Boys’ soccer: Pirates capture second-place in league with win over Seattle Christina
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 25, 2017
The Vashon High School boys’ varsity soccer team had a league home game against Seattle Christian on Friday, April 21, and squeaked by with a 1-0 victory.
At the time of the game, Seattle Christian was in second place in the Nisqually League and Vashon was in third. The last game between these two schools resulted in a tie, so one team had to break the stalemate for this season. This competition saw Seattle Christian bring hard pressure to keep their place in the league.
The first half was very intense with good shots on goal from both teams. There were good runs down the side for Vashon from Christian White and good through balls from Wyatt Heit in the defense. Both teams had possession of the ball and neither team dominated. There was skillful work in the midfield from Vashon’s Alden Hinden-Stevenson and Finley Oswald and the Pirates saw several opportunities to score and multiple shots on goal. Vashon had solid defense with Elliot Eades and Kieran Enzian leading the defensive production. The first half was played extremely competitively by both teams, but with no goals scored.
The second half started out fast with a goal just one minute in. Vashon’s Oswald passed to Hinden-Stevenson who got a beautiful goal in the back of the net. Coach Ben Bork must have given the team a very motivating talk during half time because the Pirates came back out onto the field looking ready to win. Vashon picked up the good defense again, while Seattle Christian continued with the pressure. The game was very tense out on the field with both teams getting aggressive with pushing and fouls being called by the referee. At times, the referee barely kept control of the game, but the players knew exactly what was on the line. There were a couple yellow cards for both Seattle Christian and Vashon. The Pirates had good shots on goal from Zane Bork and Hinden-Stevenson, but no luck for another goal. Seattle Christian kept up the pressure with few shots on goal and there were a few risky corner kicks but the Vashon defense stayed strong. Seattle Christian had no luck getting a goal, in the end it was a 1-0 victory with Vashon taking the second spot in the league away from Seattle Christian.
Pirate soccer continues at 6 p.m. today, Wednesday, with the Pirates’ last home game against Cascade Christian. The team will then travel away for a 6 p.m. game against league-leading Charles Wright Academy on Friday. The Pirates will travel for their last game of the regular season to Bellevue Christian on Monday, May 1.
Vashon’s varsity soccer team is positioning itself for a run at district playoffs, which begin the week of May 1. The Pirates will undoubtedly meet up with all of their competitive rivals from Charles Wright, Klahowya, Seattle Christian and Port Townsend, as all of these team make runs for the state playoffs.
— Mari Beytebiere is a junior at Vashon High School and manager of the VHS varsity boys’ soccer team.
