POULSBO — A 9-7-1 record overall. A playoff appearance for the first time in any current Viking kickers’ memory. A tie and a win against arch-rivals South Kitsap on the season.

All those accomplishments for second year coach Pat Stickney and his talented group of strikers and defenders — yet one clearly stands out above all the rest: attitude.

“We went from being one of the heaviest red-carded teams in the league to one of the least,” he said at the team’s final game, a playoff against Olympia which the team lost 2-0. “I’m pleased about that as much as I am about the nine wins this season.”

Let’s be honest: the Vikings did have a bit of a reputation as being ill-tempered for a while. One incident four years ago involved a player running up into the press and announcing booth after a game and criticizing the officiating over the PA system.

Whether red cards, yelling at officials or fighting were actually part of the team’s slide in performance — the squad won only two games in 2003 — is unknown. But new coach Stickney, who took over in 2004, definitely thinks so.

Stickney is credited with bringing to the team a more structured strategy to “encourage a commitment to excellence,” he is fond of saying.

The team lifted its head just above .500 in his first year and in his second year this year, indeed achieved a playoff spot. He’s also confident that there’s no reason to stop there.

“This isn’t the last time we’re gonna be in post-season play,” Stickney added after the Olympia game. “This is only the beginning.”

It wasn’t just an attitude adjustment for the team that Stickney brought. Years of youth coaching taught him to build from the defense out. And when North’s opponents began racking up the goals, he made a big adjustment.

“The defense was too porous,” Stickney said earlier in the season. “The success of the team really keyed off of making the defensive change.”

The change added team captain Marc Anderson to the back line and created a four-defender formation that included Michael Hulst, Jack Ramsey and Jared Bernard. The alteration speaks for itself: North gave up 21 goals the first half of the season. In the second, they gave up just eight.

Stickney has said he’ll return to coach next year. He’s also picked up the head coaching position for the girls next fall, replacing retiring coach Teri Ishihara. It appears bright things are ahead.

For the crop of players graduating, the team’s successes this year gave them a season to remember, a pinnacle to look back on, rather than the mediocrity that could have been. Team captain Anderson summed it up best after the team’s Olympia contest: “We finally made it to the post-season. Getting here was step one. Next year, they’ll go farther.”