The Lake Washington High School girls soccer team finished near the bottom of the 4A KingCo standings last year. But head coach Suzanne Hart sees her second season with the team as a chances to improve on seven ties that could have kept the team from the playoffs.
“Starting strong, getting better every game and every practice (is the team’s primary goal),” said Hart.
The team will have a chance to take a step forward with seven key players returning to the team. Two of those players are captains Jordan Masters and Emma Holm. Masters, a third-year junior, is the most experienced varsity starter, while Hart describes Holm, a sophomore, as a solid and consistent player for the team.
“We are young,” said Hart. “I think every game we will get better because we will have more experience.”
The team’s sophomore class is extremely strong with Cassie Lively, Jessie Zogg and Kate Bebee getting time with the varsity squad last year. Hart describes Lively as a dynamic midfielder, while Bebee’s biggest asset is her speed. Zogg is versatile and gives Hart a lot of flexibility.
“We have a lot of leaders,” said Hart. “Eleven different players were voted for captain and that shows that there are a lot of leaders on our team.”
Seniors Lacy Newbold and Chelsea Schwarz are just in their second year on varsity but Hart believes that the two girls will lend a lot of that leadership to the squad.
But leadership cannot cover for a lack of experience. Hart admits that her team lacks some experience that the team will need to compete at the highest of levels. The loss of experienced players like Lake Washington High School graduates Bri Jackson, Alix Boyd and Sam Takett, will be a big hurdle for the team to overcome
The Kangs schedule will be challenging with the biggest threat for the league title coming from Skyline, Issaquah and Woodinville.
“We have a team that works hard and gets better every day,” said Hart. “They want to be better and work towards that.”
The Kangs lost their first game of the season to Mount Si 2-0 on Sept. 8.
