Bill Bryant has been coaching girls soccer for nine years - 20 teams in all - but he has never had a team like the Capitol Hill Soccer Club's Cougars before.
His team of seventh graders is the team that can do it all ... and win it all. The team's laurels include the 2006 Seattle U-13 (under 13-years old), district and state championships.
"We ran the table," Bryant said with pride and satisfaction. He has reason for pride in his team. It is not an easy thing to prevail over 250 teams state-wide, especially when you have to come from behind, out of the losers' bracket, to do it.
The state cup competition took place on Dec. 2 and 3 in Oak Harbor. The Cougars won their semi-final game 3-0 against Olympia's Flying Cucumbers. The final game pitted the Cougars against the Vancouver (Wash.) Huskies, and the score was again 3-0 (somewhat lower than the Apple Cup score between the "other" Huskies and Cougars this year).
Oddly, the state tournament takes place before Seattle's city tournament, but the Cougars were still in top form and roared into the contest against approximately 19 other girls' U-13 teams in the Seattle Youth Soccer Association.
"We lost one of the early games, and that put us in the losers' bracket," Bryant explained. The girls came back to win all of the rest of their games, including the final game, which was won 2-1 against the Laurelhurst-View Ridge Tornados on tie-breaking penalty kicks.
"It's a group of very self-motivated, athletic players," Bryant said, adding that most of them have been playing since they were 5-years old, and most participate in multiple sports. "They are very competitive."
This team made it to the city tournament finals last year, and won the year before in the girls' U-11 as fifth-graders.
Capitol Hill-based players on the Cougars include Sarah Beaudry, Katie Hinds, Madeline Deysine, Taylor Hinds, Sarah Morse, Sarah Ragen, Elizabeth Shaw, Lillian Cazier and Ellie Taagen. Seven of the players attend St. Joseph School, one attends Seattle Girls School and one is a student at the Northwest School.
Of the other members of the 18-girl team, five are from Sand Point and Laurelhurst, three are from Queen Anne Hill and one lives on Capitol Hill but goes to school in Wallingford.
(Other Capitol Hill resident players that were on the two previous teams were Julia Brueggeman, Sarah Schwaegler, Ellie O'Brien, Madiera McQueen and Nyasha Sarju.)
"From a team standpoint, this team really gelled," Bryant said, citing "good chemistry" and unselfish support of each other on and off the field.
The soccer season for girls U-13 begins in September and runs through the end of November. Then come the tournaments. The team has been playing together since spring.
The Cougar's regular season record was 6-3-2. Including all the tournament games, it was 11-5-3.
The Bobby Morris Playfield in Cal Anderson Park, bordered by 11th Avenue and East Pine Street, serves as the team's home field, though the team sometimes plays at the Miller Community Center field at 19th Avenue East and East Thomas Street.
Bryant, as the Cougars' head coach, receives valuable help from assistant coaches John Zunick and Mark Halpin. The team is funded by registration fees, which, he said, are relatively modest.
"Nobody spent more than $250 for 30-plus games," Bryant said.
Freelance writer Korte Brueckman lives on Capitol Hill and can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com.
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