EAST BREMERTON — The Trojans were the league’s stingiest team a year ago. With three of the four starters on the backline lost to graduation, a new group of defenders will have to come together quickly to stay atop the Olympic League and fend off some tough challengers.
In 12 league games last season, Olympic gave up just seven goals. In all competitions (18 games), the unit yielded just 15. But Brooklyn Haro, Sydney Zeitler and Tishara Day have all departed.
Only Sydney Troy, the reigning Olympic League MVP, returns. It remains to be seen exactly who will join her on the defensive side this year. Evaluation has been difficult with the team spending so much time indoors during the preseason.
But with smoky conditions gone, the Trojans are back on the turf at Silverdale Stadium and head coach Steve Haggerty can begin to piece together a team that still has plenty of experience and skill.
“It should be a battle for the top spot, and we will have to play extremely hard and well if we hope to defend the league title,” Haggerty said. “Three of the seniors which graduated were defenders. We are hoping the newer players jell quickly in the back.”
Thankfully, Olympic will be balanced out by the return of Hanna Troy, Sydney’s twin sister, who missed all of last season with an injury. Troy scored 20 goals as a sophomore and is arguably the Olympic League’s best pure finisher.
The Trojans had a more difficult time scoring goals without her and perhaps came up a little bit short of their potential. Their season ended on a rainy November night in a 1-0 loss to Bellingham in the first round of the 2A state tournament, in which the offense really could not create that one big scoring opportunity they needed.
Troy’s presence will create more room for a skilled supporting cast, including seniors Saoirse Brown — a smooth, speedy midfielder with excellent ball skills — Jayda Day and junior Kiarra Richards.
Olympic’s only two league losses last season came against North Kitsap and both were on penalty kicks. But with Port Angeles primed to make a run of its own, North Kitsap still an excellent team in its own right and improvement from Bremerton and North Mason, repeating as league champions will not be an easy task.
— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com.
