Vikings edge Timberwolves in clash of improved squads

LAKE STEVENS — The Lake Stevens boys soccer team has experienced its share of losing over the previous few seasons.

But after taking their lumps in recent years, the upperclassmen-laden Vikings are enjoying a breakthrough.

Lake Stevens continued its strong start to the season with a 3-2 win over short-handed Jackson in a rain-soaked battle of Wesco 4A upstarts Wednesday night at Lake Stevens High School.

“It feels good to finally start winning again and to get some happiness into the program,” Vikings junior Jacob Woodward said. “I feel like we’re going to go far … and hopefully get this program back to where it should be.”

Lake Stevens struggled with youth and inexperience in recent years, mustering only one win in 2016 and five wins last season.

But it’s been a different story for the Vikings this spring. At the season’s midway point, Lake Stevens (6-2-0 overall, 4-2-0 Wesco 4A) already has matched its win total from the previous two seasons combined.

“A big part of it was just age and our guys getting more mature, more experience and more confidence,” said first-year Vikings coach Wes VanHooser, a 2006 Lake Stevens alum who played for Seattle University.

“You get a group of seniors out on the field together, and they can usually do some things a little bit more effectively than some younger players.”

Through eight matches, the Vikings have netted 25 goals. That’s more than Lake Stevens has scored in any full season since 2013.

“We have a lot of different looks to our attack, which I think is one of our biggest advantages,” VanHooser said. “We score goals off set pieces, crosses, guys just beating people one-v-one. We have a lot of different (ways) we can score.”

In Lake Stevens’ six league matches, eight different Vikings have found the net. That balance is a byproduct of the team’s depth, which VanHooser utilizes with frequent substitutions.

“We have an 18-man roster, and all of our guys tend to see probably at least 30 minutes a game,” VanHooser said. “I’ve really been pushing the team to prove to me that they deserve to be on the field for longer than that, so our practices are pretty intense.

“Guys compete with each other and work to actually get on the field, which I think brings our level of play up pretty substantially.”

Lake Stevens junior Jason Herrera scored the match’s first goal on a 30th-minute diving header off a corner kick from junior Ethan Anastasi. Brody Crook redirected an Anastasi free kick into the net in the 48th minute, and Rodrigo Montes scored two minutes later to extend the Vikings’ lead to 3-0.

Kevin Giessler and Sawyer Walthall netted a pair of late goals for Jackson (5-2-1, 3-2-1), which was missing three starters for the spring break match.

The Timberwolves also are enjoying a breakthrough year.

At the season’s midway point, Jackson already has matched its most wins in a season since 2012. The Timberwolves have scored 26 goals in eight matches, their most in a full season since 2012.

“We have a pretty good senior group that’s been with this program for quite a few years with not many wins,” Jackson coach Brett Norton said. “They’re pretty hungry, and they want to perform well before they leave the school.

“There’s a lot of motivation, a lot of leadership within the senior class that’s really helped drive the results for the team.”