SNOHOMISH — Six games into their Western Conference schedule, the girls of the Jackson soccer team have yet to lose a league game.
They have also yet to give up a league goal.
Both marks remained perfect on Thursday night as the Timberwolves defeated host Snohomish 4-0. Senior midfielder Madison Cooley scored twice, and senior forward Drew Locknane and sophomore midfielder Mackenzie Rennhack both added single goals for Jackson, with sophomore goalkeeper Kayleigh Sedlacek making some dandy saves to preserve the shutout.
“Overall, I was really happy with how we played,” said T-wolves coach Jesslyn Kellerman. “Any time you score four goals in a game, that’s good.”
“I was really pleased with the way our entire team played, both offensively and defensively,” agreed senior midfielder Kristina Serres, who assisted on two goals. “We really talked to each other and played off of each other really well.”
A year ago Jackson made it to the Class 4A state championship game before bowing to Central Valley 5-2. Five seniors from that squad have graduated and two others decided not to return this season, but the T-wolves still have 11 players from last year’s state tournament roster.
So there is plenty of experience, and there is something else in abundance, too _ speed.
Or as Kellerman said, “We’re obviously blessed with people who are really fast,” Kellerman said.
One of the speedy players is Serres, who set up Jackson’s first and third goals by winning footraces to long passes in the offensive end and then delivering centering passes to Cooley. The initial goal came midway through the first half, with Cooley’s low shot from the right angle beating Snohomish goalkeeper Niki Denk just inside the far post.
The Serres-Cooley duo struck again in the first minute of the second half, with Serres sending a pass from the right corner past one teammate to Cooley, who blasted a shot from in front of the net that Denk had no chance to stop.
Locknane had her goal later in the first half with a long, looping shot from the left angle. And Rennhack tacked on a final goal in the late minutes by sprinting to a bounding ball in the offensive end and lifting a shot into the net.
Though Jackson reached the state championship game a year ago, “this team has possibly even more potential because we have the ability to score from so many different positions,” Kellerman said. “You can defend one or two really good players, but you can’t defend four or five who can score from different places.”
“It’s hard to compare last year’s team to this year’s team because we have different people playing different positions,” Serres said. “This is a different team. But I’m really excited because I think we have a lot of potential.”
Snohomish had perhaps its best chance to score in the second half after a corner kick by Liz Daly. Her centering pass was headed off the crossbar by one teammate, and the rebound was also headed at the goal, with Sedlacek making a leaping snag just beneath the crossbar.
At Veterans Memorial Stadium
Goals—Madison Cooley (J) 2, Drew Locknane (J), MacKenzie Rennhack (J). Assists—not reported. Goalkeepers—Jackson: Kayleigh Sedlacek. Snohomish: Niki Denk. Records—Jackson 6-0-0 league, 6-1-1 overall. Snohomish 2-3-1, 3-3-2.
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