Kurt Kuykendall always focused on guiding Madison to a Liberty District title. He just didn’t expect to get there with this type of roster.
Tonight the fifth-ranked Warhawks (9-1-1, 5-0-1 district) travel to Langley (8-2-2, 5-1) with the district tournament’s top seed on the line.
“Three years ago we said to the girls, and many of [this year’s players] were present, that our goal is three years from now to play for the championship,” said Kurt Kuykendall, who moved to the girls team to coach his daughter, Jaimie Kuykendall, after nine years with the Warhawks boys. “It’s kind of cool to be playing for the championship on the last day of the season with six to seven club players. It’s ludicrous, really.”
On paper the Warhawks are hardly championship-caliber — the Saxons, for example, can field a starting 11 consisting entirely of year-round club players — but they could be the Northern Region’s most tactically superior. Under Kuykendall’s counterattacking system, Madison earned six consecutive shutouts to open the season and have seven wins by a one-goal margin.
Goalkeeper Grace Rosales, defenders Mary Carter and Francesca Tuazon and midfielders Kristen Haynor and Jaimie Kuykendall have all played outstanding on defense, which has given increasing confidence to Madison’s attack.
“It makes it very difficult to tell who’s a club player and who isn’t towards the end of the season because everyone’s working as a team,” said senior forward Devon Dowell (team-high seven goals). “Everyone knows we aren’t exactly the top, dominant team. We have to work hard in every game to win.”
