Bremerton girls soccer team on brink of state berth after 2-0 sub-district victory.

With a two decade-long postseason absence in the rearview mirror and one more speed bump to smash, Bremerton’s caravan is barreling toward the state tournament with a head of steam.

The Lady Knights beat Yelm 2-0 in a loser-out sub-district game Tuesday and are now a win away from securing a berth to the 2008 WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires 3A Girls Soccer Tournament.

Tuesday’s road victory marked the team’s first postseason triumph in 21 years.

“It was a good game for our team,” coach Lance McCoy said Wednesday. “The girls were pretty relaxed going into the game.”

Relaxed is the mentality with which McCoy has coached the 2008 team, particularly late in the season.

“The thing I’ve found with this team is to keep things really loose,” he said. “I’m matter of fact with them, but I keep it fun.”

It’s a stark contrast with the talented, but ultimately disappointing 2007 team, which McCoy said was burdened by the pressure to succeed. Now, however, the players are keeping the game fun, simply playing and finding success.

“Maybe kids don’t respond well to pressure,” McCoy said. “Last year there were high expectations to be a good team, and we had a season that was disappointing to say the least.”

The team lost major talent in now-graduated Naomi Abad and Jacki Hill, but newcomers Julie Belden, Rachael Pratt, Abby Neil and Halle Whorrell, all of whom are freshmen, have coalesced with the returnees to foster a harmonious locker room.

“They flat out all like each other, they get along, they believe in each other, they don’t get down,” McCoy said. “They get the ‘As one’ theme.”

The team unity McCoy describes The team unity McCoy describes has helped Bremerton blossom, the Yelm win being the brightest petal, and now he and the players are thinking the once unthinkable — reach the state tournament.

“I believe on any given night a team can win,” McCoy said. “I’m trying to instill that in the girls.”

The Lady Knights play a loser-out, winner-to-state game today against Sumner, which lost 4-0 to undefeated Kennedy Wednesday.

Sumner (13-3-1) had outscored its opponents 62-11 before the Kennedy loss and is heavily favored to win. But McCoy is confident in his team’s (5-10-2) chances because it’s flying under the radar, has momentum and is playing together.

“Good teams overlook us because of our record,” he said. “They don’t understand the intangibles of this team, they don’t get it.”

McCoy also pointed to resiliency, remembering a Sept. 16 5-0 loss against South Kitsap which the team could have dwelled on but instead used as motivation to secure a 4-1 win against Port Angeles the very next game.

“The team rebounds from adversity quickly,” he said.

The Lady Knights’ biggest question mark is on offense as they’ve struggled to score consistently. Buck that trend as it did against Yelm — Vanessa Friday scored in the 12th minute off an assist from Hannah McCoy to put BHS ahead 1-0 early — and Bremerton can beat anybody, McCoy said.

“That really encouraged the team,” McCoy said of Friday’s goal.

After Belden added a second goal in the 42nd minute, assisted by senior Nataly Smith, McCoy turned to the team’s strong suit — defense — to close the door.

“We just finished the game out by denying them,” he said. “Our back line played solid.”

Goalkeeper Kristy Wood notched her second consecutive shutout to continue her lock-down play, lifting the burden to score off the offense.

“She just had sure hands again,” McCoy said of Wood.

The team had a day off Wednesday before returning to practice Thursday to prepare for Sumner.

“The spirit is real high,” McCoy said.

Today’s game is at 3 p.m. at Sunset Stadium in Sumner.