POULSBO — The game against the Olympic Trojans is more than an effort for the North Kitsap Vikings varsity team to remain at the top of the Olympic League today. The Vikings are looking to defeat the only team they have lost to so far this season.
“We learned a lot from the Olympic game,” Vikings team captain Daniel Norberg said Wednesday, referring to the 3-1 loss March 12 to the Trojans.
The Vikings and Trojans go head-to-head Friday afternoon at Olympic High School. The game begins at 3:30 p.m.
Since the early season loss, the team has learned what its weak areas are and made adjustments, Norberg said.
The Vikings remain the No. 1 team in the Olympic League. The Vikings (8-0-0-1) have 24 points. Most recently, the Vikings defeated the Sequim Wolves 2-0, April 8; and North Mason Bulldogs 5-1, April 10.
“I think we’ve had a pretty successful season so far,” Norberg said.
The Trojans (5-2-0-1) are in third with 19 points.
The game against North Mason marked the halfway point for Olympic League soccer. Being the top team in the league now puts the Vikings in good contention for the league title and a No. 1 or 2 seed into the postseason.
Overcoming team issues early in the season — there’s always some kind of rebuilding going on in high school sports — helped the Vikings get to where they are now. The first two games of the season were building games, but the team has “excelled” ever since, co-captain Nathan Foster said.
“All these teams have come out and played,” Foster said. “If we continue to play the way we are now, we’ll be successful for the second half of the season … but we need to stay focused.”
It’s a close race for first in the league.
After their 2-0 victory over the Sequim Wolves April 10, the Kingston Buccaneers (6-1-1-1) are now in second in the league, with 21 points.
A single loss for the Vikings means dropping at least one position in the standings.
Kingston head coach Craig Smith said it would be a “huge turnaround” for the Bucs to defeat the Vikings. The Bucs lost 6-1 to the Vikings when they played earlier in the season. The Vikings and Trojans are the only two teams to have defeated the Bucs.
The Bucs are more of a balanced team than Smith anticipated.
Earlier in the week, the Bucs came back from spring break with a 8-0 win over Port Townsend April 8.
“We really took it to them,” Smith said.
The Bucs will get their shot at the Bulldogs Friday when they travel to North Mason High School to play at 6:45 p.m.
Following the game against Olympic, the Vikings take some time off. Their next opponent will be the Buccaneers April 18 at home. The game is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
The Bucs play the Trojans April 16 at home, before playing the Vikings. Game starts at 6:45 p.m.
