For each of the past four years that Ben Rusch has led the Falcon girls soccer team, wins have increased. 

This year’s group of seniors, led by team captain Olivia Bolding, hope to capitalize on that momentum and move from their tri-district defeat of last season and on to the state tournament this year.

“The girls realized it was possible to go further,” Bolding said. “We’ve had a lot of people say it’s not.”

“Hopefully we’ll keep the pattern going,” she added.

The Falcon seniors also continue a long tradition of South Whidbey High School soccer teams. Four out of the five Falcon senior girls grew up playing the game together — the lone newcomer is Kiana Murray who moved to South Whidbey after her freshman year at Cascade Conference school Lakewood and taking last season off.

Murray returned this season and bolsters the Falcons’ offense after losing a pair of fleet-footed seniors to graduation. Other returning players like senior Samantha Baldwin and Isla Dubendorf will look to fill those gaps not just in on-field production, but in energy, enthusiasm and encouragement.

“It’s a really good group of girls,” Bolding said.

“I know how they play and I play well with them,” she added.

After struggling with getting girls to play last year, the Falcon girls soccer program saw an influx of 34 players sign up. More players means more rest and better competition for positions, coach Ben Rusch said.

For Bolding, who has played on varsity all four years as a Falcon, seeing the girl soccer program swell was a positive sign. She remembered as a ninth-grader worrying what it meant having a program that almost lost its junior varsity team because too few players were signed up initially.

“It was scary as a freshman to see, thinking what would it look like as a senior,” she recalled.

Last year, the league’s top teams were Archbishop Murphy and King’s. Bolding anticipated those squads to again present a challenge to the conference title and, in South Whidbey and King’s case, the top seed for the 1A District 1 tournament.

South Whidbey’s long rivalry with Coupeville has changed. The Wolves joined a different league, leaving the Cascade Conference to accept Cedar Park Christian to round out the eight-school league.

But just because the opening match against Coupeville is non-league doesn’t mean it’s any less of a rivalry.

“It means everything,” Bolding said. “… Like my dad always says, ‘If you lose to Coupeville, you’re sleeping in the garage.’ ”

There are now four 2A and

four 1A schools, with Sultan’s enrollment drop pushing it down to the top of the 1A list. No matter which team is in the Falcons’ league or classification, Bolding said she fully expects South Whidbey to challenge in every single game.

“With every other team, we have a very good possibility of beating them … It starts off 0-0 either way,” she said.

2014 Falcon girls soccer schedule

Tuesday, Sept. 9 at Coupeville

Tuesday, Sept. 16 vs. Cedar Park Christian *

Thursday, Sept. 18 vs. Granite Falls *

Tuesday, Sept. 23 at. AMHS

Thursday, Sept. 25 vs. King’s *

7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 vs. Cedarcrest *

7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30 at Lakewood

Thursday, Oct. 2 vs. Sultan *

4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Cedar Park Christian

Thursday, Oct. 9 at Granite Falls

Tuesday, Oct. 14 vs. AMHS *

Thursday, Oct. 16 at King’s

7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20 at Cedarcrest

Wednesday, Oct. 22 vs. Lakewood *

7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25 at Sultan

All varsity matches begin at 6 p.m., unless otherwise noted.

* Home match