Mount Si sweats to earn win over Wolverines
March 22, 2011
By Sebastian Moraga
The team that stepped onto the field March 18 looked like the fifth best team in the state. For about 10 minutes.
The Mount Si Wildcats, opening their 2011 season started their home match against Bellevue in a way reminiscent of the 2010 squad, which broke all sorts of records and finished fifth at the state tournament.
Five minutes into the match, the Wildcats already had a 1-0 lead, thanks to a goal on a breakaway by forward Kody Clearman on the third minute.
Needing a fast start to their season after enduring a 4-1 loss to Eastlake on the last preseason match, the Wildcats looked like they meant business early on.
“After we played Eastlake, the boys were just ready to get back on the field,” head coach Darren Brown said. “We were kind of pressing them to create more opportunities. We kind of got away from that, gradually.”
With time, the team began to look like what it is: A team in search of its own identity, while trying to fill the shoes of wildly successful predecessors. The Wildcats would not score again.
“In the second half, we started slow,” said Nate Popp, a midfielder. “Our pace allowed the other team to catch up. In the first half we started really well.”
Midfielder and captain Eric Baumgardner agreed, saying the team came out with a lot of energy in the first half.
In the second half, Baumgardner said, the team seemed to be defending the 1-0 lead a little bit.
On his team’s website, Brown called the first 10 minutes “electric” and the second half “subpar.”
As the old adage goes, a win is a win and now the Wildcats can if not forget, at least partially erase the memory of that ugly Eastlake beating.
“You can’t erase that game, but this puts us in the right direction,” Popp said.
Brown said the win counts, but not for a trip to the Dairy Freeze.
“We got the win but we still got work to do,” he said. “I don think we are 100 percent pleased.”
A tough week lies ahead for the Wildcats with Liberty and Sammamish matches on the road. Liberty’s match was March 22. Scores weren’t available prior to press time.
The game against the Totems starts 7:30 p.m. March 25.
Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221 or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.
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