The Spartans continued to kick and scrape their way further out of a dispiriting five-game slump Wednesday, as the Bainbridge High varsity boys soccer team followed up a recent tie against Eastside Catholic with a shutout win against the visitors from Cleveland.
There weren’t many smiles on the faces of either team, though.
The final score, officially, was 9-0, though in truth the Spartan scoring machine netted quite a few more than that. So many, in fact, the scoreboard didn’t bother to keep up.
“[Cleveland’s] program’s been in a tough spot for a couple years,” said Spartan Head Coach Drew Keller. “Their coach quit a couple weeks ago … I have to credit them, they worked hard all game. Even when they were clearly out of the game, they supported each other. That’s tough. It’s tough when you know 10 minutes into the game that it’s over.”
Hence the lack of Spartans smiling.
As badly needed as the boost was, the coach said, it just wasn’t the way anybody wanted to win.
“I was pleased our guys were playing with sportsmanship out there and keeping it as classy as possible given the circumstances,” Keller said. “It’s tough. I’m not going to tell them not to play. You don’t want to practice how you wouldn’t play in a game, even if it is a situation like this. So I just did my best to shift guys around as much as possible and give guys some chances up front that are typically defenders and mix around a little bit.”
The victory did, however, up the Spartan season record to 4-6-1. It also might signify a return to form for the team that started the year so strong, and maybe improve their shot at a postseason showing to boot.
“I think it’s a positive, given our run of play,” Keller said. “Goals are good for us right now. Confidence is good. It is what it is; it’s kind of hard to coach a game like that.
“Now we’re just trying to get a shot in the playoffs, which is not guaranteed,” he added. “We just got to get there and see what happens if we get there.
“We could peak at the right time; we just got to finish these next three games and then we got Ballard and Roosevelt after that. We’ll see what happens; it’s coming down the pipeline real quick here.”
The most likely advancement path for the island squad, Keller said, would be to take advantage of a play-in match. The bottom four of the best teams in the league compete for a spot in the final bracket.
“We’re just trying to grab one of those play-in spots and see what happens,” the coach said. “The boys are working hard. I appreciate their attitudes. They’ve had some frustrating games and they’re keeping their heads up, they’re playing hard, they’re having fun, treating each other well. I can’t ask for more than that.”
The Spartans next play at home at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, against Rainier Beach.
