Isabel Farrell didn’t come into the 2011 high school soccer season looking for recognition.
The Interlake senior has been playing Internationally with the U.S youth national program since she was 13, stars for highly regarded and Redmond-based Crossfire Premier and in February will accept a full athletic scholarship to continue her career next year at the University of Washington for coach Lesle Gallimore.
Joining the Interlake team was supposed to be about having a good time, making some new friends and getting involved with the school. As the postseason resumes, it’s still about all of those things. And winning a state title.
Head coach Kirk Tavener, who is in his first season back at Interlake after a stint as the head coach at Lindbergh (he was the JV coach for the Saints four seasons ago), said he has been equally impressed with Farrell’s demeanor off the pitch as her skill-set on it.
“As a coach, I had only heard about Isabel Farrell as a soccer player,” Tavener said. “I learned more about her this year as a person. She is a great young lady, she is well grounded, knows what she wants and has her head on straight. She’s just a pleasure.”
On the pitch, Farrell’s play was good enough to earn her the 2A/3A KingCo MVP after a regular season that saw her net 10 goals and 10 assists.
While Farrell has been the steadying force for the quarterfinal-bound Saints, teammate Emma Bergstrom has provided a flash that has elevated the team to the next level.
The sophomore has a conference-best 25 goals after beginning the season with nine in the first two games. She added a pair of hat tricks as well as two games with two goals during the conference slate and has continued to be a key threat for the Saints’ attack all year.
“She’s been our anchor,” Tavener said. “She has the most poise I’ve ever seen from a young lady in front of the goal. Once she receives the ball, she goes totally relaxed and that’s a great feature for a soccer player to have.”
Bergstrom, who finished second in the MVP voting (no other player in the conference received a vote), believes the team’s cohesion headed into the state tournament will be a key factor in making a run at the championship.
“We want to go out strong,” Bergstrom said. “Coach has prepared us well.”
