SILVERDALE — Two teams poised for strong seasons went toe-to-toe on Saturday in their respective regular season openers.
Klahowya and Central Kitsap battled to a 3-3 tie in a fast, entertaining match with plenty of action. Drew Dickson scored twice for the Eagles and Matthew Hytinen added the team’s third goal of the day. Nicholas Yamodis, Axel Lundberg and Carter Nilsen connected for the Cougars.
Yamodis opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a long shot on a quick turnaround that caught the Klahowya keeper off guard.
In the 16th minute, a penalty kick was awarded to Klahowya and Dickson tucked a shot into the bottom left corner to tie the game. 13 minutes later, Dickson blazed down the right sideline at full speed and ripped a shot underneath the crossbar to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Hytinen scored five minutes after the break after flagging down a long clearance by Aaron Becker. Hytinen beat his defender to the ball and then slid a shot past the keeper.
Lundberg scored on a header in the 58th minute on Gavin Cashmore’s corner kick. Three minutes later, Carter Nilsen pulled in a long throw-in by Drew Diefendorf and blasted a shot into the bottom right corner to tie the match at 3.
South Kitsap 3, Kingston 0
The Wolves are coming off a 2018 season in which they made their first state tournament appearance in nine years. They got off on the right foot with a 3-0 win Saturday at home against Kingston.
South Kitsap had a 2-0 lead at halftime before adding a third goal in the second half. George Robertson, Luke Stanley and Noah Zangari all hit the back of the net.
Both teams will begin league play on Tuesday. South Kitsap hosts Rogers in its SPSL opener, while Kingston will take on rival North Kitsap.
— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKrulishKDN.
Central Kitsap players congratulate Nicholas Yamodis (6) after scoring the opening goal in its regular season opener against Klahowya. (Mark Krulish/Kitsap News Group)
