Soccer team takes it one goal at a time

Soccer team takes it one goal at a time

Oct. 15, 2009

At the start of the Quincy High School girls soccer season, head coach Matthew Kimmel's one goal for his squad was just that — one goal.

Last season the team didn't score a single goal in Central Washington Athletic Conference play en route to a winless campaign. Entering this year, Kimmel knew he had an influx of talented freshmen entering the program, but still he kept his objectives small and realistic.

Well, the Lady Jacks accomplished that feat just a few weeks into the season when Kala Brindle scored a penalty kick goal during the team's landmark, shootout win over Grandview last month — the Lady Jacks' first ever conference win.

Moving forward, Quincy started to show signs of legitimate progress and has since picked up a couple of confidence-buildng non-conference victories over Cle Elum and Cascade.

Kimmel has obviously been elated with his team's growth over the last few weeks, but it's forced him to re-evaluate the season as a whole and establish new team goals.

"Yes, this year has exceeded my initial goals for the season," he told Jack Tracks. "In the middle of the season I realized a new set was necessary as the gals really began to bond and play as a team. We settled in, understood personalities, and found inspiration in each other."

Tonight, Quincy takes on Wahluke in another winnable non-conference contest.

"What are my goals now? I expect the Lady Jacks to bring home victory for the non-league games," Kimmel said. "The Lady Jacks are a good team. We not only scored, but brought home two league victories thus far in the season."

According to Kimmel, the team's 3-0 over Cascade last week — Kimmel's first win over the traditional 1A powerhouse in his six years as coach — was a crucial indicator of the team's development.

"The defense is playing wonderfully right now," he said. "We have a legitimate offensive attack. The midfield is getting better at controlling the counter attack. This all came to fruition (against Cascade). Cascade always has a good program and will continue in their successful traditions, yet the 2009 Lady Jacks worked hard together to shutout Cascade. They deserve all the credit for their efforts."

The team seemingly has a bright future thanks to the presence of the numerous underclassmen whose toughness and soccer experience bely their youth. All it will take is time for them to get acclimated to varsity competition, and if things go right, Kimmel's goals in the future are going to get a lot bigger than simply scoring a goal.

"It is magical to feel the change of climate from simply scoring to potentially making the play-offs," he said. "The playoffs are the next logical step for this team. We need to continue to build, not only this season, but in the future as well. Now that these ladies have exposed their true potential, I believe they can take the next step. We’ve yet to take that step in the history of the program. I believe this group will be the ones to make history, riding on the back of the decade of girls that came before them to develop the program to its current level."

The picks

I slogged my way through a 12-8 week last week, getting shredded in my NFL picks, which is where I usually excel. We'll see what happens this week.

Speaking of which, will somebody out there please step up and beat Dustin Petersen this week? The dude has won the P-R pick-ems contest for the last three weeks straight!

1. Othello over Quincy. In last week's win over Wapato, there were once again some encouraging signs shown by the Jacks, especially in the area of offensive line play. However, Othello might be the class of the conference right now; after this game, the Jacks' schedule gets much easier as they've gotten the four big boys (Othello, Prosser, Selah and Ellensburg) out of the way.

2. Texas over Oklahoma. I expect this is the game in which Colt McCoy takes charge of the Heisman race.

3. Iowa over Wisconsin.

4. USC over Notre Dame. I don't expect this game to be close.

5. Florida over Arkansas. The Razorbacks had an interesting statement win over Auburn last week, but the Gators proved they aren't just the Tim Tebow show in their big win over Louisiana State last week.

6. Nebraska over Texas Tech.

7. UCLA over Cal. In Slick Rick we trust.

8. Hawaii over Idaho. The Vandals have made some stunning strides over the last couple of years, but I'm still not sold.

9. Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech.

10. Kansas over Colorado.

11. Alabama over South Carolina.

12. Washington over ASU. I really went back and forth on this one. I always hate picking this match-up because it's my favorite college team from when I was a kid against my alma mater.

13. Oklahoma State over Missouri.

14. Texans over Bengals. Cincinnati, believe it or not, has a good vibe around it right now, a winning attitude that has allowed it to pull out games at the end. But I say Houston and red-hot quarterback Matt Schaub has too much firepower this week.

15. Vikings over Ravens. This should be a good game. I wouldn't be surprised if either team won, but I think Baltimore got exposed just a bit in last week's loss to Cincinnati.

16. Giants over Saints. Possibly the game of the year in the NFL. Another coin flip.

17. Steelers over Browns. Derek Anderson completed two of 17 passes last week — and Cleveland won. That's not happening this week.

18. Seahawks over Cardinals. See how much Matt Hasselbeck means to Seattle? With him, the Hawks are the best team in the division. Stat of the week: In the two games Hasselbeck has played, Seattle has outscored its opponents 69-0 this year.

19. Titans over Patriots. Upset pick of the week. Tennessee can't go to 0-6. It can't be this bad. Can it?

20. Jets over Bills. Buffalo is bad. Real bad. That's all I have to say about that.

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Soccer team takes it one goal at a time

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