The Front Row with MARK NELKE Sept. 22, 2011
Because they do not play in a league in which they can advance from, the North Idaho College men's and women's soccer teams, playing as independents, have to have a record of .500 or better by a certain date near the end of the regular season in order to qualify for district play and a chance to qualify for nationals.
That shouldn't be a problem this year for the Cardinal women's soccer team.
NIC is off to a 7-0 start, and needs just one more victory to qualify for the District B championships Nov. 4-5 in Kansas.
"I didn't necessarily see this coming," NIC women's coach Dan Hogan said. "I don't try to look that far ahead. I know we've got some tough games ahead of us. We've got a long trip ahead of us this weekend to Rock Springs (Wyo., to play Western Wyoming and Western Nebraska). And we still have to go to Cheyenne (Wyo.) to play Laramie County."
THE CARDINALS have outscored their opponents 41-3 through seven games.
"I think we're doing a good job playing well as a team," Hogan said. "We have lots of girls that are finishing well, but the play leading up to it has been good. It all starts all the way in the back - our goalkeepers making good plays and good decisions and getting the ball to the right areas."
The schedule gets a little tougher from here on in. Western Wyoming and Western Nebraska are in Region 9, which will supply one team for the District B tournament. Laramie County, which NIC visits on Oct. 14, is also in Region 9, and has beaten Western Wyoming and Western Nebraska.
The Cardinals have been regulars at districts over the years (the NIC men, who are 3-2-1 this year, failed to qualify for its West District playoffs in Arizona two years ago, then qualified last year). NIC's women made it to nationals in 2008 for the first and only time, placing third.
This year, Hogan said, District 6 (in Kansas) gets two berths to districts, creating a likely four-team tournament with two semifinals and a championship game with the winner going to nationals. In past years, it was a three-team tournament, with two teams meeting in a semifinal, with a rested third team waiting for them - often the next day - to play for a trip to nationals.
Hogan likes the new format for districts.
"This way, each team shares in the punishment of the first day," Hogan said.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected].