Former Wildcat ready for added attention
July 24, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
After explosive freshman season, Gibson Bardsley set to lead Western Washington
When Gibson Bardsley takes the soccer field as a Western Washington sophomore next month, he’ll do it wearing the same jersey as the rest of his teammates.
No red X on the back. No circle with a dot in the middle. No flashing lights.
Still, Bardsley will know better – there’s a target on his back.
“I was a little bit lucky this last season, because people didn’t know about me,” the Mount Si product said. “It’ll be a lot different this year.”
It will be so much different because of the freshman season Bardsley is following, a freshman season in which he was voted the team’s best offensive player and was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
He knocked in a school freshman record 11 goals and led the team with six assists to give him a team-best 28 points.
It didn’t take Bardsley long to take on the role of hero, either. Among his goals were three game-winners.
“That was pretty exhilarating, especially since most of those came in the later parts of the game when the entire team was exhausted,” he said. “I was just fortunate enough to be on the end of some good plays, but it was a great experience to have in your freshman year.”
Thanks to that success, the experience will be different this year. Only one other returning Viking had more than five goals last season, so Bardsley’s name should come up plenty during opponents’ game-planning.
Of course, the former Wildcat should know how to handle it. He experienced much of the same attention when he scored 55 career goals – including 23 during his senior season – at Mount Si, earning 3A All-State and KingCo League Player of the Year honors.
He plans on adopting the same philosophy he did back then, which was all about relying on teammates.
“A lot of people knew who I was in high school and I had to utilize my teammates more and get the ball off and hope that it came back to me,” Bardsley said. “You just have to get good with your team so they can trust you, then you have to be in the right spot at the right time.”
Since arriving in Bellingham, Bardsley has been forced to get accustomed to more than just a new level of play. Western Washington runs a 3-4-3 set, meaning Bardsley is playing more on the outside and playing more defense than he did in Mount Si’s 4-4-2.
“It took a little getting used to,” he said. “I have to be in more physical shape to keep up with the plays. There’s a lot more running, but I’m starting to get used to it.”
Now, Bardsley hopes to get used to winning. The Vikings went 13-6-1 last season – which was 11 wins more than the previous year – but just missed out on the playoffs. Ten starters return from that team, including three first-team all-league selections.
Even the team will not be able to surprise anyone.
“Our losses were to good teams last season, so our goal is to get into the NCAA Tournament this season,” Bardsley said. “We’re expecting a lot.”
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
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