Closing their preseason with a huge win, the Mount Si boys could be sparking a promising soccer season.

The Wildcat varsity team took down state favorite Eastlake, 1-0, Wednesday, March 18, at home. The victory was their first of the season.

Eric Baumgardner scored the game’s lone goal. Mount Si’s defense and goalkeeper Cody Tipton took care of the rest, as the ‘Cats handled highly-ranked 4A Eastlake in a win that coach Darren Brown described as one of his biggest ever as Mount Si’s coach.

“I’m so proud of these guys, I don’t really have any words for it,” Brown said. “[It’s] probably one of the my best top five victories of all time on this surface.”

Baumgardner’s goal was scored in the fourth minute, off a feed from Doug Silvius.

“I took it and I split a defender and just finished it,” Baumgardner said.

Mount Si’s defense and goalkeeper Tipton handled the rest, but it wasn’t easy, as Tipton had to make a couple of big saves in the second half to close the deal.

“Everyone wants to win. They go to practice and work their butts off, and tonight it showed,” Tipston said.

“We were preparing for these guys because we knew it was going to be tough,” he added.

The Wildcats are learning fast, Brown said.

“They’re understanding our system of play, they’re understanding their roles and they’re fitting in to them,” he said.

“There’s a lot of excitement going around the school right now, and the community,” Brown added. “They know something’s brewing here with this group and this is going to be big.”

The Wildcats tuned up for Wednesday’s game with a road game on Monday, March 16, at Lake Washington. The Kangaroos won 2-1.

Kyle Bauman scored the lone goal for Mount Si, who missed tying the game after referees waved off a would-be goal by Silvius.

Mount Si hosts Bellevue, Friday, March 27. Game time is 7:30.