Garfield senior Jamie Griffin took three steps back, took a deep breath, collected himself, and then calmly planted his penalty kick into the left corner of the net. It was the only goal of the night in Garfield’s 1 – 0 victory over Lake Washington. Connecting on penalty kicks and capitalizing on the oppositions mistakes are the little things that a team needs to do to win. On this night, like most of the season, Garfield did them.

Garfield is sitting pretty, tied for first in KingCo, more than half way through the season, with a 5 – 2-1 record. Garfield, Juanita, and Eastlake all have a 4 – 1 conference record. For most of their wins this season, Garfield has needed to do the little things to win. Four of their five victories have come by only one goal. Led by senior captains Jamie Rees, Kurt Benirschke, and Jamie Griffin, the playoffs look like a near guarantee. It appears that it isn’t a matter of if the team will make it to the post-season, but merely a matter of what seed they will have.

The seniors have accounted for a large majority of the teams scoring this year, with Griffin leading the way in scoring. The senior leadership has proved key in close games, with Benirschke scoring the game’s only goal in the teams win over Roosevelt, and Griffin had all three in the teams 3 – 2 win over Ballard.

Senior Jamie Rees cites a couple of reasons for the team’s success this year.

“The league is a lot worse than last year,” said Rees. In addition, the team is under the reign of a new coach, who has increased practice time. That extra practice time has resulted in better chemistry.

“We know each other a lot better and we play as a team a lot more.” said Rees.

The team is picking up clutch wins by narrow margins, but a victory is a victory. As the team’s record continues to improve, so do their chances of obtaining a top seed in the KingCo playoffs. A little less than half of the season is left (6 games), the opportunity is there to gain a high seed in the KingCo playoffs. If Garfield does with the rest of the season what they have done with most of their opportunities this year, then they will capitalize. The biggest obstacle remaining is a game against Eastlake on April 28th. Eastlake is a team who beat Garfield 4 – 0 when the two teams played last, and they are tied with Garfield atop the division. It’s now time to go balls to the wall, pedal to the metal, and not quit before the finish line. If all goes well, come May, you might see Garfield getting fitted for the KingCo crown.