Wolverines begin season with loss to defending 3A state champion Issaquah
In a season in which the Bellevue Wolverines feel they have a bit of a target on their backs, the year started with a loss to a familiar foe that meant next to nothing.
Quite an odd thing to say about a match-up against the team that had run Bellevue’s division for the past four years and won the last three of the last four Class 3A state championships.
But when Bellevue lost 2-0 to the Issaquah Eagles Tuesday night at Wolverine Stadium, the result meant nothing beyond a non-conference loss.
Issaquah, along with Skyline and Newport, has moved up to KingCo 4A so Tuesday’s game was nothing more than a pre-season tune-up for Bellevue before the conference schedule starts on Sept. 18.
Which is good, because the Eagles handed the Wolverines a 2-0 loss that left Bellevue more than a little frustrated after the game.
“We’re a new team and we’re trying out all sorts of combinations, using the pre-season games for what they are,” said Bellevue captain Caroline Whiting. “We tried to mix it up; Issaquah’s a good team and it was a little frustrating for us.”
Kristen Maris and Cara Hubbard scored first-half goals for the Eagles, who controlled much of the first half.
Hubbard’s goal came off a high shot that managed to elude Nicoline Bach, as the ball took a bounce and hopped right through the sophomore goal keepers legs.
It was somewhat symbolic of the way Bellevue’s captains felt the team played: Nervous and tight in the first-half.
“We came out nervous and really hesitant and that cost us in the beginning,” said senior forward Alex Nicholson, also a team captain. “I think if we played in the first half like we did in the second, we could have tied it or won it.”
Unlike the past seasons, this loss won’t mean much. All that matters is winning KingCo and getting to state, something head coach Jon Anderson sees his team being very capable of doing.
Although the team lost All-KingCo goalkeeper Jenika Swanson (also the 2007 Bellevue Reporter Athlete of the Year), the Wolverines return starters in Whiting, Nicholson, Sam McKee and Kate Lee, as well as KingCo 3A standout Kate Bennett.
“We’ve got good players all over the field,” Anderson said. “All 11 girls are good soccer players. They understand the game and are hard workers. At the end of the day that will take you a long way.”
Having a player like Bennett sure helps: The junior spent her summer playing with the U.S. National Under-17 team and traveled for Trinidad for World Cup qualifying, where the team placed first.
Because of her performance, Bennett was invited back to the team’s training camp this week, where she’ll fight for a spot on the World Cup roster.
The World Cup will be played at the end of October in New Zealand.
“From the first time she ever stepped on a soccer field to today, she hasn’t changed,” Anderson said. “When Kate puts on her soccer shoes, it’s Christmas morning.”
Bennett, a midfielder, scored 11 goals last season for Bellevue. Because of the training camp’s schedule, she will miss some time for the Wolverines, something Anderson said will definitely have an impact on the team.
“Anytime you take a player of Kate’s caliber out of the lineup, it’s going to have an effect,” he said. “We are all extremely happy for her; we’re all behind her. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. We’ll make adjustments.”
Adjustments are exactly what teams, like Issaquah, have to do when Bennett is in the lineup.
Whether it’s putting multiple defenders on her or tackling her a bit harder than other players, teams will try whatever it takes to deny the junior any chance at scoring.
“Everyone knows Kate is coming,” Anderson said. “She’s one of the best players on the West Coast. For us, the test will be to get the ball to her in space, give her a chance to use her skillset to our advantage.”
Anderson added the attention given to Bennett will open up the game to his other players and that they’ll become such a threat that whatever decision teams make “they’ll be wrong.”
“If we show up every day and be the best we can be, whatever happens, happens,” Anderson said. “Winning or losing, things happen in competition. The only thing we can control is our preparation. As long as we take care of that, everything will end up the way it should.”
Other games:
Sammamish 1
Newport 0
Allie Buchwalter scored off an assist from Tina Jacobsen in the 26th minute and Sammamish held on to defeat Newport 1-0. Holly Hunt and Kyra Lindstrom combined in net for the Totems to earn the shutout.
This week in soccer:
Today: Newport at Garfield, 11 a.m.; Sammamish at Woodinville, 1 p.m.; Bellevue at Ballard, 3 p.m.
Tuesday: Bellevue at Newport, 7:30 p.m.; Bothell at Sammamish, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday: Mercer Island at Bellevue, 7:30 p.m.; Inglemoor at Newport, 7:30 p.m.; Sammamish at Interlake, 7:30 p.m.
Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@reporternewspapers.com.
