The Mount Si Wildcats girls’ soccer program reached new heights last season as the team took a magical run to the state tournament before their championship dreams died in heartbreak last Nov. 11.

However, with many of the key players back from last season’s 12-3-4 team and a deep pool of underclass talent, the Wildcats should be able to repeat the dream, and then some. The Valley Record has tabbed Mount Si as the preseason favorite to win the Kingco 3A girls’ soccer title in 2006.

Returning as coach is Darren Brown for his fourth season at the helm of the program. Brown will be assisted by Ben Tomlisson, who assisted Brown last spring with the Mount Si boys’ team. Brown has, in three short years, turned this program into one of the top programs in the state and considering what’s there now, combined with what’s on the horizon, the Wildcats should only get stronger.

Among the top returning athletes is sophomore Nikki Stanton. Stanton, who scored five goals and assisted on nine others last season for Mount Si, not only brings speed and goal-scoring ability, she should bring a bit of leadership to the table this season, as well. Stanton helped lead her Redmond-based Crossfire Premier Plombard U-15 girls’ select team to a third-place finish at the recent U.S. Youth Soccer Nationals tournament in Iowa, an accomplishment covered this summer in the Record.

Stanton is ready. “Well, I’m going to do better than last year in the sense I’m going to attack more and my shots have gotten a lot better, so I’m going to shoot more and drive, and I’m going to set other people up, too,” she said.

Another player to watch is senior goalkeeper Jessica Blessard. Blessard has attracted interest from several colleges, and that should continue until she signs her letter of intent.

Other returnees to keep an eye on are senior midfielder Jessica Oliver and junior forward Mariana Zanella, both of whom bring speed to the front line, and senior forward Amy Torget. Defensively, look for junior Katie Woolsey to anchor things in the back. She will lead a group that will have some shoes to fill with the graduations of defenders Kali Roestel, Jordan Tipton and Krisi Lund, but team members are expected to hold their own this season. That said, Brown expects rebuilding the defense to be his top priority.

To help take some pressure off the defense, the coach is adjusting his formation from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2.

“Instead of the three back, I’m sticking an extra player back there just for some support until we get adjusted, so really what I’m doing is taking a player out of the midfield piece and add them in the back,” Brown said.

This new formation should work well, considering the Wildcats have a lot of speedy players on the team.

“It’s going to help us a lot on the defense and our offense is just full of speedsters, too, so it’ll be exciting to watch,” senior Monica Nelson said.

Brown has three exciting new midfielders coming into the program. Sophomores Stephanie Burke, Linnea Olson and Chelsea Howland will compliment Nelson and junior Mariah Stevens in the midfield area. Another key player whose addition will be welcome news to Wildcat soccer followers is senior Kirsten Mills. Mills, a star in her freshman and sophomore years at Mount Si who took last season off, should provide leadership as well as another scoring threat.

“She came back this year and just told me she wants to play and she misses the game and wants to be a part of something special,” Brown said.

Mills is glad to be back. “I’m really excited for this team. We have great team chemistry. We flow really well together and we connect in a way that teams need to connect in order to succeed, and we’re going to be successful,” Mills said.

Brown looks for Issaquah and Bellevue to fight the Wildcats for that top spot in Kingco 3A. Mercer Island and Skyline should also provide Mount Si a test in the league this season.

The future looks bright, too. In addition to a solid turnout of 57 girls for tryouts, 150 boys and girls ages 5-13 attended the camps offered by Brown this summer at Snoqualmie Middle School.

“Great numbers,” said Brown. “What that tells me is that the interest for soccer in the Valley is very high.”

Mount Si’s junior varsity team also looks very good as it receives a strong freshman class this season.