Mt. Spokane’s Keith Kirsch a forward thinker
It’s certainly true that there are no successful one-man teams, but at Mt. Spokane High School, it would not be inaccurate to say that, at the very least, senior forward Keith Kirsch has emerged this season as first among equals.
There are 14 seniors on the Wildcat soccer squad, which enters the final day of the Greater Spokane League season in a three-way tie for first place, and they all have a role to play for first-year Mt. Spokane varsity coach John Marshall.
One need look no further than the list of GSL scoring leaders to determine Kirsch’s role: with 15 goals so far this season, he is second to Shadle Park’s Andy Largent, who has scored 20. Kirsch has also added four assists.
“Keith has just taken over up front,” Marshall said recently. “He’s a scorer, and that’s difficult to teach. You have to be hungry, and you have to want to score. All our seniors have a particular job to do, and Keith’s is to finish for us.”
Kirsch was a first-team all-GSL midfielder last season. He got some time at forward in 2004, but has played there full time this year with breakout results that he hopes will carry the Wildcats into the state 4A tournament. A year ago, they lost in the second round of district playoffs.
“I’ve got a different approach this season when I get in tight,” Kirsch said. “It’s placement over power, I guess. Our new assistant coach, Brandon Shriner, has really helped me develop as a finisher.
“We’ve also moved our formation around a little, playing two big guys at center mid who are winning the ball more. After we barely beat Clarkston (3-2 in overtime), we figured out that we can’t look past anyone if we want to be successful.
“Last year, we got to go to state as academic state champions. We saw the fans and how exciting everything was, and we knew we wanted to go back playing instead of watching. We’ve all been together so long, that would be a great way to end it.”
Marshall credits all the seniors with helping the coaching transition go well.
“The guys have certainly made me look good!” he said. “It’s nice to have a team that works this hard, especially in the off season to get ready. They’ve been very welcoming, and they certainly came into the season with an open mind.
“A couple of these guys are four-year varsity players, and many others have played three. On top of that, many of them have played together from the time they were eight years old. That experience shows in how our season has gone.”
Marshall wanted to mention all the other seniors:
Defenders Brian Rust, Adam Van Noy, Mike McCloskey and Adam Membrey; midfielders Jordan Marshall, Dan McKinnon, Drew Hill and Chris Zalud; forwards Alex Groth, Cam Sower and Jeremy Sink; sweeper Eric Bofencamp; and goalkeeper Jeff Srock.
“Going into playoffs,” Marshall said, “we just need to do more of what we’ve been doing. Our defense is working very well right now.”
Kirsch agrees that the transition went well because of the senior leadership on the squad.
“I expected a more difficult adjustment than we had,” he said. “But lots of seniors helped make it work, taking over different leadership roles. That helped get the younger guys working in the off season, too. Everybody’s bought into the program.”
Kirsch hopes to continue playing next year at Spokane Falls, where he’s had some conversations with coaches. But he also wanted to mention his experience with the “other” football, the kind played with helmets and pads.
In his first experience ever on the gridiron, he played cornerback and placekicked last fall for Coach Mike McLaughlin, who recruited him from a weights class.
“Coach had been working on me to come out, and I finally caved. It really got me in good shape, and I know it toughened me up. The biggest difference was that in soccer, there’s a flow in the game, but in football, it’s more play-by-play.”
The team to beat in the postseason?
“I hope it’s us,” he said, “but there are a lot of others making a pretty good late-season run. There are going to be a lot of good matches in the next couple weeks.”