BHS drenched Eastside Catholic with lots of chatter and shots on goal.

On the rain-soaked field at Eastside Catholic Thursday night, the Spartan girls soccer team was talking. They were talking on the sidelines, they were talking in a huddle at halftime, and they were definitely communicating on the field.

Ball movement upfield was done with a minimum number of passes, and a maximum amount of conversation. Even when the ball was nowhere near them, the Spartans were critiquing the previous offensive set-up or discussing what to do next on defense.

Waiting, watching, talking.

At one point in the second half, Adriana Gonzalez-Medina was voicing her concerns about positioning to head coach Mark Grindrod as she watched the ball come upfield. She played the ball at midfield, passed ahead to Allie Picha, and continued chattering to Grindrod.

All without losing a beat.

“There was a lot of great talking,” said Grindrod. “Kylie Izzy did a great job talking back there at sweeper. The distribution that Jenine (Adam) and Courtney (Bell) were doing was tremendous.”

“We weren’t finishing with the shots, but I was so pleased with the path (of the ball).”

Despite Grindrod’s assessment of his team’s ability to close against Eastside, the Spartans still outshot the Crusaders by a 2-1 margin throughout the entire game.

The Sparts scored three goals in the first half, courtesy of Taryn Christofferson and Tucker Huget, who bulged the back of the net twice for Bainbridge.

Huget came back strong in the second half and scored her third goal of the tilt on a long cross from Veronica Ivey.

The looping kick came from the far right side of the field and landed just to the left of the goal mouth, where Huget, running full-speed, punched it in for the hat trick as Eastside Catholic keeper Veronica Cerda was diving to intercept.

“It was just sprinting hard,” said Huget of the effort to break free of her defender. “I really didn’t want to miss that one.”

Goaltenders Jackie Danzig and Catherine Powers teamed up to turn away all but one of the Crusaders’ shots.

Eastside Catholic captain Jilyne McDonald squeaked a shot by Powers midway through the second half to end the shutout.

The Crusaders had one more chance to put a point on the board with Alexia Iani’s late game surge into the Bainbridge defensive end, but keeper Powers blocked the hard kick and turned the ball in the opposite direction.

Courtney Bell was back at the center-half position for the game, and added a goal in the second period to help the Spartan effort.

Gonzalez-Medina also put one in the net, and just as the rain began to come down in sheets, the referee signalled the end of the game — Spartans 5, Crusaders 1.

“Their execution was excellent,” said Grindrod of his team’s effort. “They were taking in the view of the field and making the passes.”

The Spartans are 1-0-1 going into Tuesday’s home game against Seattle Prep. The varsity team takes the field at Memorial Stadium at 5:30 p.m. Junior varsity girls play Prep in an away contest Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

Spartan C-team shuts out Wolves

On Wednesday, the Bainbridge High School girls C Team played their first game of the season, taking on South Kitsap. The Spartans shut out the Wolves 4-0, with goals scored by Heather Schuler, Hannah Oshin, Ryan McDonald and Lindsay Mynatt. Tory Harrison notched her first shutout of the season in net for the Sparts.

Early goal for NK doesn’t hold up in season opening game for Spartans.

Neither the Vikings or the Spartans came away with a win Monday night, but both claimed victory.

The North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island girls’ soccer teams made their debuts at NKHS stadium with a 1-1 tie. Despite the lack of a win, both coaches were pleased with their team’s play.

North Kitsap’s Teri Ishihara was happy that the young Vikings, who graduated 10 varsity players from last year, blended well in their first game of the season.

“I wasn’t sure how they’d do, because more than half of them are new,” Ishihara said.

Bainbridge Island’s Mark Grindrod was satisfied with the way his team adjusted from half to half to account for NK’s speed.

North Kitsap’s goal came in the 2nd minute, when Lisa Gilbert’s throw-in from the left side of the field was kicked in by freshman Kayla Collins.

Bainbridge’s score came in the 61st minute, when sophomore Callen Cobb’s direct free kick skittered its way into goal.

The Spartans outshot the Vikings 25-13, firing at goal eight more times in the second half.

Grindrod’s Spartans changed their formation at the half, changing from a flatback four to a marking formation with a sweeper to slow down the opponent’s attack.

“They were tough. They’re really aggressive and work hard,” said Cobb. “We really stepped it up in the second half.”

North Kitsap’s defense was aided by keeper Kamryn Morgan, who made 16 saves, including a chest-high stop of a blast from a Bainbridge Island attacker.

Morgan got some help of her own from the goalposts. One Spartan shot was misdirected by the left post, and another banged upward off the crossbar.

Counterpart Jackie Danzig made five saves for the Spartans, including a diving stop of a Megan Hyte shot in the 19th minute.