Capital forward Penner can’t stop scoring goals for Cougars

Caroline Penner’s accomplishments speak for themselves.

Capital High School’s senior forward has scored 67 career goals despite missing a big chunk of last season with injuries. She’s been a part of The Olympian’s All Area team every year of her high school career.

She has long since accepted a Division I scholarship, giving Seattle University a verbal commitment during her sophomore year at Capital.

Cougars’ coach Adriana Montes says she expects to see Penner play on television in professional matches a few years down the road.

Yet as much as Penner’s unique level of talent sets her apart from other high school players, she’s also a part of one of Thurston County’s most prominent sporting families.

Her mom, Kathleen, and dad, Erik, met while both played soccer at the University of Washington. Her oldest brother, Scott, carried on the family tradition, taking the pitch for Whitworth University. Another brother, Chris, joins Caroline as one of the top athletes in Capital history, having starred as a football wide receiver and high-scoring basketball guard.

Rival Olympia’s current potent football passing combination of quarterback Gabe Downing and receiver Mason Juergens are cousins.

Not surprisingly, Penner started playing soccer at a young age, 3, but was exposed to a little bit of skill training even earlier.

“Before I could walk, my parents say they would hold my hands and walk me along kicking a soccer ball,” she said. “I don’t remember wanting to play any other sport.”

She dabbled in basketball, playing AAU through the sixth grade, leading to a favorite childhood memory, playing the shot-matching game “P-I-G,” a shorter version of “H-O-R-S-E,” with Chris, occasionally winning because of her soccer skills.

“I’d throw the ball off the backboard and say you had to juggle it with your feet, pick it back up and shoot it. He couldn’t do that,” Penner said with a laugh.

“That was fun,” said Chris.

Now a basketball player at Seattle Pacific University, he also remembers Caroline beating him with the old fashioned underhand “granny” shot. He believes trying to keep up with two older brothers built the competitiveness it takes to become a Division I athlete.

“Growing up in a house with two older brothers, she had to be tough and she is,” he said. “You can see it on the soccer field. She’ll get knocked down and be back up in an instant, running to get back into the play.”

Caroline says she did look up to her brothers and wanted to emulate them, even taking up the trumpet because that was the instrument they both played. She recalls Chris making a steal-and-layup his first basketball season at Capital and filling with pride as the Cougars’ student section taunted the opponents with a chant of “he’s-a fresh-man!”

But she doesn’t hesitate to describe her mom, who became a Division I head coach at age 23, at Belmont University in Tennessee while Erik attended Vanderbilt’s medical school, as the strongest influence on her soccer career. Kathleen coached Caroline in club soccer from age 3 to the end of her sophomore year at Capital.

“She’s my biggest supporter. Sometimes, I don’t think she realizes she’s not my coach anymore,” Penner said. “I don’t hear her voice during the games, but we always talk after. I’ve learned so much from her. She’s had so many experiences.”

Kathleen’s coaching, along with Caroline playing on a variety of elite teams and training with iconic pros such as Brandi Chastain, developed a near finished product for Capital coach Adriana Montes to guide throughout high school.

Montes, who has the Cougars in the hunt for a 3A South Sound Conference championship this season, her 10th at the helm, with an 8-2 record, remembers going out and watching Penner play youth soccer.

“I thought ‘Oh Lord, we’re going to be blessed to have a player like that on our squad,’” she said. “She’s one of those players who truly has a heart for the game. There are good players who don’t love it. You can tell by their demeanor, by the way they train.”

Penner has scored an astonishing 26 goals this season, with at least seven games remaining. Montes sees an uncanny mental gift she compares to that of legendary Paris St. Germain and longtime Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

“They say Messi can go out and walk around the field for five minutes and figure out everything the other team is trying to do,” Montes said. “Caroline’s like that. She knows exactly where the danger is going to come from and where to place herself to put balls into the back of the net.

“She’s a different level player. She raises the standard on not only our team, but throughout the entire league.”

Capital’s standard this season has also been lifted by a togetherness that isn’t a given on a team, say both Penner and Montes.

“Our team chemistry is phenomenal,” said Penner. “Every single player loves each other so much. If there’s any criticism it’s constructive and given in a positive way. We believe in each other, which is really cool. Coach A has done a create job in creating that type of environment.”

Montes points to seniors Brooke Brandsma, Bella Hamilton, Olivia Walk, Hannah Diseth and Lindsay McGaughy for leading the way, alongside Penner.

“All our girls are humble and inviting. That’s why our program has flourished,” said Montes. “They welcome everyone. They embrace new players and bring them into the family.”

Next fall, Penner will join another team she sees as having the same qualities, Seattle U.

“Julie Woodward (the Redhawks head coach) creates the same kind of phenomenal environment Coach A does at Capital, that my mom did,” she said.

Penner will have a familiar face nearby on the Championship Field pitch. Hallie Bergford, the former Tumwater star who earned Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors last season, is one of her best friends.

“I hope she takes her COVID year (the NCAA did not charge 2020-21 participants with a year of eligibility used because of the pandemic) so we can play three years together,” Penner said.

No matter who is on a team with her, Montes says nothing will faze Penner going forward.

“Caroline’s got the ability to take stress, filter it and grow from it,” she said. “I’ve never seen her crumble.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.