The Lower Columbia women's soccer team made a statement in front of the rest of the NWAC Conference by taking two matches at the conference hosted NWAC Friendlies August 25 and 26.
 
Playing at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila, the Red Devils defeated North Idaho 3-1 on Wednesday and then downed Southwestern Oregon 4-1 early Thursday morning.
 
In the season opening match against NIC, Emersyn Finn got the scoring started with an early goal.  The freshman from Woodland had also scored a goal in each of the two scrimmages prior to the Friendlies.
 
Jerika Isaacson assisted on the initial goal and then later scored a goal herself to make the score 3-0 at halftime.  Libby Brown had the other tally in the first half.
 
The Devils settled in and continued to work in the second half.  The Cardinals scored late to avoid the shutout.
 
Faced with a quick turnaround and an early 8:00 am start against SWOCC on Thursday, the Devils did not hit the snooze button.  LCC scored two early goals to take control of the match.
 
Alyssa Pfaender took advantage of a free kick to get things going. Isaacson's goal made it 2-0 and then Brown hit the back of the net to make it 3-0 at the half.
 
Kati Waggoner scored in the second half to make it 4-0 and Lower Columbia knew they had dashed any Laker comeback hopes.
 
The Lakers scored a late goal to avoid the shutout.

"In both games we came out aggressive looking to score some goals", said head coach Joe Chicks.  "SWOC had some dangerous players but our back line managed them well.  It was also great to have three freshman (Brown, Waggoner and Pfaender) get their first college goals."
 
The Red Devils begin the season 2-0 for the first time since the 1997 season.  It was LCC's best showing in the Friendlies.  The Devils were 1-0-1 in the 2014 and 2017 events.  The team went 1-0 with a smoke cancellation in the 2018 event.
 
Chick's Red Devils will head to Portland Saturday August 28^th for a match with NCAA Division III Lewis and Clark.  The match between the Devils and Pioneers begins at 5 pm.  "It's time to get some recovery in and look forward to our next test Saturday at Lewis and Clark."