BREMERTON – Alex Mynatt’s leg was all the difference Saturday, as the senior co-captain scored both goals for the Bainbridge girls’ soccer team in a 2-1 victory over Olympic Saturday at Silverdale Stadium.
Despite the win, head coach Scott Druker said there were some gameplay issues that need to be addressed.
“Some of the touches in the back were not as sharp as they should be,” he said. “(There was a) little bit of ball watching, not covering for each other.”
But he was happy when the team took charge of the ball at the beginning and at the end of the game.
“I think we controlled the ball better, hitting the open player and creating opportunities,” Druker continued.
Mynatt’s first goal came in the third minute, as she corralled a loose ball and put one in on the right side from 10 yards out.
Olympic had its moments as they caught the Spartan defense out of position several times, but each time their shot was just wide, or hit the crossbar or goalkeeper Devon Denis was there to make the save.
In the 55th minute, the Trojans finally got one as Monica Lopez got a pass from Lacey Skelly as she got past the defense and a charging Denis to put one in the back of the net.
But five minutes later, Mynatt scored the go-ahead goal when she took advantage of an error by an Olympic defender when she didn’t clear the ball out quick enough, allowing Mynatt to quickly take the ball and put one past the goalie.
“One thing about Alex which I think she’s grown tremendously is she’s gotten more confident,” Druker said. “Last year or the year before, she would have missed that shot.
“She’s battling. We just have to get her in the open field and she’ll finish it,” Druker continued. “She’ll knock it in from anywhere.”
The defense and Denis did the rest to keep Olympic from tying it up.
“She kept us in it,” Druker said of Denis’ stellar play in goal. “She made great saves, she made great calls. She had a tremendous first half.”
Also having a tremendous first two games is the JV girls’ soccer team.
They defeated Port Townsend 2-0 last Tuesday, then beat Olympic 3-0 Saturday.
Bryton Wildsmith and Morgan Moniz scored against the Redskins – both were left-footed goals – while Maddy Midas, Moniz and Courtney Odell all scored against the Trojans.
New coach Marina Cofer-Wildsmith said the team has set its goals high this season.
“We want to do a clean sweep (of our schedule),” she said. “So far, so good.”
The junior varsity takes on Lakeside at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Bainbridge High School practice field while the varsity played at Franklin yesterday, then travel to the Lions’ home field Thursday.
Spartans best Pirates
Ross Cobb and Kyle Szarzynski combined for 271 yards as the Bainbridge football team got back on the right side of the scoreboard with a 38-14 win over the Vashon Pirates Friday night on Vashon Island.
Szarzynski also scored two touchdowns, both in the first quarter, on runs of 32 and 66 yards.
Alex Johnson added a one-yard score and returned an interception 17 yards for another score. He rushed for 74 yards.
Sam Snow also returned an interception 32 yards for a score. He also played quarterback for a half and completed both his passes for a total of 51 yards.
Colin Feldtman connected on a 23-yard field goal to round out the scoring.
“We did some things better, but we’re not at the level we need to be,” head coach Andy Grimm said. “We’re happy to get a win.
“Kyle had a really good game,” Grimm continued. “He broke a lot of tackles. Ross had a good game too. There were two or three times he was one tackle away from breaking a big one.”
The Spartans played the game without starter James Herman, who injured his knee during practice last week.
Grimm said it looks like the same kind of injury that ended his season last year.
To compensate for the loss, the coaches moved Charlie Forsyth over to guard and put Grimm’s son Alec in at center.
“He did OK,” Grimm said. “For a sophomore being out there (in his first varisty action) he had some good plays and he had some bad plays, but he did alright for jumping in there.”
Defensively, Kiyle Playter moved from linebacker to defensive end to fill Herman’s spot.
The team continues its road trip with a game against Kingston at 7 p.m. Saturday at North Kitsap High School.
Grimm hopes it won’t take as long as it did last Friday to make the trip, as the team left at 3:10 and didn’t make it back to the island until 12:45 thanks to a late ferry.
But he said the team won’t worry about having to keep driving everywhere.
“It’ll definitely be exciting to finally play at home, but we just have to be ready to play where the schedule tells us and take care of business,” he said.
Swimmers take two
The Bainbridge girls swim and dive team collected two wins over the weekend, beating Camas 105.5-70.5 on Friday, then took first at the Spartan Relays with 49 points.
Against the Papermakers, the 200 yard medley relay team of Cameo Hlebasko, Julie Pendleton, India Wade and Kristine Valdez took first with a state qualifying time of 1:56.88.
The foursome also took first in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:53 even.
Hlebasko took first in the 200 freestyle with a state qualifying time of 2:01.37 and the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:21.66.
Pendleton took first in the 200 individual medley with a state qualifying time of 2:18.84 and also set a state qualifying time of 1:00.96 in the 100 butterfly.
Wade took first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 57.09, just missing out on a state qualifying time. She also barely missed out on a state qualifying time in the 50 freestyle with her time of 26.84.
Valdez just missed a state qualifying time in the 100 backstroke with her time of 1:06.28.
The 200 freestyle relay of Lisa Heinlen, Alicia Konkel, Kendall Sanson and Tess Harpur finished second with a time of 1:53.94.
Harpur took first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:16.51 while Emily Sonnenfeld took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:05.37.
At the Spartan Relays, Bainbridge took first in the 800 freestyle relay, the 400 IM relay, the 200 free relay, the 200 backstroke relay, the 100 innertube relay and the 400 free relay.
The Spartans traveled to Newport yesterday. They host Kamiak at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Golfers win with ease
Both golf teams defeated Franklin Monday.
For the boys, Kyle Hurt was the medalist for the match, shooting a four-under 32. He carded five birdies and just one bogey.
Kyle Leonard shot a one- under 35 while Carl Jonson shot a 36 and Davis Harrison shot a 39.
For the girls, Ryan Nottingham was the medalist for the first time in her career with 32 points.
Anna Bourland had 29 points while Peyton Lunzer had 27 points.
Spikers play all day, night
The Bainbridge volleyball team has had some long days but performed ably each time.
At the Puget Sound Adidas tournament, Bainbridge took the 5:30 a.m. ferry over and didn’t return until 11 p.m. The Spartans were one of the last teams playing as they placed 14th.
Against Tahoma, Bainbridge outlasted the Bears in five games by the scores of 15-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23 and 15-11.
They came back on the 10:55 p.m. ferry.
Emily Donohue led the way with 16 kills and 19 digs.
Bainbridge island junior football
BAINBRIDGE VARSITY BLUE 39
WENATCHEE 6
The Varsity Blue team traveled to picturesque Cle Elum to take on Wenatchee Saturday afternoon. Quarterback Sam Kallas set the tone for the game by taking the opening kickoff 70 yards for the initial score. Wide receiver Aeden Vickers followed minutes later, hauling in a 42 yard touchdown strike, with fullback Jackson Larkin scoring soon thereafter on a 28 yard sweep, diving over the end zone marker in the process. First half scoring concluded with Kallas hitting a 25 yard field goal and running back Matt Stone returning another kickoff for a touchdown.
The Bainbridge defense remained stifling throughout the game, with the defensive line of Keenan Monroe, Tyler Moniz, Mike Hepworth, and Jacob Snow controlling the line of scrimmage despite being out weighed by a much larger Wenatchee squad. Larkin concluded the scoring by ripping the ball out of the opposing running back’s arms and returning it 30 yards.
The Varsity Blue squad takes on Renton for their first home game of the year Saturday at Strawberry Park.
EASTLAKE RED 18 BAINBRIDGE ROOKIES 7
The Bainbridge Island Rookies faced a tough Eastlake Red team in Redmond last Saturday. The Rookies defense shut down the Eastlake passing attack by sacking their quarterback five times for losses totaling 25 yards in the first half.
The Rookies first offensive play of the second half was a 60 yard pass play for a touchdown. Eastlake turned to their rushing game and controlled the clock, effectively keeping ball away from the Bainbridge offense for the remainder of the game.
