Talented T-wolves aiming for state title

Following back-to-back Class 4A state semifinal appearances, the Jackson girls soccer team wants to go further this season.

The Timberwolves have their sights set on a state championship.

And it’s not just wishful thinking.

Even with the graduation of five seniors, including one of the state’s top players in Dani Oster, the Wolfpack feels it has enough returning talent and promising newcomers to make a third straight run to the final four.

The players are ready to take the experience of the last two seasons to good use this year, said goalkeeper Dee Wood, the team’s lone senior.

Jackson finished third at the 2005 state tournament and fourth in 2004.

“We’ve gotten closer and closer,” said Wood, a second-team, all-league player. “We’re ready to skip second and just go straight to first. I think we have so many people from the two previous years that have got fourth and then third that we’re ready to get first. … We know what it takes to get there (semifinals).”

The loss of Oster, who was named the Gatorade State Soccer Player of the Year, certainly won’t cripple the Jackson offense.

Not with the return of junior standout Kristi Kingma, who scored 19 goals, just one fewer than team leader Oster.

Kingma, a first-team, all-league forward who will play the midfield this season, doesn’t feel too much added pressure.

“I could care less if I score a goal this year. I just want to win a state championship,” Kingma said. “I feel more pressure this year because Dani was such a force last year. I looked up to her to so much. Everybody focused on her. This year’s there’s pressure on me, but there’s not much. They don’t expect me to be the next Dani, obviously. (I want) to just go out there and have fun.”

The Jackson offense definitely has a younger tinge with the addition of freshmen Megan Bolmes and Brianna Ellis, two of three freshmen that are starting. The third is defender Meaghan Hatcher.

“The freshman class is very, very talented,” said Jackson head coach Michael Bartley. “The freshman class came in and was terrific. I have to put them in the spotlight early.”

The Jackson offense is still developing.

“We’ve got some good offensive players, not as good as last year, but hopefully (they will be) in the future,” Wood said.

While they are young and new to the team, the freshmen have fit in right away and more importantly they are making contributions, Wood said.

“You couldn’t tell that they were freshmen because most of them play together, so they’re already on the same page,” she said. “We’ve had so much team bonding that it wasn’t like they were freshmen. They are already part of the team like they’ve been there for so long.”

Wood is the anchor of what is likely to be an extremely strong defense.

Bartley is expecting Wood to have her best season yet.

“She is a great leader,” he said. “She’s technically a very gifted goalkeeper. She did a lot of teaching in the summer as well as developing her own skills. I think she has all the maturity and tools to be very successful this year.”

Jackson opened league play with a 3-0 victory over Meadowdale Sept. 7 at Everett Memorial Stadium. Unlike the last few years, there are no non-conference games in 2006.

“It’s critical that Dee is going to be in there every minute the whole season,” Bartley said. “She’s excited about the challenge of playing 16 games with every one of them being a counter. It’s inspired her to work on her game.”

Kingma admits she doesn’t want to think what next year will be like without Wood.

“You know Dee is going to save everything,” Kingma said. “It’s total confidence for everybody on the team to know that you have a goalkeeper like Dee.

“Having Dee and Sara (O’Neal) back there … I know I have total confidence in them. Just having the defense back, it’ll be a good year.”

Bartley agrees that the defense is solid. It’s how Jackson performs on offense that is going to determine how far the team goes.

“The more we play, the better we get,” Bartley said. “It’s a very young team. If we play to our potential, I think we can be very good.”

Added O’Neal, “We know our defense is going to be pretty good … we’re just working on our offense because we lost most of our midfield.”

A key returner who is switching positions is junior Ashly Bruns, an honorable mention, all-leaguer.

Bartley decided to move Bruns to the midfield from the defense in order to bolster the offense.

“We needed somebody to win the ball and distribute the ball in the midfield,” Bartley said. “She’s matured a lot through soccer and basketball.”

Bartley is hoping that having Bruns and Kingma in the middle will help jump start the offense. He predicted that Kingma will end up cleaning up a lot of the crosses.

“She’s very aggressive in the box,” Bartley said. “That’s going to be very big for us.”

Edmonds-Woodway transfer Laura Hernandez and junior Caitlin Naethe give Jackson good speed in the midfield.

Losing five seniors from last season was tough.

“They’re hard to replace,” Bartley said. “But I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it.”

Last year’s Jackson team may have had more skilled players but Kingma feels this year’s squad may have some intangible assets.

“We have so much better chemistry this year,” she said. “Last year was all skill-based. This year it’s going to be more relying on each other, trusting each other and just working together and hopefully getting the ultimate goal.”