Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal Archive Edition

            Mount Si’s boys soccer team got a chance to show itself off in front of the local TV cameras last night, as Comcast paid a visit to televise the game as part of their Xfinity On Demand series of games. All in all, the Wildcats held their own against league leader, and Seattle Times #5 ranked, Sammamish, but mistakes and missed opportunities on offense combined to cost Mount Si in a loss to the Totems.

            Taylor Berg scored both goals as Sammamish downed the Wildcats 2-0. Berg’s goals came early – a 33^rd minute tally which resulted from a defensive miscue by Mount Si – and late – in the 78^th minute, after taking a throw-in from a teammate and ripping it home past Wildcat keeper Dillon Oord.

            Mount Si had a number of chances to score; most notable of those were a pair of opportunities late in the first half just after Berg scored his first goal. Both Morgan Popp and Eric Baumgardner fired great shots on goal at the Totems, but their goalkeeper, Stuart Ellsworth, was up to the challenge, making equally great saves on both shots to keep the Wildcats at bay.

            Mount Si got one last chance to score late, when Kyle Bauman got a great scoring opportunity, but it sailed over the net and that was it.

            The Wildcats’ playoff chances likely did not get hurt by the loss; their next three games are against opponents that Mount Si outscored a combined 12-0 earlier this season, so it is expected that the Wildcats will make postseason; it’s just the seeding and how tough the road will be to make state which are still up for debate at this point.

            Mount Si is at Lake Washington Friday. The Wildcats routed the Kangs 5-0 earlier this season, their highest goal output since last spring’s state playoff win over Auburn Mountainview. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at LWHS’s stadium.

Game Note: The game, as mentioned, was broadcast as part of Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand series of high school sporting events; this was the third game which was broadcast by the cable company; the others were both Mount Si football thrillers – first the loss to Juanita in late October, then the classic win against Glacier Peak last November. The soccer game will be available On Demand with Xfinity digital cable, likely before the end of the week, and within a couple of weeks, the game will also be available on a website called gametapes.com. (www.gametapes.com). Gametapes will have copies of the soccer game on DVD for $25 a pop, and is still currently selling the two football games, plus the Wildcats’ boys basketball game from December of 2009 with Burlington-Edison and Mount Si’s playoff football win over Hazen that season.