The goal of the 2010 Mount Si boys soccer team, especially their seniors, was simple: Win the first-ever league title in school history for boys soccer, and make state. They had to fight through some adversity through the course of this season and again last Thursday, May 5, against the Juanita Rebels. But timely goals and solid defense helped seal a piece of sports history.
Mount Si beat the Rebels 2-0 to win the Kingco championship, and clinch the number one seed from the SeaKing District into the state tournament. The state trip is only the second for Mount Si. According to WIAA historical information, the Wildcats last made it in 1988, but were eliminated in the first round.
Mount Si coach Darren Brown was thrilled with the victory.
“It’s a long time coming. I’ve been waiting for this for years,” he said. “My goal when I started this program was to get girls and boys soccer to the state caliber level, year in, year out. (With) the girls, I’ve done that; the guys, I’ve wanted (this) so bad, so this is special.”
Things started out a bit slow Thursday, as Mount Si, despite aggressive play to start, could not get their offense clicking. But it was Senior Night, and one of the many seniors honored for their years in the program got things going in the right direction midway through the first half. Off a free kick from goalkeeper Ryan Herman, Dyson Fowler ran in on goal and ripped a laser past Juanita goalkeeper Sam Schwabacher to put the Wildcats up 1-0 in the 21st minute.
“I got the ball, turned with it and saw that I had open field in front of me. I just hit it with my left foot,” Fowler said.
Shortly thereafter, the game took an interesting turn after the Rebels bench was given cards by officials for unsportsmanlike conduct. After a delay of a few minutes, Juanita coach Kevin Lamb, who was assessed a red card as a result of the incident, left the field. But the referees were not done.
Officials issued a total of four cards in the second half. Two went to each side, the most serious being a red card to Wildcat junior Eric Baumgardner. It came just seconds after a goal in the 47th minute by senior Doug Silvius which happened as the result of a misplay by Schwabacher which left his net empty and open for the Wildcat offensive star to punch it home.
Mount Si played a man down the rest of the way, but with Juanita battling injuries and a pair of cards on their team in the second half which left their bench empty, it did not matter, and the fans and players celebrated a special accomplishment.
Defender Sam Joselyn was thrilled to see a lot of his peers at the game.
“It’s incredible just to look up and see a student section at a soccer game like that. I’ve never seen something like that, so to know that our team can bring that to this stadium is pretty special,” Joselyn said.
The Wildcats finished 11-1-4 on the regular season and will host the first round game at state against an opponent to be determined. See coverage at www.valleyrecord.com.
