Buccaneers soccer season ends at district tourney

The Kingston Buccaneers girls soccer team made history this year, even with a first-round loss in postseason play.

Last year the Bucs soccer season ended short of postseason. This year the Bucs were the Olympic League’s No. 3 2A seed for postseason play. On Saturday Kingston traveled to Franklin Pierce High School to take on Fife in the first round of postseason action at the district tournament.

Unfortunately for Kingston, the Bucs were matched up against the defending state champs, and the Nisqually League’s No. 1 seeded team. Fife entered the tournament with a 15-0-1 overall record, having had only two goals scored against them.

Fife won the contest with a 7-0 shutout, ending the Bucs’ season.

“(Fife) worked the ball so much more quickly,” head coach Craig Smith said of Saturday’s game. “When they touched the ball it went where they wanted it to. We didn’t have time to think. Almost every possession they had they worked a shot on goal.”

Smith said Fife dominated. Within the first 15 minutes the Trojans were up 3-0, and three of Fife’s goals were corner kicks.

Although Fife was the superior soccer squad, Smith said the Bucs played with integrity, spirit and “represented their community well,” as was their style through out the season.

Smith couldn’t be more pleased of his athletes who kept their heads high, stuck to the game plan and demonstrated sportsmanship and respect.

“All of that happened,” he said. “I was really proud of them. Nobody let down.”

Kingston finished its season with a 4-7-2 record, and it was a year marked with impressive improvements.

Smith said the Bucs grew tremendously, made significant strides playing defensively, developed their counter attack and even began to play with some creativity — the kind of creativity that can’t be taught, but comes from the athletes internally.

Smith used a few regular season games to highlight the Bucs improvements. Kingston held Olympic High School, the Olympic League’s No. 1 3A team, to a score of 1-0 in sudden death overtime and the undefeated Olympic League champs North Mason to 1-0 the first time the teams squared off and a 3-3 tie the second time.

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