2 World Juniors competitors to play hockey in Tri-Cities + CBC soccer opens NWAC season

The Columbia Basin College women’s soccer team opens its season with two NWAC friendlies in Tukwila this week.

Head coach Omar Anderson’s Hawks open play at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Skagit Valley, then take on Tacoma Community College at noon on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Martin Ramirez’s CBC men’s soccer team also plays Tuesday and Wednesday at the Starfire Complex for NWAC friendlies.

The Hawks will play Whatcom at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and they take on Highline at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Both CBC teams will have a few more scrimmages and then kick in with their East Region home opener on Sept. 10 against Blue Mountain Community College.

Signings and offers

▪ Tri-Cities Prep baseball standout Tyler Harper, who graduated in June, signed a letter of intent in July to play baseball for Eastern Oregon University beginning this fall.

▪ Kamiakin senior defensive back Gabe Tahir keeps getting scholarship offers, the latest this past week coming from the University of Hawaii.

▪ Kamiakin’s Veronica Arroyo graduated in June and has her plans set for the next few years. Arroyo signed a letter of intent last month to join Eastern Oregon University’s women’s wrestling team.

College football

▪ Central Washington University’s football season begins Sept. 1 with a game at Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mich. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m., Pacific time.

The Wildcats — who will play in the Texas-heavy Lonestar Conference this coming season — have six players on their roster from the Mid-Columbia region.

They are: junior wide receiver Gaven Brasker (Richland/Ventura College); freshman wide receiver Aidan Canada (Kamiakin); redshirt freshman offensive lineman Dustyn Coughlin (Hermiston/Western Oregon); redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Bridger Feldmann (Chiawana); redshirt senior defensive lineman Christian Penny (Chiawana); redshirt freshman cornerback Jalen Webber (Chiawana).

▪ Eastern Oregon University’s football team opens its 2022 schedule at home on Aug. 27, with kickoff at 6 p.m.

The Mountaineers have nine players from the Mid-Columbia region on their roster: freshman defensive lineman Sam Cadenas (Hermiston); freshman offensive lineman Andon Castilla (Kamiakin); redshirt junior defensive back Joey Gutierrez (Hermiston); redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew James (Hermiston); redshirt senior linebacker Moses McAninch (Kennewick); sophomore defensive lineman Jose Medina (Royal); redshirt senior defensive back Josh Mendoza (Richland); freshman defensive back Dounelson Mullen (Columbia-Burbank); and redshirt-junior fullback Ryan Piper (Richland).

Prep sports

▪ All high school fall sports should be under way beginning Monday, Aug. 22, with the first practices for boys and girls cross country, girls soccer, girls slowpitch softball, girls swimming and diving, and volleyball.

High school football had its first official practices last Wednesday.

Hockey

▪ Former Tri-City Americans winger Morgan Geekie will be back again for the Seattle Kraken.

Geekie, 24, signed a 1-year, $1.4 million deal on July 24.

▪ Former Tri-City Americans goalie Chet Pickard has decided to retire from the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams in the top German League.

Pickard, 32, spent the past four seasons with Wolfsburg.

He was the Americans’ goalie for four seasons, from 2005-2009, and played in 169 games. Always with a goals-against-average under 3.00, Pickard’s record with the Americans was 107-43-9.

▪ Don Hay has come full circle, signing as an associate coach for the Kamloops Blazers this coming Western Hockey League season.

Hay, 68, began his head coaching career at Kamloops in the 1980s.

He was the head coach for the Tri-City Americans for two seasons, in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

At one point in his career, Hay also as the head coach of the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

The past four seasons, Hay was the associate coach for the WHL’s Portland Winter Hawks.

He’ll be working with Shaun Clouston, who is the general manager and head coach for Kamloops.

Clouston, 54, was the Americans’ head coach for part of the 2002-03 season.

▪ Czechia had two players on its roster at the World Juniors Championship this past week in Edmonton who will be playing this fall with the Tri-City Americans.

Goalie Tomas Suchanek, 19, was the Ams’ top goalie last season. He was expected to be Czechia’s backup for this tournament, but was elevated to the starter midway through the tournament.

Suchanek had 28 saves on Aug. 17, as Czechia beat the United States 4-2.

And although his team fell 5-1 to eventual champion Canada on Aug. 13, Suchanek had an incredible 52 saves in that loss.

Altogether, the Americans standout had 122 saves in four games.

The Hockey News named him one of 20 top players in the 10-team tournament. And Czechia, which entered the tournament ranked sixth in the power rankings, finished fourth in the tournament.

The other Czechia player is center Adam Mechura, 19, who signed with the Americans in July after being selected fourth overall by Tri-City in the 2022 CHL Import Draft.

Mechura saw plenty of time on the ice for his country.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.