The Edmonds College women’s soccer team finished strong this year with a sixth place standing in the NWAC North Conference, despite taking last season off. 

Head coach Nico Arellano expressed pride in how the team pulled together, “The players did phenomenal,” Arellano said of the Tritons, who finished the season with a 3-11-1 overall record. “We were in every game we played, even if the score didn’t show it.” This was Arellano’s first season as head coach of the Women’s team.

Arellano put emphasis on the team being able to complete their season, “The importance of this year was finishing.” The team bounced back after not participating last season. But the best moment was when they beat Wenatchee Valley 4-1 in their second match of the season, “Winning the first game, we were down 1 nothing, and to beat Wenatchee down there was special.”

Another big highlight of the season for Arellano, was their fight against Peninsula College. Peninsula has routinely been at the top of the NWAC North conference in past years. But going to their turf, the Tritons put up a valiant effort, “Making Peninsula change game plans, that was huge. To force them into changing their style to try to beat us shows how far the girls have come.” The Triton’s shook-up Peninsula, making them have to change their tactics, and formations mid game, Arellano praised the team, “For the girls trusting in me to come up with a game plan, we made them change game plans in the middle of the game. To a whole entirely different formation they normally play.”

The Women’s team dealt with much adversity, “Before the season started, I had 20 players, but we ended with 16 this season.” Arellano stated. On top of that, injuries played a crucial role in the team’s performance, “A good part in the midseason, where the injuries played a huge part in our tactics, and how poorly we played. Players were out of positions they normally play.”

Arellano is already looking ahead to next season to achieve success, “We want to win.” Completing this season was the first check mark, but the College can expect to see more wins, and to make the playoffs, “First step is to finish the season, second is to win as many games and make the playoffs, and the last step is to win the division” The last time the Women’s team made the NWAC playoffs was in the 2018-2019 season. Arellano is hopeful to get the Tritons there again.