content to women’s soccer both indoor and out,” continued McMonagle. “We couldn’t be more excited to announce that this change will take place immediately for the upcoming indoor season in February.”

The new NWPLi logo is a modified NWPL logo that adds the yellow and blue from the center circle from the WISL logo to the “O” and compass in “Northwest” as a nod to the league’s founding and partnership with the WISL.

Membership in the outdoor and indoor divisions will be separate from each other. No outdoor team will be expected to play in the indoor division and no indoor team will be expected to play or guaranteed a spot in the outdoor division.

The Northwest Premier League debuted in 2016 and currently features nine teams ranging from Seattle, Washington in the north, Yakima, Washington to the east and Salem, Oregon to the south. Plans for the 2022 season are currently underway with the outdoor season slated to kick off in late May/early June. The Vancouver Victory are the reigning champions after capturing the 2021 title.

2021 Northwest Premier League Awards

Maddie Goss with Clark College

2021 Player Of The Year: Maddie Goss (Vancouver Victory) – Vancouver native Maddie Goss started every game for the Victory this season scoring four goals and chipping in with eight assists to lead the Washington Timbers/Vancouver Victory franchise to their second Northwest Premier League title. Described by her coach, Joshua Westermann, as one of the hardest workers on and off the field, Goss took care of her teammates and made them better, many times dishing out assists rather than scoring herself. The former Clark College star is now a junior at Warner Pacific where she has already scored three goals in five games for the Knights.

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Josh Westermann

2021 Coach Of The Year: Josh Westermann (Vancouver Victory) – Warner Pacific head coach Josh Westermann took the reins of the newly renamed Vancouver Victory for the 2021 season and built a strong roster and kept a consistent product on the field in a challenging season en route to the NWPL championship. Westermann, a native of Oregon City, Oregon, guided the Victory to a 5-1 record and a commanding +13 goal differential in six games. The National Junior College Athletics Association Hall Of Famer for his playing career at Yavapai College is back at Warner Pacific for his second season in charge of the Knights.

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Grace Terrill

2021 Golden Boot: Paige German & Maddie Goss (Vancouver Victory), Grace Terrill (Yakima United) – Three players share the Golden Boot Award for the 2021 season with four goals apiece. Vancouver’s Paige German and Maddie Goss spread their goal scoring out over the six game season while Grace Terrill did all of her damage in just one game, a four goal performance against Blackhills in week one.

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Makenna McClellan

2021 Golden Gloves: Lyric Tinnell (Blackhills), Makenna McClellan & Chantal Reyes (Vancouver Victory) – 2021 saw three shutouts and the Golden Gloves Award goes to three different players. Makenna McClellan and Chantal Reyes each posted one for Vancouver on June 5th and July 17th, respectively. Meanwhile, Lyric Tinnell kept a clean sheet on June 19th in 3-0 win for Blackhills on the road against AC Chehalem Valley.

Vancouver Clinches NWPL Title With 4-0 Victory

Vancouver Victory 4, Blackhills FC 0

Behind a goal and two assists from Maddie Goss and a clean sheet by goalkeeper Chantal Reyes, the Vancouver Victory clinched the top spot in the table and took home the 2021 Northwest Premier League championship with their 4-0 win over Blackhills FC.

Needing to win, draw, or lose by less than seven goals, Vancouver took care of business, starting with a goal from Rachel Anderson in the 14th minute on Maddie Goss’ first assist of the game. Despite most of the possession in the first half, the two teams went to the break just separated by the one goal. But Mary Swisher made it 2-0 less than ten minutes into the second half off of another assist from Goss, then Goss scored one of her own in the 65th minute to make it 3-0. Makayla Roggow assisted Goss’ goal and then got one of her own in the 75th to cement the victory for the Victory.

Vancouver finished the four team, six game season with a 5-1-0 record and 15 points, three points ahead of second place Yakima United. This is the second championship for the Vancouver Victory/Washington Timbers. They won the title in 2017 while playing as the Timbers.

Blackhills finished their season at 3-3-0 with nine points and a third place finish.

GOALS: ’14 – Rachel Anderson (Maddie Goss) – Vancouver, ’54 – Mary Swisher (Goss) – Vancouver, ’65 – Goss (Makayla Roggow – Vancouver, ’75 – Roggow (Lauren Snedeker) – Vancouver

Players Of The Week: June 26 to July 17

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  Makayla Roggow

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  Maddie Goss

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  Landrey McCann

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  Isabelle Bauer

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  Margaret McBroom

Offense:

Makayla Roggow – Vancouver Victory: Makayla Roggow tallied a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 4-0 win over AC Chehalem Valley, putting the Victory on the verge of the 2021 NWPL league title. The Northwest Nazarene junior scored the Victory’s second goal of the contest in the 35th minute and then dished to Paige German in the 43rd minute to give Vancouver a 3-0 lead at halftime.

Maddie Goss – Vancouver Victory: We would be remiss if we did not recognize Maddie Goss’ spectacular week four performance in a 7-1 win over Blackhills. Goss, playing in 100+ degree weather that cancelled the other week’s contest and upended the weekly awards, scored twice and added four assists in the victory. The Vancouver native and Union High School grad has scored three times for the Victory this season.

Defense:

Landrey McCann – Blackhills: Blackhills turned the tables on Yakima United on Saturday, avenging a 5-1 loss to open the season with their own 5-1 win on the road Saturday. Landrey McCann was singled out for the Blackhills defense keeping the Hoppers off the board for until the 84th minute of play, keeping the Blackhills title hopes alive.

Isabelle Bauer/Margaret McBroom – Vancouver: Goalkeeper Isabelle Bauer collected seven saves including a penalty kick save in their 7-1 win over Blackhills on June 26th and Margaret McBroom has been instrumental on the Victory back line all season long leading the way in allowing just one goal in their past two games including Saturday’s shutout.

Week 6 Recap: Big Wins For Vancouver, Blackhills

Vancouver Victory 4, AC Chehalem Valley 0

Makayla Roggow tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Vancouver Victory to a 4-0 win over AC Chehalem Valley on Saturday afternoon at Harmony Sports in Vancouver. Rachel Anderson opened the scoring in the 17th minute on an assist by Mary Swisher. Eleanor Schmid fed Raggow for a goal in the 35th that made it 2-0 and then Raggow fed Paige German to make it 3-0. Chloe Harris added a goal in the 54th minute to finish the scoring and goalkeepers Isabell Bauer and Chantal Reyes combined to keep a clean sheet in the 4-0 win.

Vancouver moved to 4-1-0 on the season and will take on Blackhills FC next weekend in a battle for the league title.

GOALS: ’17 – Rachel Anderson (Mary Swisher) – Vancouver, ’35 – Makayla Roggow (Eleanor Schmid) – Vancouver, ’43 – Paige German (Roggow) – Vancouver, ’54 – Chloe Harris – Vancouver

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Blackhills 5, Yakima United 1

Five different players scored to lead Blackhills to a 5-1 road win over Yakima United at SOZO Sports in Yakima on Saturday afternoon. Brooke Streeter and Liz Clemens each scored first half goals to give Blackhills a 2-0 lead after the first 45 minutes. Then Jocelyn Charette scored three minutes into the second half and then drew a penalty kick in the 68th minute that Mel Alvarado converted to make it 4-0. Emma Rose finished off the scoring for Blackhills in the 73rd to make it 5-0. Brianna Garfias scored the lone goal for Yakima off of an assist from Arianna Lopez in the 83rd but fell 5-1 in their last game of the season.

Blackhills improved to 3-2-0 this season and have an outside chance of winning the league title when they face Vancouver next Saturday. They will need to win and win by 7 goals to break win the tiebreaker over the Victory.

GOALS: ‘5 – Brooke Streeter – Blackhills, ’17 – Liz Clemens (Niki Covert) – Blackhills, ’48 – Jocelyn Charette – Blackhills, ’68 – Mel Alvarado (PK) – Blackhills, ’73 – Emma Rose – Blackhills, ’83 – Brianna Garfias (Arianna Lopez) – Yakima

Week 4 Recap: Victory Victorious in Olympia

Maddie Goss | Photo from Clark College Athletics

Vancouver Victory 7, Blackhills 1

The Vancouver Victory took over first place in the Northwest Premier League with a resounding 7-1 victory over Blackhills FC on the grass at the Capital Soccer Fields in Olympia. Maddie Goss and Paige German scored twice in the victory. Goss added four assists for the Victory.

Vancouver started the scoring with a Rachel Anderson goal in the 12th minute and poured it on with five more goals in the first half including both of German and Goss’ goals and a 42nd minute strike by Sophia Connell and they took a 6-0 lead at the half.

Blackhills scored their loan goal on the hour mark thanks to Mel Alvarado, but Brin Wolvert wrapped things up in the 69th to make it 7-1 and the Victory improved to 3-1-0 during this abbreviated NWPL season.

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GOALS: ’12 – Rachel Anderson (Maddie Goss – Vancouver, ’20 – Paige German (Anderson) – Vancouver, ’37 – Goss (Maya Davis) – Vancouver, ’40 – German (Goss) – Vancouver, 42 – Sophia Connell (Goss), ’45 – Goss (German) – Vancouver, ’60 – Mel Alvarado – Blackhills, ’69 – Brin Wolvert (Goss) – Vancouver

Week 3 Players Of The Week: Covert and Tinnel

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  Niki Covert

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  Lyric Tinnel

Offensive:

Niki Covert – Blackhills FC: In a game that featured 29 shots on goal between the two teams, Niki Covert broke open a 1-0 game with two goals in the 59th and 70th minute to lead Blackhills to a 3-0 win over AC Chehalem Valley. The Shelton, Washington native helped Blackhills improve to 2-1-0 this season and they are tied with Yakima and Vancouver on points this season.

Defensive:

Lyric Tinnel – Blackhills FC: Lyric Tinnel made 13 saves in a back and forth game that featured 29 shots on goal total between the two teams and posted Blackhills’ first shutout of the season. The Olympia High School graduate, along with Covert, helped Blackhills to their second straight win over AC Chehalem Valley and a 2-1-0 record at the halfway point of the season.

Other Nominees:

Offensive: Natalie Nagle (Yakima), Lybian Sosa Castro (Chehalem Valley)

Defensive: Enya Hernandez (Chehalem Valley)

Week 3 Recap: Yakima, Blackhills Pick Up Saturday Wins

Yakima United 3, Vancouver Victory 2

Natalie Nagle scored the game winner in the 87th minute to lead Yakima United to a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Victory at SOZO Sports in Yakima on Saturday afternoon. The game was a back and forth affair with Vancouver’s Maddie Goss striking first in the 19th minute. Six minutes later, Yakima equalized when Isabelle Moultray found Gillian Martin for a goal in the 25th minute. The two teams went to the break knotted up at one.

Vancouver jumped out to a lead right away in the second half with Chloe Harris giving the Victory their second goal in the 49th minute. But the Hoppers had the answer 13 minutes later with Delaney Romero’s equalizer from Martin in the 62nd minute. The two teams battled for the next 25 minutes until Nagle struck with the game winner in the 87th to give Yakima their second win of the season.

Both Vancouver and Yakima moved to 2-1-0 at the halfway point of the NWPL season.

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GOALS: ’19 – Maddie Goss – Vancouver, ’25 – Gillian Martin (Isabelle Moultray) – Yakima, ’49 – Chloe Harris – Vancouver, ’62 – Delaney Romero (Martin) – Yakima, ’87 – Natalie Nagle – Yakima

Blackhills FC 3, AC Chehalem Valley 0

Niki Covert scored twice and Lyric Tinnel kept a clean sheet and Blackhills picked up their second win of the season with a 3-0 win over AC Chehalem Valley in Newberg on Saturday night. Madison Spenker struck first for Blackhills in the first half off a pass from Payton Aselton. Covert scored both of her goals in the second half, her first coming in the 59th minute with an assist by Jocelyn Charette and her second in the 70th minute with an assist from Spenker.

Blackhills moved to 2-1-0 this season while AC Chehalem Valley are still looking for their first win at 0-3-0.

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GOALS: Madison Spenker (Payton Aselton) – Blackhills, ’59 – Niki Covert (Jocelyn Charette) – Blackhills, ’70 – Covert (Spenker) – Blackhills

Players Of Week 2: Penner and Sadler

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  Penner (Center) | Photo: Blackhills FC

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  Sadler | Photo: Eastern Washington Athletics

Defensive:

Lulu Sadler – Vancouver: The Vancouver Victory took an early lead in the Northwest Premier League table thanks to a 3-1 win over Yakima United. Camas native Lulu Sadler was instrumental as an outside back in shutting down Yakima’s attack and added a goal of her own in a solid performance for the Victory.

Offensive:

Caroline Penner – Blackhills: Blackhills FC picked up their first win of the new season on Saturday with a 5-2 win over AC Chehalem Valley. Caroline Penner, a junior at Capital High School, scored twice on her home field and created goal scoring opportunities for her teammates.

Other Nominees:

Defensive: Landrey McCann (Blackhills)

Offensive: Lauren Robideau (Chehalem Valley), Rachel Anderson (Vancouver)

Week 2 Recap: Blackhills and Vancouver Take The Spoils

AC Chehalem Valley’s first road squad

Blackhills 5, AC Chehalem Valley 2

A freewheeling first half featured goals by Jocelyn Charette and Mel Alvarado that gave Blackhills a 2-0 lead before AC Chehalem Valley answered back with strikes by Maria Frias and Lauren Robideau tied the game, 2-2, in the 43rd. But Blackhills answered right back with a goal a minute later and would add two more in the second half to take the win, 5-2. Caroline Penner scored what proved to be the game winner in the 44th and added another in the 60th and Claire Fleckstein added the insurance goal in the 70th.

GOALS: ‘8 – Jocelyn Charette – Blackhills, ’28 – Mel Alvarado – Blackhills, ’39 – Maria Frias – Chehalem, ’43 – Lauren Robideau – Chehalem, ’44 – Caroline Penner (Liz Clemens) – Blackhills, ’60 – Caroline Penner (Landrey McCann) – Blackhills, ’70 – Claire Fleckstein (Lauren Forster) – Blackhills

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Vancouver Victory 3, Yakima United 2

The Vancouver Victory moved to 2-0-0 in the Northwest Premier League after goals by Maya Davis, Paige German and a penalty kick by Lulu Sadler led to a 3-1 win at Harmony Sports in Vancouver. Lauryn Peters scored the lone goal for Yakima.

GOALS (no minutes reported): Maya Davis (Olivia Fothergill) – Vancouver, Paige German (Rachel Anderson) – Vancouver, Lulu Sadler (PK) – Vancouver, Lauryn Peters (Natalie Nagle) – Yakima

Players Of Week 1: McClellan and Terrill

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  Photo credit: Warner Pacific Athletics

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  Photo credit: Eastern Washington Athletics

Defensive:

Makenna McClellan – Vancouver: Vancouver played their first game under the Victory moniker and Warner Pacific alum Makenna McClellan made seven saves in a solid performance that finished in a 1-0 shutout victory over AC Chehalem Valley.

Offensive:

Grace Terrill – Yakima: Grace Terrill scored in the 6th, 16th, 79th and 84th minutes to lead Yakima to a resounding 5-1 win over Blackhills. Terrill, a Ronald, Washington native who plays collegiately at Eastern Washington University, scored her four goals on road in Olympia.

Other Nominees:

Defensive: Eleanor Schmid (Vancouver), Jordyn Jolley (Yakima)

Week 1 Recap: Vancouver Victorious, Yakima Wins Big

Vancouver Victory 1, AC Chehalem Valley 0

AC Chehalem Valley made their long awaited debut in the Northwest Premier League against the Vancouver Victory, who were playing their first game under a new moniker after playing as the Washington Timbers previously. Vancouver got the better of the two new squads on Saturday in Newberg, Oregon with a goal by Olivia Forturgall in the 21st minute. It was the lone goal scored against Chehalem Valley’s Enya Hernandez but she was bested by Vancouver’s Makenna McClellan, who posted a shutout in her season debut.

GOALS: ’21 – Olivia Fortugall – Vancouver

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Yakima United 5, Blackhills 1

Grace Terrill scored four times to lead Yakima United to a 5-1 win over Blackhills in Olympia on Saturday afternoon. 2017 and 2019 NWPL Golden Boot winner Lauryn Peters added a goal to push her career total to 26 goals over four seasons. Terrill started the scoring quickly with goals in the 6th and 16th minutes before Hallie Bergford made it a one goal game in the 44th. But Peters made it 3-1 five minutes into the second half and then Terrill exploded for two more goals down the stretch to finish Blackhills off.

GOALS: ‘6 – Grace Terrill – Yakima, ’16 – Terrill – Yakima, ’44 – Hallie Bergford – Blackhills, ’50 – Lauryn Peters – Yakima, ’79 – Terrill – Yakima, ’84 – Terrill (PK) – Yakima

Northwest Premier League Releases 2021 Schedule

The Northwest Premier League will play a 2021 season with four teams participating, playing six games each beginning on Saturday, June 5th. The season will wrap up on Saturday, July 24th and the team with the best record at the end of the season will be crowned champion.

The four teams participating in the abbreviated season are AC Chehalem Valley, Blackhills FC, Vancouver Victory and Yakima United. All four teams kick off the season on June 5th with a home game for Blackhills against Yakima in Olympia and the long awaited first league home game for AC Chehalem Valley against Vancouver.

Capital FC Atletica, Crossfire United, Oly-Pen Force, Seattle Stars, Twin City Union, Washington Premier have all elected to sit out the 2021 season and will be welcomed back in 2022.

To see the full schedule, click here.

Northwest Premier League Cancels 2020 Season

Northwest Premier League member clubs voted unanimously on Thursday afternoon to cancel the 2020 season due to complications and obstacles related to COVID-19. We are saddened to make this announcement, but after thoughtful consideration by league members, the health and safety of our players, staff, supporters, league referees and the community in general comes first and the restrictions put on all of us would make it challenging to conduct our season and maintain the quality product the NWPL is known for.

NWPL clubs would like to say thank you to everybody in the Northwest doing their part to fight the spread of this virus, from medical professionals, to grocery store workers, delivery drivers and others providing essential services and to everybody practicing social distancing during this trying time. We will be back in 2021 to provide you with premier amateur women’s soccer across Washington and Oregon.

Stay home, stay healthy, and take care.

NWPL Coronavirus/COVID-19 Statement

The Northwest Premier League (“NWPL”), an elite, adult, amateur women’s soccer league in Washington and Oregon, continues to monitor the Coronavirus situation within our states and throughout our country. We are committed to doing whatever we can to ensure the safety of our players, staff and surrounding communities. The NWPL is also dedicated to providing a place for our local and collegiate players to play and improve their abilities during the summer. With these two concerns as our focus, and in following our current governmental mandates, we are suspending the start of the NWPL season with the hopes of being able to play a modified 2020 season. We will continue to monitor the situation and update our league and our fans with any new information as it develops.

In the meantime, it is important to all of us to not only stay safe but that we are able to support our local communities. Please feel free to reach out to your local club with questions and comments and we will do what we can to support everyone within the league and within the local communities.

Washington Timbers To Compete As Vancouver Victory, Name Westermann Head Coach

Northwest Premier League founding member and 2017 NWPL champion Washington Timbers FC announced earlier this month that the team will compete as the Vancouver Victory, joining the Evergreen Premier League men’s team under the Victory badge. Here is the press release from the Timbers/Victory…

The Washington Timbers Women’s First team will now be known as the Vancouver Victory Women joining the Victory Men and the Victory Northern Alliance under the Victory badge. Created in 2017 as founding members of the NW Premier League (NWPL), the Women’s first team provides the highest level of play for female soccer players in SW Washington.

The Women’s first team has a fantastic record of success and looks to build upon that success as the Victory Women. Winning the championship in the inaugural NWPL season and reaching the finals the following year was the ideal way to set the standard for this group.

Victory General Manager and Washington Timbers Executive Director Sean Janson has this to say about the new name, “The arrival of the Victory men to our community in 2014 brought forth a new opportunity for amateur players to compete at the highest level in SW Washington. Having coached for the Victory from 2014-2016 I knew first hand of the quality of play and players involved. It was an easy decision to bring in the Women’s team when the NWPL started in 2017. Having the women under the Victory badge will streamline many processes and strengthen the Victory brand. In addition, we’re also very pleased to add the Northern Alliance men’s team under the Victory umbrella as well.”

As the only jersey sponsor the Victory have ever known, Muchas Gracias Mexican Food will now also sponsor the Women’s and Northern Alliance squads. Their support is a driving factor behind the expansion of the Victory brand and the strengthening of elite amateur soccer in SW Washington.

The Victory also announced that Warner Pacific head coach Josh Westermann  has been named to the same position with the Victory women. Previous to his stint in Portland, he spent five years as an assistant at San Diego Christian and was an assistant coach on the Kenyan Women’s National Team.

“(I am) overwhelmed and humbled by this opportunity,” said Westermann, “A special thanks to Sean Janson and the Vancouver Victory for bringing me on board. Looking forward to offering a great experience to many aspiring and current college players at this high level”.

The Victory will host an open tryout on April 17th from 7:00-8:30 at the Harmony Sports Complex.

Crossfire United Named 10th Northwest Premier League Club

BREMERTON, Wash. – The Northwest Premier League is proud to announce our third team in the great State of Oregon and second new club for the 2020 season, Crossfire United. Oregon’s top-ranked ECNL program will expand their program to take on a new challenge and give their players and alumni a new opportunity during the summer. The team will play their home games out of Mountain View Champions Park in Aloha.

“Being a part of the Northwest Premier League enables a place for our players and alumni to come back and play in a environment that will prepare them and keep them sharp for college,” said Crossfire United Director of Programs Kevin Legg.

“We have been successful in the ECNL platform so I am excited to see how our girls compete together with the different ages and expect it to be a challenging yet exciting season.”

Alumni of the Crossfire United program play at schools such as the University of Oregon, Oregon State, Stony Brook University, the University of Nevada Reno, amongst others.

Crossfire United is the elite division for Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club and was formed as a partnership between Crossfire Oregon and THUSC. They will play their home games at Mountain View Champions Park in Aloha, which features two turf fields, restrooms and concessions.

You can follow Crossfire United by visiting their website at www.crossfireunitedecnl.com, like them on Facebook at FB.com/CrossfireUnitedECNL or follow them on Twitter at @CrossfireUnited

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ABOUT THE NORTHWEST PREMIER LEAGUE: The Northwest Premier League (NWPL) is an elite, adult, amateur women’s soccer league featuring Northwest clubs across the states of Washington and Oregon. The league currently sits at ten clubs: AC Chehalem Valley (Newberg, OR), Blackhills FC (Olympia, WA), Capital FC Atletica (Salem, OR), Crossfire United (Aloha, OR), Oly-Pen Force (Bremerton, WA), Seattle Stars, Twin City Union (Centralia, WA), Washington Premier (Puyallup, WA), Washington Timbers (Vancouver, WA), Yakima United. The Seattle Stars are the two time defending champions.