Mount Si star goalkeeper Ryan Herman has been making a name for himself this season with booming kicks and stellar play from the net.
Going into the Friday, April 9, game against the Interlake Saints, Herman had picked up five shutouts. Last Friday, he showed off a new talent: scoring a goal. Behind goals from Kyle Bauman and Herman, the Wildcats beat Interlake 2-0 to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Despite the win, Mount Si coach Darren Brown believes the team can do better.
“We kind of mirrored Interlake tonight, which I don’t like to see,” Brown said.
Both goals were scored early in the contest. Bauman’s happened just seconds in as the result of a msiplay by Interlake goalie Alex Quitana.
“It was crossed in and then I was trying to toe it in, and it went over the line,“ Bauman said.
Herman then struck in the 11th minute. On a free kick, he boomed the ball to the net, where it went over Quitana’s head and in to make it a 2-0 game. The Wildcat junior didn’t expect to score.
“It was really lucky,” Herman said.
After that, though, the Wildcat offense was silenced, and a lot of that was due to the play of Quitana, who made a number of spectacular saves as the game went on, helping to keep the score close. But the Saints were not able to take advantage and Mount Si came home with another win and another shutout for Herman, his sixth on the season. That, combined with the goal and an assist he had in the Sammamish game last Tuesday, a 2-2 tie, along with his stellar kicks, have all helped to earn the goalkeeper some significant national recognition.
Last week, ESPN had notified the coach that Herman had been selected as one of several nominees for the Gatorade High School Player of the Year award. He was also ranked the fifth best college prospect nationally as a goalkeeper for the class of 2011 by ESPN RISE magazine. Herman, who has verbally committed to Santa Clara, is only one of two players in Washington to be ranked in these rankings; the other player is a forward from Camas.
“Ryan’s a great kid,” Brown said. “He’s a good role model, great teammate. He knows what’s expected of him and he takes everything in stride,” Brown said.
Herman is keeping a level head.
“It’s exciting, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself and make too much of it,” he said. “I kind of try not to pay attention to all those things.”
The announcement has been big for the Mount Si boys’ soccer team Web site. Webmaster Dave Snead said site traffic has gone up 25 perent since the announcement. Because of the increased interest, a YouTube video site has been created to showcase the talents of the team. View it at www.mshsboyssoccer.com.
