In a battle between the top two boys soccer teams in the Olympic League, the Bainbridge Spartans (10-0, 8-0 OL) beat the North Kitsap Vikings (8-2, 7-1 OL) 4-1 April 18 at Bainbridge High School to claim sole possession of first place.

While the Spartans remain undefeated, the Vikings’ only other loss was to Gig Harbor 2-1 March 22.

“When you’re playing a rivalry game at your own home, it’s easier to get after it,” Bainbridge coach Mark Nowak said. “North Kitsap is obviously a very good team.”

The two teams spent the first ten minutes of the half feeling each other out, with both showing aggression and intense pursuit of the ball early on.

But as the half went on, Bainbridge managed to control the possession of the ball after the 30-minute mark. Junior midfielder Dana Goodwin scored the first goal of the match for the Spartans at the 24-minute mark, pushing the ball downfield and landing a one-on-one opportunity.

The Spartans almost immediately scored another goal, less than two minutes later, as senior midfielder Finley Reynolds created another one-on-one opportunity.

Bainbridge continued to assert their dominance with junior midfielder Blake Moyer and sophomore midfielder Howard Howlett punching two more goals in for the Spartans with less than ten minutes remaining in the half, giving them a 4-0 lead at halftime.

“We haven’t really been challenged all year,” Moyer said. “This game kind of displayed our individual quality and our capacity to have really strong individual moments.”

The Vikings came out in the second half with a different offensive approach, attacking the Bainbridge defense and generating consistent shots on goal for the first time all match.

A foul on Viking Ethan Florent at the 22-minute mark allowed NK to get their first shot on goal in the second half via a penalty kick, but Florent couldn’t put it in the back of the net.

NK finally found some offensive life with a header goal from senior Aaron Lopez with less than ten minutes remaining, cutting into Bainbridge’s lead at 4-1. However, it proved to be too little, too late.

“We weren’t ourselves for sure,” NK coach Greg St. Peter said. “I gotta say Bainbridge was on us, didn’t give our guys much time to do anything.”