ALL-AREA GIRLS SOCCER: Murphy's Bos set the pace

Slip the ball to central midfield and watch Archbishop Murphy senior Lindsey Bos work some magic.

Astute on-the-ball poise and a preternatural sense to find teammates on the pitch allowed Bos to help dictate the game's pace while the Wildcats raced to an undefeated season and a class 2A girls soccer state title.

Bos, a University of Washington signee and The Herald's 2009 girls soccer player of the year, scored 15 goals and added 23 assists as Archbishop Murphy captured its second state championship in four seasons.

A starter on the 2006 championship team and two-time team MVP, the 5-foot-6 Bos has been a staple of head coach Dick Henderson's Murphy squad for four successful seasons.

“She had the ability to change the outcome of a game,” Henderson said as he reflected on Bos' high school career. “She had the ability to have an effect on the play ... not everybody has that ability when there's a lot of traffic out there.”

The senior rose to the top of a crowded field of skilled Snohomish county girls soccer players because of her well-rounded set of abilities and seemingly clairvoyant capability to know exactly when and where to send the ball in to a teammate.

“A lot of my success has been a result of my teammates, parents and my coaches,” said Bos, deflecting accolades to teammates Caroline Brawner and Sam Pettinger among others. “... It has a lot to do with trust in my teammates ... playing with her (Brawner, in midfield) helps a lot. ... I don't think one person can control the game.”

Modesty aside, Henderson said he saw Bos mature into a player whose confidence and decisiveness on the field “rubbed off on the players around her.”

“You can get a lot of people that have talent,” Henderson said. “I felt she was able to have an effect and change the outcome of a game.”

Bos committed early to UW and will join experienced head coach Lesle Gallimore and the Huskies in August as either an outside defender or outside midfielder, Bos said.

Also recruited by Saint Mary's (Moraga, Calif.) College of the West Coast Conference and several universities on the East Coast, Bos said she decided quickly and didn't even consider other programs.

“My dad and grandpa are big on the Huskies,” Bos said. She added that she felt comfortable with the coaches and school.

Bos, thinking about studying business at UW, said she was excited about joining her older brother Jake, a UW sophomore, at the school and helping the Huskies improve on a second-round appearance in the NCAA tournament this season.

She also will be joined by a couple area athletes on the Huskies roster — Everett's Annie Sittauer and King's Hillary Zevenbergen also committed to UW.

As a junior, Bos scored nine goals and had 17 assists, and stepped into a larger leadership role this season.

“There has to be leaders that step out,” Bos said, adding that she admired the strong leadership she saw at Archbishop Murphy during her first two seasons. “When I became an upperclassman, I decided that I wanted to be like the seniors I had.

“I wanted to set a good example.”

Bos' unselfish play speaks volumes, with 40 assists during her final two seasons, but despite her immense talent, Henderson said the senior is consistent and hard working in her approach to the game.

“She trained hard. What she did in her work ethic helped those around her,” Henderson said. “... She never was a kind of player that felt she knew things; she did the same hard work that everyone else did.”