With the soccer season in full swing, the Lady Viks hold a record of 3-2-3, putting them in a fourth place tie with the Redmond Mustangs. According to head coach Kent Nelke, the team has already made vast improvements to get to that point.
“We’ve come a long way since the beginning, but we are really inexperienced this year,” Nelke said.
Thirteen players have never played in a Varsity game before this year but Nelke said the young roster has come together quickly, showing great potential even after two losses to start the season.
With a record of 0-2-1, the Vikings went into a big match with the mighty Skyline Spartans, a team they had not defeated in over a decade.
“We were really excited to play them because we were clearly the underdogs, so that was really exciting. We knew that if we worked hard and shocked them early we’d be fine,” sophomore Paris Moore said.
Inglemoor did just that, scoring less than ten minutes into the game to put themselves up 1-0. They locked down Skyline the rest of the game, and when the final horn sounded, the score remained the same.
“It was fun for the girls, they went into the locker room after the game, and they had the radio blared up, singing songs, and I was really happy for them. Our program needed a win like that,” Nelke said.
The upset over Skyline propelled Inglemoor to a 4-0 win over Newport the following game, and after a 2-0 win over Bishop Blanchet, the girls found themselves sitting at 3-2-1.
“We did a good job of not getting overconfident; just playing it one game at a time was a big key for us during that winning streak,” senior captain Natalie Brown said.
The win streak was broken when Inglemoor tied Eastlake 0-0, and a later 1-1 tie with Redmond put Inglemoor at the 3-2-3 record that they hold now.
The Vikings haven’t lost since their second game, and with the offense still trying to get into a groove, the defense seems to be the unit keeping Inglemoor in games.
“We’ve created a lot of chances offensively but we just haven’t gotten to the point where we’re finishing those chances off. That’ll come, but the defensive part is huge right now for us, we’re just really solid in the back,” Nelke said. “You’re not gonna shut out everybody all the time but it’s easier to win games 1-0 or 2-1 than it is to win 5-4.”
As the playoffs loom closer, Coach Nelke stated his excitement for this team’s potential, saying that when it all clicks, it’s gonna click big.
Moore agreed, saying the offense is really good at keeping possession, as well as finding holes in the defense, however they just haven’t captured their opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net.
Even with offensive struggles, Nelke said there is not a huge deficit between them and the top teams in KingCo.
“We’re there, we’re not far away,” said Nelke, “I’m not sure we’re state championship caliber yet, but we’re not really far from that point.”
