By JOSH FARLEY

Staff Writer

POULSBO — For the North Kitsap Vikings’ soccer team, it was a disappointing end to a season so full of promise.

A 2-1 loss at the hands of the Stadium Tigers bounced North from the post-season Saturday at Silverdale Stadium, sending home a saddened team — many of its players teary-eyed — and one contemplating a season that could have been.

The story of their season can be summed up in short by how senior Rachel Parcells described the team’s loss to the Tigers.

“We had a lot of shots and opportunities,” Parcells said. “But we couldn’t quite get it in.”

Early on, it was the Vikings’ 2-2 effort with the league-leading (and eventually Narrows’ Bridge champion) Gig Harbor Tides. Then, it was a nail-biter 70th minute 1-0 loss to the South Kitsap Wolves. After that, another 1-0 loss to the Central Kitsap Cougars, one which saw North ring the crossbar on many occasions. And add to it the season finishing tie with the Wolves, 2-2, and what you’ve got is less a lesson in failure — and more of one in unluckiness.

The Vikings (7-5-4 overall, 7-4-3 in league) took a while to warm up, with both the Tigers’ goals coming in the first half. But by the end of the half, North was controlling most of the possessions, ending the half with a Kayla Collins shot that narrowly missed the net.

The second half was all North Kitsap, with the Vikings not wing a Stadium shot on net. North’s Megan Hyte — almost always double- or triple-covered by Tiger players — finally broke through the defense with a powerful shot that Stadium’s keeper Yasna Martinez just barely tipped upward — but one that struck the back of the net in the 35th minute of the second half.

But no matter what North threw at the Stadium net, the Vikings couldn’t find the twine again.

The taste of the loss is even more bitter for the team’s seniors, who have lost in the first round of the playoffs four years in a row.

“We lost in this same game every year,” Parcells said.

That doesn’t mean the Vikings’ seniors are finished with their respective soccer careers by any means, however. Parcells said she plans to play for Olympic College, while the Vikings’ leading goal scorer Megan Hyte has verbally committed to Washington State. Kim Skelly too has plans to play, though she’s undecided where she wants to go.

North Kitsap will surely be on the rebuilding end next season, as eight of its 17 on varsity were seniors this year.

As for its loss with Stadium, North Kitsap’s players thought that a few tweaks here and there could have done the trick.

“If we could’ve kept possession more, and had 1-2 touches of the ball, we could have given them more of a run for their money,” Skelly said. “And we needed to keep the shots down, and stay focused.”

“I just don’t think we played to our potential today,” added Hyte. “We had opportunities but sometimes I think we should have kept the ball and taken it in ourselves.”

Hyte said each Viking player has so much faith in each other that there may have been an abundance of passes and unselfish play.

Stadium 2, North Kitsap 1

North Kitsap — Megan Hyte, 35th minute.