Americans have one more weekend of preseason before WHL season + 5 athletes of the week
It’s getting close to hockey season, as the Tri-City Americans are just a few weekends away from opening play in the Western Hockey League.
The Ams had a sweep on the road last weekend as pre-season play opened up.
Tri-City beat Everett 5-4 in overtime last Friday, then went to Wenatchee and beat the Wild 4-2 on Saturday.
The team has two more preseason games this coming weekend, both at the Toyota Arena, which is next door to the Toyota Center.
On Friday, the Ams will play Portland at 7:05 p.m.; then take on Wenatchee on Saturday at 6:05 p.m.
Tri-City’s regular-season opener is Sept. 22 at Prince George, where the Ams finished last season in the WHL playoffs.
The Americans’ home opener is set for 6:05 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, against the Everett Silvertips.
Meanwhile, seven current players on the team’s roster headed off to National Hockey League training camps: forward Parker Bell is with the Calgary Flames; defenseman Lukas Dragicevic is with the Seattle Kraken; forward Tyson Greenway is in the Toronto Maple Leafs camp; goalie Lukas Matecha is with the Detroit Red Wings; center Adam Mechura is in the Boston Bruins camp; center Jake Sloan is with the Edmonton Oilers; and goalie Tomas Suchanek is in the Anaheim Ducks camp.
Also, Ams forward Elouann Lemmonier has left the team to pursue educational opportunities.
Prep soccer
Big Mid-Columbia Conference soccer match Tuesday night at Chiawana High School.
The host Riverhawks shut out powerhouse Richland 1-0.
The game was scoreless through the first half before Bella Hoag had a breakaway goal to make the difference.
Between Chiawana, Kamiakin and Richland, there should be some great battles in girls soccer this season.
5 athletes who caught my eye this week
Josh Woodard, Richland
Let’s be honest. Woodard has caught everyone’s eye for the past few years, whether on the football field or the basketball court.
But what he did last Friday in the Bombers’ 56-49 win over Hermiston on the road deserves special mention.
That’s what tossing a school record seven touchdown passes in a game (plus running in for the eighth score) will do for you.
Woodard does a great job of distributing the football top as many as nine receivers in a game, passing for 388 yards.
It’s kind of like what he does on the basketball court.
Issac Corey, Hermiston
The quarterback in the same game for the other team, Corey is no slouch himself.
The junior passed for 474 yards in the same game, and had four TD passes.
He also rushed for 45 yards and scored three touchdowns with his leg.
On Monday, I spoke with a journalism class at Richland High School, and there were a number of football players.
A couple of them told me Corey was just so hard to contain.
He’s got a big season ahead of him.
Sage Brustad, Eastern Washington University
The EWU volleyball team has a sub-.500 record right now at 4-5.
But Brustad, a senior who is a Richland High graduate, is doing her part to keep the Eagles legitimate.
She’s been a double-double machine, averaging 14 kills and 10 digs per match.
Maddie Morgan, Eastern Washington University
This Kamiakin grad seems to have this scoring thing down in women’s soccer. Earlier this season, Morgan scored five goals in a single match against Providence-Great Falls.
Last week (in losses to Boise State and St. Mary’s), Morgan scored five more goals — two against BSU, and a hat trick against the West Coast Conference Gaels.
Those performances earned Morgan the Big Sky Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week award for the second consecutive week.
Rylie Dolven, Kamiakin
The Braves volleyball team should be a state-caliber squad, and this senior will be a big reason why.
She’s the returning Mid-Columbia Conference volleyball player of the year, and as a setter, she does an incredible job of dispersing the ball and getting it to the right teammate at the right time.
Kamiakin should be the MCC favorite this fall — although Richland and Chiawana will have a say in that.
Prep football
Three Thursday night games on the prep schedule this week:
▪ Sunnyside at Kennewick, 7 p.m., Lampson Stadium. Grizzlies (1-1) come in for key non-conference games against the 2-0 Lions.
▪ Grandview at Prosser, 7 p.m., Fiker Stadium. Greyhounds are 2-0, but host Mustangs (1-1) should be the favorite as CWAC play begins.
▪ Kittitas at Columbia-Burbank, 7 p.m. The host Coyotes (1-1) bounced back from an opening-week loss to beat Kiona-Benton 44-8 last week.
College football
Doing the online color commentary for Central Washington University football home games, I witnessed NAIA school Montana Tech come into Ellensburg and upset the NCAA Division 2 Wildcats 37-29 on Saturday.
The Orediggers came ready to play, with its offense moving the ball and defense stopping Central late in the game when it needed to.
Also saw a few Chiawana High grads play in the game.
Bridger Feldmann starts for CWU on the defensive line, while Jalen Webber plays in the secondary.
Montana Tech’s kick is former Riverhawk Ryan Lowry, who had a 21-yard field goal and averaged 56 yards over seven kickoffs.
Central, by the way, has a beautiful new video board, and football facility is gorgeous.
The Wildcats (0-2) open Lonestar Conference play this Saturday at home against conference favorite Angelo State (1-1). Central, by the way, was selected to place second in the Lonestar Conference by the league’s coaches.
Kickoff for Saturday’s game is 6 p.m.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
