Three sets of siblings take the field for Shoreline Christian School

Soccer has turned into a family affair at Shoreline Christian School.

Three sets of siblings account for roughly a third of Shoreline Christian’s 2003 roster and there’s a father-and-son twist to boot.

“We’ve got a lot of siblings,” said first-year head coach John Dykstra, whose son Eric starts at goalie for the Crusaders.

“From what I’ve seen at practice, the older ones have taken the younger ones under their wing. But I don’t know, maybe they all yell at one another once they get home.”

The breakdown goes like this:

There are three Wahlmans, senior twins Angel and Brant and sophomore Evan; a pair of Smeads, senior Brice and sophomore Dilan; and the brothers Brandal, senior Garth and sophomore Grant.

Both Brandals will continue to play key parts in Shoreline Christian’s offense.

“Garth has been an important part of the team since he was a freshman,” Dykstra said. “He had some outstanding games last year and he can really put (games) away if he has to. Grant is a really prolific goal scorer, too.

“They’re going to be hard to shut down. They’re a good tandem.”

The Wahlmans, Smeads and several newcomers are also offensive-minded, overloading the Crusaders at striker.

“We’re still moving some people around a bit,” Dykstra said. “We’ve been blessed with too many forwards. Some of them will take on midfielder roles.”

Shoreline Christian lost six seniors — including their goalkeeper and four starting defenders — off a team that advanced to last year’s Class A/B Tri-district playoffs.

Dykstra is looking to junior sweeper Geoff Jacobs, a Northwest A/B League first-team, all-opponent pick in 2002, to command a young defensive unit.

“Geoff’s the general of the defense,” Dykstra said. “He really knows his job and has a knack for getting where the ball is and shutting down the opposing attackers.”

The Crusaders went 10-6-1 overall last year, finishing in a tie for second in the final Northwest A/B League standings behind Archbishop Thomas Murphy. It was their second straight 10-win season.

Archbishop Murphy followed up a 16-0 sprint through the regular season by reaching the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.

Dykstra figures the rest of the league will be chasing after the Wildcats again this fall.

“They have to be the odds-on favorite to win the league,” he said. “We’re hoping to come out near the top.”