Vikings fall to Cougars on soccer pitch
Published 1:00 pm Saturday, October 20, 2007
POULSBO — Tuesday marked the annual celebration of Senior Night for the North Kitsap Vikings girls soccer team in Poulsbo, but rivals Central Kitsap did everything it could to crash the party.
They succeeded.
The Cougars notched a 3-1 win over the Vikings in their final regular season game.
“This was a game that could have gone either way,” said Vikings coach Pat Stickney. “We were just a little unlucky and those kind of things happen sometimes.”
CK (10-4-1 overall, 5-3-1 league) struck first when Brenda Hamre found the net during the 9th minute of play. North tied the game at 1-1 when Siara Byers scored on an assist from Maddy Taylor in the 26th minute.
CK’s Anna Anderson broke a 1-1 tie in the 56th minute, scoring her first goal of the night. Anderson found pay dirt again in the 76th minute giving the Cougars a 3-1 lead they did not relinquish.
Stickney said CK’s final goal probably was due to his coaching decision of realigning the lineup in the closing minutes.
“I decided to take a defender out and add another forward,” he said. “We were trying to score to tie the game up, but it left the defense exposed.”
Despite the loss, Stickney said he enjoyed watching the see-saw battle between NK and CK from the sidelines.
“It was a back and forth game that was pleasing to watch,” he said. “Both teams played well.”
The biggest game of North’s season is rapidly approaching.
The Vikings, who are the Narrows League No. 7 seed, will host a yet to be determined Narrows League No. 10 seed in a loser-out Narrows League playoff game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at North Kitsap Stadium.
“This will be a big game that will have huge implications,” Stickney said of the do-or-die affair. “The bottom four teams in league (Lincoln, Mount Tahoma, Wilson, Foss) are pretty close together record wise. I think we’ll have an advantage over any team we’ll face.”
The Vikings’ (7-5-3 overall, 4-4-1 league) work ethic is what sets them apart from their other opponents in the Narrows League, Stickney said.
“This team has talent, ability and drive. It’s who we are,” he said. “They’re fun to be around.”
