Do panthers roar?

Lions do, obviously, and a quick Google search reveals that tigers, too, are quite vocal critters.

But what about panthers?

Not on Bainbridge Island they don’t.

If the pack of Panthers from Seattle Prep was making any noise around here earlier this week it sounded more like groaning, as the Bainbridge High boys varsity soccer team fought and scrapped their way to a 3-0 shutout victory over the visitors in their first game of the season Tuesday.

Goals were scored by Gerrit Mahling, Will Dowell and Glodi Kingombe.

All three goals came in the second half of the game after a dogged back-and-forth first 40 minutes which saw the scoreboard empty at 0-all.

Returning Spartan Head Coach Ian McCallum, entering his second season at the helm, said he was proud of the team’s first showing but also cautioned the players to not read too much into the score.

“I thought we played well against a really good team,” McCallum said. “But, like I said to the guys at the end of the game, the Sounders started with a 3-0 win and then look at the second game.”

The Seattle pros, of course, had lost 2-3 against the Earthquakes over the weekend. A harsh reality check on the heels of a blissful season premiere.

“It’s just the first step and we’ve got a long way to go,” McCallum added, determined that the Spartans not repeat the pattern.

The intensity in the first half was great for both teams, he said of the year’s first game, adding that the Spartans played very well right away despite not taking enough shots overall.

“I don’t think anyone was trying to be cagey, that’s just the way it came out,” he explained. “We didn’t take the shots. At halftime, we talked about not looking for the perfect opportunity, just looking for the opportunity and taking the shot.”

The victory was a shot of relief to a team that already in this fledgling season has been plagued with routine-ruining injuries.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries, really,” McCallum said. “We had, of the guys on the bench, only one guy has been able to complete all the practices. The rest have been in and out. Even tonight’s starting lineup wasn’t like I’d planned. Some guys got here late so they missed their spot.”

Within that hastily rearranged starting lineup, however, were only three returners. The squad lost a significant number of key and experienced players to graduation last year, and McCallum said that they would be leaning hard on the junior players to step up quickly.

As some select junior players to watch, he singled out Dowell — who scored the game’s first goal — as well as Anton Easterbrook, Micah Russell and Finn Delphinidae.

Devon Reynolds will return as the BHS’s primary goalie, along with Spanish exchange student Huma Gisbert — who guarded the net throughout much of the first outing, as Reynolds was hurt.

From within this year’s squad is lead by co-captains Wesley Houser and Sam Maracich.

“They’re just two guys who want to win,” McCallum said of the team’s student leaders. “They’re just stand-up guys who want to win and want to compete and make good choices. They both played last year. They’re both great kids.”

This being McCallum’s second year, he said he’d had a chance to better scope out the other teams in the league now and had a better idea of who the hardest competition would be, which was actually bad news for the Spartans as that quickly became a long list.

“I’ve said before: Every game in the Metro is a tough game, and who wants it more? That’s the deciding factor,” he explained.

“I think tonight we wanted it a little more,” McCallum added Tuesday. “I like how we moved off the ball and how we just worked for each other.”

Perhaps ironically, given the actual score of Tuesday’s game, McCallum said that the game against Seattle Prep would likely be one of the toughest of the early season.

“I don’t know about the new schools coming into the conference,” he said. “We’re not at a point where we [can] get carried away.”

All told, McCallum said that nearly 60 students came to tryouts this year and the island’s soccer support culture remains strong at every age level, all of which contributed to a better crop of varsity player.

The Spartans hosted their second game of the season, Thursday, March 19, against O’Dea. Results were unavailable when the Review went to press.

The team’s next two consecutive matches are slated to be on the road, first against Ingraham on Monday, March 23 and then against Garfield on Wednesday, March 25.