By Katherine Kelly, Reporter
The girls soccer team ended their season proudly. The team had been training hard, and with a loss on Tuesday, November 1, and a win on Saturday, November 5, they advanced to State.
The girls team played Kings High School at Shoreline Stadium for their State game on Wednesday, November 9, 2016. The girls played an aggressive game, filled with teamwork and dedication, but suffered a 0-4 loss.
“We made it a goal to get to State, because none of us had ever gone before… we had really bad luck during the season, and a lot of the games we should have won that we didn’t win,” said Riggs. “We got a new coach this year, who is much more supportive and I think has been a lot better for the team.”
The team had roughly 35 girls show up for tryouts, and although there were no cuts made, there was a large number of girls on the JV team.
“We had like, maybe 14 girls on varsity, and the rest were on JV,” said Riggs. The decision was made by the two coaches, Alan Zoltie and Scott Nicolino, during the week they had set aside for tryouts.
Freshman varsity player Sydnee Adams was the goalie, and found herself playing in the state game.
“It was weird not having anyone my age on the team, but it was awesome having the title ‘varsity,’” said Adams. “It was fun getting to know people that weren’t in my grade. The seniors were leaders on the team.”
Adams was the only freshman player who played in the state game, and she worked hard for that position.
Adams was not sure of the team’s prospects for going to state in the beginning, but her feelings towards wanting to go began to progress.
“In the beginning of the season, I didn’t think much about state, but later on, we got better as a team, and I was confident we would make it,” said Adams. “I am looking forward to following years, because I will be getting older, and more of a leader. Sadly, we are losing 8 seniors, so I encourage more girls to join the team next year.”
Another one of the seniors that will be lost next year is Bailey Ormsby.
“We’ve always been the younger people,” said Ormsby. “It was weird to be a senior. We were always a part of the team, and it was really fun to play for [Vashon Island High School].”
Ormsby was happy to be a part of the team that played at State.
“We were very hopeful this year,” said Ormsby. “We were very very motivated, [more so than] before.” According to Ormsby, the new coach has added a lot to the new team.
The other new coaches, as well, have kept the girls motivated, and have made the team a better unit.
One other standout freshman player was Ella Wheeler, who has played soccer for many years, prior to her high school soccer career.
“It was really different than any other sports team I have played on in the past, because there was such a range of skill and age,” said Wheeler. “But after I got used to it, I think it was valuable, because I was able to learn a lot from the players who are more experienced than me.”
At the beginning of the season, Wheeler felt like there was potential for a team, but she was not sure exactly how far it would go. She was unsure about how they compared to some other teams, but she was hopeful.
“State was always the overall goal since the beginning of the season,” said Wheeler, “so I guess I didn’t expect us to get that far, but I didn’t think it was impossible.”
Wheeler was considered a “swing” player, one that plays on both varsity and JV, along with roughly five other girls on the team.
Senior captain Madison Brown thought that this year felt different then the rest. She was a senior, and was in a leadership position.
“It felt kind of weird. It didn’t feel like we were seniors. I don’t think that our age really affected the team,” said Brown. “When we were freshmen, we had a different coach so freshmen were in charge of cleaning up everything and carrying all this stuff.”
In the past years, the girls did not make it to state. This year, the team had eight senior girls, making the them one of the most senior-populated teams.
“Our league evened out,” said Brown. “Everyone was kinda at the same level of play.” According to her, the team made it to State because everyone in the Nisqually league has evened out, and Vashon has risen up with all the other teams.
“There was a lot more positivity, I think we all around had a lot more fun, it was a good level of competition and a good level of having fun and making sure that everyone was playing, and having a good time and learning what the balance is like for everybody,” said Brown. “Our junior class only has 3 [players], but I think that [the girls] will still continue to do well. It’s really just a matter of getting younger kids to come out and play.”
Brown thinks that the new coach has made the team more balanced, and has made the team more all around positive and a better environment for the incoming freshmen, and future players.