Kentridge soccer sets higher state goals

After falling out of the first round of the Class 4A state high school girls soccer playoffs the past four years, Kentridge hopes to win its first state title this season.

“I think they have had what is takes for the last couple years,” fifth-year coach Sherri Rolfs said. “They are a very determined group of girls. We have the talent we need. I will be very disappointed if we don’t move on.”

Last year, the Chargers lost to Gig Harbor in the state tournament.

“Just making the Sweet 16 is a big accomplishment,” Rolfs said. “It is nice to move on, so we are hoping we have a little bit of luck and just maybe more experience so we don’t panic when things aren’t going right or when something bad happens.”

The team hopes this will be the year it can breakthrough.

“I know that when we get to this point it is like a brick wall and is something that we are just trying to knock down and get over,” senior forward Peyton Chick said. “It is like when you a run marathon and have the brick wall at the 20-mile mark and just can’t get past it. This is our year that we are trying — I think we are giving it all — to get past it this year.”

The Chargers are off to an 9-0 start after beating Mount Rainier 3-0 in a game on Tuesday night.

“Our goal is to be undefeated and just to work as a team to reach our goals,” said junior midfielder Olivia Van der Jadt.

Kentridge has won the South Puget Sound League North 4A championship the past two seasons and won the 4A West Central District 3 tournament last year.

The team’s motto is “Strong alone. Unstoppable together.”

“I think that really works because when we do all show up and want to play as a team together we can connect the ball from anywhere on the field,” senior defender Maya Gutierrez said of the motto.

Junior defender Grace Klinkenberg agreed.

“Everyone individually are amazing players so when we show up and play as a team we are unstoppable,” Klinkenberg said. “We have the right chemistry.”

Rolfs said the one of the team’s strengths is its depth.

“We have a handful of girls who can score goals at anytime so our scoring is not just dominated by one player,” she said. “If a team chooses to mark a player we have other weapons in our arsenal. We have got a pretty good spread of our goals and our assists. We are pretty balanced. That is pretty big advantage for us … We don’t rely on any one player.”

Kentridge’s undefeated status hasn’t come easy. The team has faced tough matches against Tahoma and Todd Beamer, the only team to beat the Chargers last year during the regular season.

“One of the things that I have noticed when we play tougher teams we always show up,” Van der Jadt said. “We played great against those two teams — Beamer and Tahoma. We played all right against some of the lower teams.”

Kentridge is often its own worst enemy on the field, Chick said.

“It’s not the other team that is stopping us from winning. It’s ourselves,” she said. “We mentally think it is an easy game. That is something we have to get over. When it is the big teams we show up and it is amazing what we can do. “

The team is tight-knit, with a core group of juniors who have played soccer together since they were young, and most of the players crossing paths at sometime during their club careers.

“It is such as an amazing connection,” Chick said. “You don’t realize how connected you are to someone until you show up to high school soccer and you are like ‘Oh, I played against you. I played with you.’”

Rolfs said Kentridge has strong junior varsity and C teams, but it might be a couple of years before those players are able to move up to the varsity level. The varsity team has four seniors, 13 juniors and one freshman.

“It might be frustrating for those (JV and C team) players because not a lot is going to open up next year,” she said.