Wildcats break out to great start
Published 11:01 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
SNOQUALMIE – The Mount Si boys soccer team had a rousing beginning to their Kingco 3A schedule last Tuesday. Under very dark skies, the Wildcats went out and rolled to a 6-0 win over the Bellevue Wolverines at Snoqualmie Community Park in a game that was called early in the second half thanks to deteriorating weather that led to unsafe playing conditions.
Yosef Yetneberk scored a hat trick and Gibson Bardsley added two of his own as the Wildcats scored early and often, dominating play from the opening kick all the way to the early end.
Things got going in the 13th minute with a goal from freshman Chad Hennig. Yetneberk popped in the next three goals, which came in the 16th, 34th and 40th minutes. The third goal was on a penalty kick.
The weather, which had been fair through much of the first half with just a few sprinkles of rain, quickly changed around halftime. Lightning strikes could be seen in the distance and hail started to fall. In the 43rd minute, Bardsley scored his first of two, then in the 48th minute, Bardsley scored again, and as soon as that goal was scored, referees called the game after more lightning was seen in the distance. After the game was called, the hail started falling very hard over the field, quickly turning it white.
It was one bizarre ending, courtesy of the weather, that likely won’t be forgotten for a while.
Cats best Totems
Thursday on the Ridge, the weather was much calmer, but the result was the same: another win. Thanks to a yellow card on Sammamish in the 60th minute, Mount Si went to work and quickly scored a goal, leading to what would turn out to be a huge 2-0 win over a good Totems squad.
The yellow was assessed to Sammamish midfielder Dean Bradshaw after he committed a hard foul on Mount Si’s Evan Lloyd. Shortly after, in the 62nd minute, Bardsley punched a shot into the net to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Yetneberk then added an insurance tally in the 69th minute to give Mount Si their margin of victory.
“Sometimes it fires some kids up and I think it was not intentional, but I think that both players were just kind of going at it real hard, and our boys really stepped up after that. I think they took it to our advantage and got a little more aggressive,” said Mount Si coach Darren Brown.
With the Wildcats starting out strong, fans and opposing teams have a lot to look for when they see Brown’s squad.
“My defensive line is very tough, strong, fast and physical. It’s going to be hard to break us. I think teams are going to notice that right off the bat when they see our squad out there. Up front, we have speed, we have guys that can finish, and our midfield depth and the formation we’re playing allows us to spread the ball wide. We’re going to create a lot of problems for some teams,” Brown said.
Team unity also is key to the roaring start.
“We’ve really come together this year. Chemistry has been better than ever. We’ve come together and we’ve won games,” said Wildcat midfielder Andrew Talevich.
Liberty no problem for Mount Si
Mount Si, at home on the Ridge on Saturday, rallied in the second half with three goals to take care of Liberty, 3-1. The Wildcats got two goals from Bardsley and another from Yetneberk as Mount Si overcame a rough start to pick up the victory. Going into this week’s play, which started Tuesday, Yetneberk has seven goals on the year and has goals in four straight contests. Bardsley has five goals of his own and a three-game goal scoring streak.
Kenny Hartley scored the lone Patriot goal in the first half with a free kick.
The Wildcats continue league play Thursday in their final contest before spring break. The game, against Issaquah, kicks off at 4 p.m. at Snoqualmie Community Park on Snoqualmie Ridge.
