Kamiak soccer team closes in on first-ever division championship

Published 11:50 pm Monday, October 18, 2010

MUKILTEO — “Just relax.”

That advice is easy to accept when you lounge at home on a quiet Sunday afternoon. It’s far more difficult to implement during a long season of competitive soccer. But for the soaring Kamiak High School girls soccer team, relaxing — and appreciating each stage of the journey — is a big focus.

“We’re a really relaxed team,” said Shelby Knowles, a fourth-year starting defender for Kamiak, which leads the Western Conference 4A South Division.

“In the past, our teams have always been so fired up,” Knowles added, “but we’re kind of a calm group and I think that helps us in warmups. We just take it game by game and then focus on the team we’re playing next and not really anything beyond that.”

One of 10 seniors on Kamiak’s experience-rich roster, Knowles is a team co-captain with fellow senior Tana Foster, a confident, effective goalkeeper. They were both all-league first team selections in 2009.

Through their first dozen games this season, Knowles, Foster (seven shutouts) and the rest of the Knights are 10-1-1, including a 9-1 record (26 points) in Wesco action. With four regular-season games to go, including a home game tonight versus winless Mariner, Kamiak has already secured a Class 4A District 1 tournament berth. The Knights, who have a five-point lead over second-place Jackson (7-4, 21 points), also hope to snare the Wesco South No. 1 seed and win the first division championship in program history.

After that — who knows? Kamiak players live in the moment, savoring each new achievement without looking ahead.

“We want to make it last as long as we can,” said Kamiak senior Taylor Stanley, a midfielder.

Perhaps no Kamiak player appreciates her time on the field as much as Stanley. She missed her entire junior season because of injuries: A dislocated toe and two painful stress fractures in her lower back.

After wearing a hard-plastic back brace for seven months, Stanley returned and played all summer for her select team, Northwest Nationals. This fall, Stanley has been a fixture in Kamiak’s starting lineup, tallying three goals and an assist so far.

“I’m happy to be back finally,” said Stanley, whose sister Kendall Stanley plays soccer for Seattle University.

Taylor Stanley is one of seven players who have at least two goals and one assist this season for high-powered Kamiak. The Knights’ top three scorers are junior Lauren Luke (10 goals, four assists), senior Rachel Rinke (three goals, six assists) and senior Cassidy Seckman (three goals, three assists).

Beth Stewart, Kamiak’s fifth-year head coach, praised Rinke, whose corner kicks “have just been unbelievable,” said Stewart. “We’ve scored a lot of goals on corners this year.”

The team’s most potent offensive weapon is one of the smallest girls on the field: Luke, an elusive forward/midfielder. The third-year starter has excellent foot control and uses sneaky moves to get open near the net.

“At the end of the day, she’s a goal scorer,” Stewart said. “Every team needs one of those.”

The petite-yet-tough Luke missed half of last season with an injury but is holding up well in 2010.

“She was just tiny as a freshman,” said Stewart, “but she’s gained some muscle tone and that’s a good thing. She definitely gets knocked around out there, but she battles.”

As a team, Kamiak is more about speed and skill than brute force. The team’s strengths — including high-quality passes and eye-pleasing attacks — have translated to victories in all but one Wesco game. On Oct. 5, Monroe of the North Division edged Kamiak 1-0 in a crossover matchup.

“I think it was good for us,” Knowles, the all-league defender, said of the loss. “We didn’t want to get cocky at all so it might have helped us in a way.”

Kamiak certainly responded well. In their next game, the Knights — fired up by a group of rowdy fans — blanked North Division leader Snohomish 2-0 on Kamiak High’s turf. Then on Oct. 12 Kamiak outlasted Lake Stevens, another tough North opponent, 2-1 in a shootout.

“It was a reality check for us,” Foster, Kamiak’s keeper, said about losing against Monroe. “Like (coach Stewart) said, it was better to lose now than at state.”

Speaking of state, Kamiak seeks its third straight state tournament appearance. Prior to 2008, the Knights had never sent a girls soccer team to state. This team might be the best of the bunch, based on its collective talent, impressive results thus far and outstanding attitude.

“They’re self-motivated,” coach Stewart said, “and they know what they need to do once they step out on the field.”

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.