North Kitsap ended Bainbridge’s unbeaten streak in soccer with a 2-1 victory in extra time April 14.
“There is a little rivalry since we are the best two teams, and we wanted to win,” Viking Gavin Rogers said.
North Kitsap had the first opportunity of the game when Aaron Lopez chipped the ball over Spartan goalie Finn Archibald. However, a Spartan defender cleared it at the goal line to keep the game scoreless.
The Spartans fired back 20 minutes into the game with a pair of headers from a couple of corner kicks. Yet, the headers were saved by Vikings defenders.
Diego DeLuna broke the scoring drought with a free kick from 25 yards out and curled the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal. “I was trying to put it in traffic and testing the goalie,” DeLuna said.
The Vikings held onto the lead until halftime. In the second half, the Vikings began to hold back and limit Bainbridge’s opportunities. However, Bainbridge began to poke through the defense during 10-minute spurts.
Spartans’ Hudson Reynolds and Jacob Jacobsen had a header saved by the goalie within the first 10 minutes of the second half. Shortly after, a handful of Spartans and Vikings fought for a loose ball in front of the net before one Spartan rebounded it into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
Bainbridge had a final push in regulation when a free kick was awarded on the 18-yard box line. Yet, Reynolds’ attempt was wide and both teams readied for extra time.
Within the first two minutes, the Vikings found themselves on a counterattack. Rogers was 30 yards out and placed the ball on his right foot before firing low and hard. “When I shot it, it looked like it was going so slow,” Rogers said.
The ball trickled past Archibold, and the Viking faithful stormed the field while the players silenced the Spartan student section. “It felt good,” DeLuna said. “Ain’t no party like an NK party because an NK party don’t stop.”
Coach Greg St. Peter added the game “wasn’t pretty but we did what we did, and I’m proud of these guys.”
Bainbridge’s Finley Reynolds takes a free kick near midfield.
Bainbridge and North Kitsap split the regular season series.
