EVERETT — By any standards, the Jackson boys soccer team exceeded expectations this year.
Jackson returned only three players with significant varsity experience but still managed to nab the Western Conference South Division’s No. 3 berth to the Northwest District 4A playoffs last week.
But the Wolfpack’s postseason run was a quick one when Lake Stevens defeated Jackson 2-0 in a loser-out game May 8 at Everett Stadium.
The loss left a bittersweet taste in the mouths of the Timberwolves, which was just fine with coach Michael Bartley.
“They’re frustrated and mad,” Bartley said of his players. “I’m glad. I’d rather have them that way than ‘Oh, well.’”
While he was glad to see his team advance to the playoffs, junior Greg Hnilo was disappointed the season came to an end, especially when it didn’t have to.
“This is way better than we were expected to do,” Hnilo said. “We’re proud but we could have had a win today.”
From the start, Bartley could tell that the Wolfpack was struggling.
“I just felt like we weren’t clicking,” Bartley said. “Everybody wasn’t working together like we usually do. Usually we work really hard all around the ball. It seemed like were just not fluid in our motions.”
Jackson (7-7-3 overall) had a few scoring opportunities in the first half but was unable to put the ball in the net and the two teams headed into halftime deadlocked at 0-0.
Lake Stevens finally ended the scoring drought when Coyt Ferrucci scored off an assist from Aaron Leonard at the 55-minute mark. Wes Vanhooser then sealed the Vikings’ triumph by taking a pass from Zach Hardwick and scoing with about two minutes remaining in the contest.
“The difference today was probably our finishing,” Hnilo said. “We had a lot of chances. We just couldn’t get them in the goal. It was challenging today because they had a good defense … we played with them the whole game and fought hard.”
Jackson came into the week with some momentum, having defeated Mountlake Terrace 2-1 and then playing to a 0-0 tie with Shorecrest earlier in the week.
“We knew that if we did well we could make the playoffs and we stepped it up and got the win,” Hnilo. “We rode our defense the whole week and they’ve been great all year.”
The results of those two games enabled the Wolfpack to secure the division’s No. 3 berth to districts.
“We were prepared for this (game) pretty well,” Bartley said. “We came in with high expectations. I have to give them (Vikings) credit. They played really well … they all worked very hard. I was warned that if we didn’t work hard as they did, they’d take advantage of it and it kind of worked (out) that way.”
Bartley, however, noted that coming into the season Jackson’s goal was to finish third in the division and advance to the playoffs.
“They are a great group. They worked really hard,” Bartley said. “They worked for each other and today just didn’t work out.”
Unlike some teams, the Timberwolves spread the ball around on offense. The team’s leading scorer, senior forward David Bergley, had only four goals. A number of other players had two or three goals.
Hnilo sees the offense as an area to work on in the offseason with the defense remaining the cornerstone of the team.
“We’re going to be built around defense like we were this year,” he said. “We’re just going to work on finishing and hopefully get a good finisher.”
The Timberwolves graduate four seniors and bring back a large contingent of juniors, who will have something to prove and the experience of playing in a district playoff game.
“We’re obviously going to have to step it up even higher than this year,” Hnilo said. “(In) this game none of the people on the field really had a whole bunch of experience in the playoffs. It’s really good to get a game in the playoffs, so next year we know we can use this experience.
“We’ve experienced losing and gotten through it. We’ve just got to remember it … and move on.”
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