SK battles Bellarmine for Narrows League title

New alignment in the Narrows League hasn’t deterred the intense high school rivalry between the South Kitsap and Bellarmine girls’ soccer teams.

League bragging rights are on the line today at Stadium Bowl at 3:30 p.m. for the respective Bridge and Bay Division champions.

The winner plays the South Puget Sound League No.6 seed, while the loser will play the No.5 seed--both winner-to-state games.

The Wolves made their undefeated season official and clinched a spot in the league title game with a 5-0 win Tuesday against Bremerton on Senior Night at the SK football field.

Goals were scored by Groves, Brittney Zurn, Amanda Bolz, and Carri-Ann Anderson.

All season SK has shown its dominance on the field.

Finishing its first undefeated season (12-0-3) in team history, the Wolves are in a solid position to make its second career trip to the state tournament.

The 1992 SK advanced to the state quarterfinals.

Coincidentally, the 1992 team battled Bellarmine for the Narrows League title, which ended in a 1-1 draw that gave Bellarmine the title.

Nine years later SK finds itself in the same situation.

Though a loss to Bellarmine still puts SK in a comfortable position to earn a state berth, senior midfielder Sarah Groves said she’s only concentrating on Bellarmine.

“I’m looking for the win. I don’t care about anything else,” Groves said. “I’m not looking for the next game. I’m looking for Bellarmine.”

Groves has never been a player short on confidence, but the team’s leading scorer said she believes her team can perform well in the playoffs.

“We know we can play with the best,” she said. “We just have to play our best.”

Senior Tiffany Storck, who has made a remarkable comeback this year after breaking her leg in a game last year, said all the team goals have been met so far.

“At the beginning of the year we all wrote down goals and one of them was to be undefeated halfway through and then all the way through,” Storck said. “We all want to go to state, which is out top goal.”

Since 1999 SK had to face the No.1 or No.2 team out of the SPSL and lost, falling one game short of state.

Storck said facing a lower seed in the SPSL this year should be a big boost to the team’s chances for a state berth.

“I think it’s much better,” Storck said. “We went in (the last two years) not thinking we were going to do well because (Curtis) was No.1. Now we’re ranked higher which is giving us a lot of confidence.”

Groves said she can see SK going to state this year.

“I’m confident and I think we’re going to do well if everyone comes to play,” Groves said.

Storck also sees state in the future.

“We’ve come this far,” she said. “We can get there.”

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