Colton Ronk

The Patriots won the Class 3A/2A KingCo regular-season title, but couldn’t make it back to the state playoffs after faltering in the conference tournament.

Still, if it weren’t for the leadership of standout midfielder Colton Ronk, Liberty likely wouldn’t have enjoyed the success it did, Tremblay said.

“I was thinking to myself, if we hadn’t had him, we probably would’ve been maybe third in the league at best. I mean he was that impactful for us,” he said.

Ronk was literally all-everything for the Patriots. His list of postseason accolades was long and storied.

It started with the KingCo 3A/2A Most Valuable Player Award, and grew to include The Seattle Times’ All-Area team and the Washington State Soccer Coaches Association’s All-State first team.

After graduating in 2014, Ronk enrolled at Highline College in Des Moines, where he helped the junior-college soccer team win the Northwest Athletic Conference title last fall.

This summer, Liberty fans can find Ronk playing in familiar territory, as he suits up for the Issaquah-based Puget Sound Gunners FC. The Gunners play in the Premier Development League, widely considered the country’s best stop for top-level men’s amateur soccer competition.

The league offers elite college players the opportunity to taste a higher level of competition while maintaining their eligibility. Many Major League Soccer draftees have prior PDL experience.

By Greg Farrar
Colton Ronk (10), Liberty High School senior midfielder in 2014, contends for the ball against Colton Oord (left) and Aaron Baumgardner, of Mount Si, in front of the Wildcats goal during a soccer match.

Ronk heard about the opportunity from coaches, who urged him to try out for the squad. The converted defender impressed Gunners head coach Alex Silva enough to make the team.

“I like his simplicity on the back,” Silva said. “He did very well in the tryouts, and he’s still very young. I think as a prospect, he has a lot of room to grow … but I think he’ll fit in fine. I’m looking forward to giving him the opportunity.”

The Gunners play their home games at Issaquah High School. Their opponents include MLS-affiliated teams, including the Seattle Sounders FC U-23s and the Portland Timbers U-23s.

Ronk said he’s hoping to use this summer as a chance to get better, while he tries to mold himself into a future force at the NCAA Division I or II level.

“My goal is to get some good practice, train at the highest level and compete with the best,” he said.

Ronk still hangs out with many of the Liberty soccer players, even attending a few games this season. He admitted he missed getting out on the pitch with his fellow Patriots.

His old high-school coach has no doubts, though, that Ronk will find a way to reach all of his soccer goals.

“He was a huge, huge impact for us,” Tremblay said. “He’s got everything. He’s got the physique, he’s got the height, the vision, the touch. I think he’ll do just fine.”

Learn more about the Puget Sound Gunners at www.pugetsoundgunnersfc.com.

Reporter Neil Pierson contributed to this report.

Camps include golf, basketball, tennis, cheerleading and Mini-Hawk, which includes basketball, baseball and soccer.

Camps are five days each and range in price from $69 to $145. They will be held at Lake Boren Park, Renton Academy or Hazelwood Elementary School.

For the full list of camps, go to register.skyhawks.com, and enter your ZIP code. Call Newcastle Parks and Recreation at City Hall at 649-4444 or Skyhawks at 800-804-3509 toll free with questions.

Playground purchase made for Lake Boren Park

The City Council passed a resolution at its Feb. 1 meeting allowing city staff to purchase new play equipment for Lake Boren Park. The vote — 6-1 with Councilwoman Carol Simpson dissenting — allowed the city to forego the competitive bidding process to make the purchase.

The council authorized the move because manufacturer Highwire Inc. retained a low price it offered the city for the equipment last year. The city needed to purchase the equipment immediately to get the lower price.

The playground will be built this spring. A $325,000 state grant is funding the project.

The Liberty High School girls soccer team fell to the Bonney Lake Panthers 2-1 Nov. 9 in the first round of the state tournament, ending the Patriots thrilling season that included a KingCo 3A/2A championship.

Winning the KingCo championship gave the Patriots automatic entry into the state tournament and allowed them to bypass preliminary rounds, but it left the team without a game for nearly two weeks. Liberty head coach Malia Arrant said the long absence from play slowed the team at the beginning of the game.

Bonney Lake came out aggressive, with freshman Brittany Martin racking up two goals in the first half: one goal at the 15-minute mark and another at the 36-minute mark.

Liberty responded by turning up the intensity, as it has often done, and just two minutes after Bonney Lake’s second score, Liberty senior defender Baylee Cooke found the back of the net thanks to a nice setup by junior midfielder Kimi Fry.

The goal brought the score to 2-1 at halftime, and the Patriots continued to fight with fervid intensity throughout the second half. However, despite several close shots on goal, Liberty was not able to tie the game before the clock dropped to zero.

The Hazen Highlanders fell 2-1 to Enumclaw High School at Highline Stadium in Burien in the first round of the postseason last night, ending the Highlander’s playoff run.

Senior forward Kayla Hackman gave Hazen the lead with an unassisted goal at the 59 minute mark, but junior Enumclaw forward Lauren Cary nailed an unassisted goal at the 72 minute mark to tie the game.

The game remained tied at the end of regulation, sending the game into two five-minute sudden death overtime periods. However, Enumclaw junior midfielder Kayla Bunderson snuck through Hazen defenders three minutes into the first overtime period, launching a shot to the back of the net for the victory.

Enumclaw now advances to take on Olympia’s Capital High School this weekend.

Hazen

Hazen started off the season with a 4-1 road win against Aberdeen High School, and followed up with a 1-1 tie against Garfield High School, and a 0-0 tie against Kennedy Catholic High School.

In the Highlander’s last three games, they took down Lindbergh High School 1-0, Evergreen High School 10-0 and Highline High School 2-1.

The team also played Foster High School on the road Sept. 28 and hosted Tyee High School Sept. 30.

Head coach Ken Matthews said the games against Kennedy and Lindbergh were the most significant.

“It’s been a long, long time that we haven’t lost to those teams,” he said.

However, Matthews said the team has a tough second half of the season ahead of it, taking on Kennedy and Highline two more times, a rite of passage to the playoffs.

“We have to do well in those four games,” he said.

The team’s top players after the first six games are senior forward Kayla Hackman, freshman forward Brianne Sherin, junior midfielder Sarah Schoville and junior goalkeeper Priscilla Yu.

Hackman has a team-leading six goals, Sherin has three and Schoville has two.

Matthews said he has asked Hackman to change her style of play this season, and he said she is now working to divert defenders, so her teammates get more shots on goal.

“She’s plays more of a style of a college forward than a high school forward,” he said. “She has done it, and she’s done it very, very well for us.”

He said Schoville has played with explosive energy and is functioning on all cylinders. Furthermore, he said, Yu has made a tremendous difference.

“I can’t even think of new words to describe how good she is,” Matthews said. “She’s just unconscious out there. She’s playing at such a high level.”

Next, the team travels to Newport High School for a 7:30 p.m. nonleague game Oct. 2.

The team will need to be on its game to take down the 4A school, but Matthews said the team is constantly improving.

“Our best games may be ahead of us,” he said.

Liberty

Liberty began its season with a 2-0 loss to defending 4A state champion Skyline High School and a 2-1 loss to Issaquah High School. However, the Patriots have been on a roll since, and they are unbeaten in league play.

The team defeated Mount Si High School 2-1, Bellevue High School 2-0, Sammamish High School 5-0 and Lake Washington High School 2-1. The team also played away games against Juanita High School Sept. 28 and Mercer Island High School Sept. 30.

“We’re off to a good start,” head coach Malia Arrant said. “I think the team has gotten better and better each game. The girls are coming together really nicely.”

Junior forward Cassidy Nangle leads the team with five goals, and goalkeepers Jennifer Rucker and Macaire Ament — a senior and junior, respectively — each have two shutouts.

Arrant said Nangle is a great forward who “has the natural ability to find the back of the net.”

Sophomore defender Mollie Cook; senior midfielders Whitney Cain and Sara DuVall; junior midfielders Kimi Fry and Shannon Daly; and sophomore forward Kailiana Johnson each have one goal.

Arrant said other players who have played solid are sophomore defender Leah Grefthen and sophomore midfielder Nicole Marlow.

“She’s been great,” Arrant said about Marlow. “Her effort and work as a center midfielder has been outstanding.”

The team’s remaining schedule for the season includes two matches with Interlake High School that are sure to be close battles, as well as a second match against Juanita.

Next, the team hosts Interlake at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5.