Girls Soccer – honing their skills

By Heather Spaulding • September 14, 2022 1:30 am
Heather Spaulding Staff photo Front Row: Morgan Douglass, Charley Lawrence-Sampson Middle Row: Bryan Leighton, Georgia Keune, Georgia VanderYacht, Ella Raichlen, McKenna Clark, Kate Youngsman, Lucy Marinkovich Back Row: Jenny Garfias, Stella Carli, Jillian Otis, Norah Leighton, Betty Furber, Ava Martin, Nylah Pieples, Atziry Orozco, Susi DeBruyn, Meg Carrier, Ari Tucker-Belt, Kevin Cullen, Mark Fishaut Not pictured: Lila Horn, Luca Pignatiello, Frankie Pignatiello, Isabella VanderYacht, Bella Ross, Grace Eltinge, Ava Gamez
Heather Spaulding Staff photo Front Row: Morgan Douglass, Charley Lawrence-Sampson Middle Row: Bryan Leighton, Georgia Keune, Georgia VanderYacht, Ella Raichlen, McKenna Clark, Kate Youngsman, Lucy Marinkovich Back Row: Jenny Garfias, Stella Carli, Jillian Otis, Norah Leighton, Betty Furber, Ava Martin, Nylah Pieples, Atziry Orozco, Susi DeBruyn, Meg Carrier, Ari Tucker-Belt, Kevin Cullen, Mark Fishaut Not pictured: Lila Horn, Luca Pignatiello, Frankie Pignatiello, Isabella VanderYacht, Bella Ross, Grace Eltinge, Ava Gamez

September will be rough for Friday Harbor’s girls soccer, according to coach Kevin Cullen. They will be playing Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for the next two weeks.

“Most of our games are in September. We only have a few games in October,” Cullen said.

Cullen has been the girls’ soccer coach for the last two years, though he has also been the assistant coach and Junior Varsity coach prior to that. Cullen loves the game, he confest, and has been playing since he was young.

“I like working with high school kids. This was a great opportunity to work with them on something they love,” Cullen said.

This season, he would like every player to be on the Honor Roll, Cullen said. While making it to state is a primary goal, Cullen explained that continuing to develop all aspects of the player, socially, psychologically, academically, as well as fitness and skills, in a fun environment is what he hopes to ultimately achieve.

“The biggest challenge has been that the league keeps losing teams. So keeping the league together has been a struggle,” Cullen said. Participation has been down across the state in a variety of sports, In girl’s soccer, according to Cullen, La Conner over the last several years has had difficulty finding players. Last year the Wolverines had to give them three girls so they could play against each other.

They have a great coach and excellent program, so I’m not really sure why this is happening,” Cullen said.

Meanwhile, while the team may not be huge, they were able to pick up two eighth graders through the extensive summer soccer program.

As a result, while they are thankful for the games, maintaining the pace of the first month will be tough. ‘If we have an injury, or illness during that time it could be an issue,” Cullen said.

The first game kicked off Sept. 6, against Nooksack, and Cullen said he was proud of his team.

“We had really good plays, everyone contributed at every position,” Cullen said. “We have new midfielders and defenders, everyone stepped up.”

The match ended up in a tie with the final score being 2-2.

“We are excited to have crowds at our home games again, we play pretty exciting soccer” Cullen said.

The next home game will be against Mount Vernon Christian Sept. 15 at 4 p.m. at the Linde Community Fields.