Kickers dominant, but just can’t score

The roller coaster season of the Bainbridge girls soccer team has come to a sudden, final stop.

After Monday’s huge win over Lakeside, the Spartans dominated on Wednesday but couldn’t score, losing 1-0 to the Nathan Hale Raiders in a 3-1 shootout in a Metro League tournament game.

“It’s a shocker that we couldn’t put the ball in the net,” head coach Mark Grindrod said. “We don’t know what happened. In the past we’ve had trouble scoring. It’s not for lack of trying or desire, we just haven’t been able to put it in.”

In the first half both teams went back and forth, with neither gaining advantage. In the second half, Bainbridge took over as they were in Nathan Hale’s end constantly, but their best shot hit the post, then bounced down and away.

Overall, 19 players saw action.

“I think I had all but one of the defenders take a shot on goal,” Grindrod said. “They (Nathan Hale) just filled the goal. They had one player as a forward and the rest of them played defense. Their defense played strong.”

In the shootout, Nathan Hale missed their first kick, but so did Spartans Zena Hemmen and Alana MacWhorter.

Callie Tift was able to stop the Raider’s second shot and Lizzie Seligmann made her kick, but the Raiders made their next three as Heather Peck’s shot was blocked, ending their hopes of advancing to the state tournament.

But Grindrod wouldn’t let his team get down on themselves.

“I was pleased with the game,” he said. “They played an awesome game. Everyone stepped up. They were just dead on the bus, and I stood up and told them ‘You played your hearts out. You did everything we asked of you.’ We dominated, we just didn’t win.”

The Spartans wrapped up their season yesterday evening against Eastside Catholic to determine third and fourth place in the meet.

Team Ray goes as fourth seed

After wrapping up a sucessful regular season, Team Ray will take part in the state water polo tournament this weekend as the fourth seed.

The squad went 20-6 overall in season play, going undefeated in West Division play at 4-0. Head coach Zoltan Tusnadi is “pleased” to see the team where they’re at.

“Over the course of the season we’ve dropped some games we shouldn’t have, and I think we could have been seeded higher, but that’s part of the learning process,” he said. “We gotta play all four quarters.”

The team will play without top scorer Jake Santelli, who was suspended for an athletic code violation. Tusnadi said that other players, including Tomas Torok and Jon Swanson, have stepped up in his absence.

“He was a pretty important cog,” Tusnadi said. “Assists, defense. He made things happen, but we have guys that can step up, so we’ll be just fine. Some of the younger guys realize they need to bring their game. They can’t rely on a few people.”

Several Team Ray players earned West All-Division honors for their efforts. Torok, Santelli, Swanson and goalie Cheyne Clark made the first team, and Andrew Stuart made the second team.

The squad also swept the individual awards, as Swanson was the MVP, Clark was awarded the Defensive MVP and Tusnadi was named the Coach of the Division.

“I guess the best thing about the award is that my team learned and progressed throughout the year,” he said of the accolade. “Without willing students you can teach them all they want, but if they’re not willing it won’t happen. Because of these guys I was able to get this award.”

As for his team’s chances, Tusnadi said he is hoping for a third place finish, but it all depends on how his team shows up mentally.

“I know these guys’ ability, both mentally and physically, so we might get a crack at third,” he said. “If they don’t bring their brains, then we might not get a crack at Shorewood, and the best we can hope for is fifth.

“I won’t be disappointed if we get third, but the top three teams (Mercer Island, Bellevue and Newport), they’re a step above other teams.”

Team Ray played Shorewood yesterday. If they won, they move onto the semifinals today at 12:30 p.m. If they lost, they head down to the consolation bracket and play at 11:20 a.m. today.

All games are at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Spikers on the ropes after loss

The Spartan volleyball team picked the wrong time to have a bad game

Bainbridge lost to the Newport Knights by the scores of 22-25, 15-25, 30-28, 11-25 in the semifinals of the 3A Sea-King District 2 tournament at Liberty High in Issaquah on Thursday night.

“We just didn’t have our best game and they wanted it more,” head coach Julie Miller said. “They served really well, they dug just about everything and they just outplayed us.”

Miller felt the close loss in the first game submarined their confidence for the rest of the match.

With the loss, the team will have to take the long way as they play in the consolation bracket today and face Rainier Beach at 1 p.m. in a loser-out game.

“I’ve been in this spot before but none of the others have,” she said. “They need to play to win right from the start.”