It’s hard for coach Karsten Hoffman to get a read on his Sammamish Totems soccer team.
After all, with six games in the book, the team is all even with a 2-2-2 record. Thus far in the early season, the Totems haven’t had the same result two games in a row – their schedule reads as such: tie, loss, win, tie, win, loss.
With a team hoping to return to the Class 3A state tournament after a run last season, Hoffman just hopes to see some consistency.
“We’re still trying to find that niche for ourselves,” Hoffman said. “I’m fairly pleased at how we’re looking, but we have a long way to go.”
The team lost seven players from last year’s state tournament team, including Shannon Scott, Alix Van Zandt and Tina Jacobson. But the squad coming back is plenty experienced – 10 girls from last years team return this season.
“They want to get back to state,” Hoffman said. “They know it’s difficult and they know what needs to happen on the field for them to get back.”
Sammamish lost 4-2 to Mercer Island Tuesday in Bellevue. The Islanders, at 5-1, look to be one of the conference’s toughest teams this season.
Erin Bourguignon and Ellen Haas scored goals four minutes apart to give the Islanders an early 2-0 lead before Sammamish’s Anna Geldenhuys scored the first of her two goals on the night in the 38th minute.
After Haas scored again in the 47th minute, Geldenhuys struck again for her fourth goal of the season in the 50th minute to cut the lead to 3-2.
“Anna’s a great player and everybody keys on her,” Hoffman said. “You have a player like her that can create goals, and that’s a very big look for your team.”
Mary Hill scored a goal in the 64th minute to ice the game for the Islanders.
“We did not play a good game, it was by far our worst of the year,” Hoffman said. “We paid for it that night.”
The Totems take on Interlake tonight at 7:30 p.m. and Juanita Tuesday in Bellevue at the same time.
“We need to be consistent in how we’re doing everything,” Hoffman said. “Once we get clicking we’ll have a good thing going.”
Bellevue’s winning – and having fun
Talk to Bellevue coach Jon Anderson about his team and you’ll quickly find out they’re having fun – and he’s downright giddy about it.
“I have no complaints at all,” Anderson said. “They’re a really, really fun group. They’re scrappy and they’re feisty. It’s been fun.”
The Wolverines (4-2) survived an opening week gauntlet of games; Bellevue played five games in seven days and came out of it 3-2 with no major injuries.
“They have definitely met or exceeded anything I could have imagined,” Anderson said.
The Wolverines are getting offense from all over the field as well. Seven different players have scored goals, and nine players have recorded a point this season, led by Jessica Neiman, who has two goals and one assist for five points.
“I have 15, 16 girls I can put out without any hesitation,” Anderson said. “It’s been great because I can put out different combinations.”
They’re also finding ways to win – the Wolvrines have scored three of their goals in the last ten minutes of games this season.
“We’re not necessarily the best team on the field but we are definitely not outworked,” Anderson said. “They find a way to win.”
Bellevue plays Mercer Island tonight at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re looking at getting into the postseason and just making progress,” Anderson said. “It’s a process.”
