The Vashon High School boys’ soccer team — coached by Scott Nicolino, assisted by John Thomas, Paul Beytebiere, and Bret Owensby, along with trainer Ryan Jaeger — kicked off their first game of the season in early March in a non-league match against Hockinson High School, a 2A team, on Vashon’s home turf.
Only a few minutes went by before Vashon scored its first goal of the season, and throughout the game, six Pirates found the back of the net. Each player showed creativity and all had great chemistry together. Vashon won that game 7-1, setting the tone for the season.
The next game, against Life Christian Academy, was a little more competitive, though Vashon still came out on top with a 6-4 win. During the following three weeks, VHS played five games, winning all of them by at least six goals, except against Klahowya Secondary School, where they won by only four. Throughout the matches, the Pirates displayed creativity and great playmaking, making for entertaining games for fans.
A month into the season, the team was undefeated with seven games under their belts. With that record, they went into their second non-league game on April 16 against Foster High School, a 2A team, once again, with a similar record to VHS.
It quickly became clear that this game would be very tight. Foster High School earned the first goal, but VHS didn’t take long to tie it back up. Just before half time, the Foster team scored their second goal of the afternoon. After half time, both teams played hard for about 35 minutes before Foster was allowed a penalty kick, solidifying a 1-3 lead.
VHS hadn’t given up and scored seconds later, but there wasn’t enough time for any more goals. Vashon’s undefeated run ended with a 2-3 loss. It was a tough game with both yellow and red cards for each side, and an opportunity for VHS to discover their own weaknesses to work on for future tournament games.
After the loss against Foster High School, Vashon snapped to it after spring break, winning four games in just the past week. They played Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, winning 10-0 twice, 8-1, and 4-1. Vashon currently has a conference record of 10-0 and an overall record of 11-1.
The team shows great promise for the upcoming league and post-season state tournament. Until then, they still have four upcoming games, including two at home — the first on Saturday, April 27 against Life Christian Academy and the second for senior night on Tuesday, April 30 against Cascade Christian. Both games start at 5:45 p.m.
Five seniors will be celebrated this senior night: captains Orion Knowler and Ellis Cudaback and players Sayan Pernick, Adrian Garduno, and Ferdie Escovedo.
Linnea Heuschert is a senior varsity soccer player.