EVERETT There was a time, not long ago, when foes of the Everett High School girls soccer team considered a game against the Seagulls a gimme.
Back then, Everett’s woeful squads were as threatening to opponents as a hug from a koala bear.
Times have changed, though. A resurgence likely as dramatic as any in the state has taken place. Once a lowly, overlooked program, Everett is primed to accomplish things that would have seemed impossible a few years ago.
“We’ve raised the bar for ourselves and (have higher) expectations,” said Everett coach Kosta Pitharoulis, who last season guided the Seagulls to their first state tournament appearance since 1993.
After winning a combined total of two league games from 2002-2004, Everett won four of them in 2005. The big leap forward came last season when it won eight league contests in the loaded Western Conference North Division, despite being a Class 3A school in a 4A-dominated division.
Good news for Everett and bad news for its opponents: All but one starter returns from the 2006 Seagulls squad, which won 12 games and advanced to the 3A state quarterfinals. The team has a ton of confidence heading into the season, Pitharoulis said.
Wesco North coaches picked Everett to finish second in the division behind perennial power Snohomish in The Herald’s preseason poll. That kind of respect is satisfying for the up-and-coming Seagulls.
“It’s a good feeling for myself and the girls that we’re not (overlooked) anymore that teams have to prepare to play us,” said Pitharoulis. “It should raise our game too.”
Everett’s talented core of players includes four girls who received All-Wesco North honors last fall: senior forward Simone Tarver, junior defender Valerie Stahl, junior defender Suzy Olsen and sophomore midfielder Sele Vance. The young but experienced team also features four seniors, including co-captain Mackenzie Rochon (midfielder), and junior goalkeeper Emily Nesting, who last season split time with Everett’s other keeper, 2007 graduate Makenna Brinster. (Brinster recently made the University of Washington women’s squad as a walk-on.)
“Last year we were the underdogs and people didn’t really expect much from us,” said Stahl, a two-year co-captain. “But this year we’re gonna come out our hardest because (foes) are gonna come out their hardest (too).”
The main factors in Everett’s revival, Pitharoulis and players agreed, are an influx of athletes with club team experience and a surging confidence level that blossomed with each victory the past two seasons.
Several Everett players have competed together the past six years on club teams, primarily for Snohomish County’s Evergreen Soccer Club. The bulk of them live within a few blocks of each other, not far from the high school.
With just four seniors on this year’s team, Everett should be solid for awhile. It’s exciting to get be a part of the program’s rise, said Nesting, the keeper.
“People are realizing. (A few years ago) no one would come to our games, and then people gradually started coming once we started winning.” One victory that highlighted Everett’s resurgence came almost one year ago. On Sept. 19, 2006, the Seagulls made a statement by beating Snohomish 2-1 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“That was really exciting,” said Stahl, who remembered feeling extra nervous before the game. That night, though, Everett realized it was a good team that could compete with anyone, she said.
After placing third in the Wesco South and winning the 3A District 1 championship last season, Everett will aim for more glory in 2007. A team that struggled for so long can actually count a division title and another state tourney berth as realistic goals.
Said Pitharoulis, “All the girls are excited about getting a little bit further in (the state tourney) this year. But we gotta get there first.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
