Scoring four goals is a big achievement in any soccer league and Ballard High School freshman Sara Ives did it against the Bothell Cougars on September 12 in only her third varsity game.

Ballard ended up winning the game 4-0. In past years, the Beavers would have lost the game against the eastside school.

Ives scored two more goals on September 14 to help the Beavers defeat Franklin 9-0. She was assisted by Lucy Miner and Margaret Coke.

Mikaela Winter (assist Sara Brink), Lauren Ives (assist Winter), Miner (unassisted), Emily Larsen (assist Winter), Sydney Huggins (assist Anna Kelsey), Huggins again (assist Brink), Stephani Nelson (assist Angelina Miller) were the other scorers.

Goalkeepers Britta Humes and Krista Yeasting earned shutouts.

This season is different with new coach Val Seid, inspired play by the team's veterans and the addition of two talented freshman.

Ives is one of the freshmen who has earned a starting spot on the team at forward. The other is Anna Kelsey who is a defender.

Seid is pleased with the aggressiveness show by his two youngest players.

Ives has been playing soccer since kindergarten and is she is familiar with the offensive formations the team is using. The most goals she has scored was five during a select game.

In the Bothell game Ives was assisted by Coke, Kelsey, Nelson and Larson on her goals.

This early success is good news for a team that has had trouble winning games since joining KingCo in 2004. Last season the Beavers were hampered by injuries to key players for much of the season.

Seid brings collegiate experience to Ballard. He was a member of a NCAA Final Four team at University of California at Los Angeles) where he was a goalkeeper.

At San Jose State, Seid helped his team to regular NCAA Tournament appearances.

Seid has coached at Cleveland and Bellevue High School in addition to working with many club teams.

In practices at the Queen Anne Bowl, the Beavers practiced "possession ball," a slow attack that makes the defense work harder to tire them out.

Although Ballard lost the first two games of the year against Roosevelt and Holy Names by identical 3-0 scores, the team is turning the corner.

Seid was happy to get his first win as the Ballard coach against the Cougars.

"The girls came out and played well. They played smart. They played as a team for the first time this season," said Seid.

It's unusual for a freshman to score four goals at the high school level.

"She could have scored more if they did not take her out. They got frustrated and elbowed her in the head. That's the rough part of the game," said Seid.

Except for the two freshmen, the roster remains relatively the same as last year when the team was routinely run off the field by opponents.

A new coaching system has benefited the team. It also helps that all the players compete with select and premier level soccer teams in the off season.

"They are having fun, the girls are enjoying it. These girls are good. They deserve to have a good coach," said Seid.

During practice last Wednesday, Seid offered to do running drills by himself because the team won the game and scored a lot of goals.

Players shouted encouragement for their coach as he ran back and forth.

Several players have said that last year they did not play together as a team. This season may be different.

"We will do real good. I feel confident in our team," said Ives.

Four seniors are back for their final seasons. They include: Coke, Leslie Ellingsen, Nelson and Sami Wong.

The juniors are: Emily Burkland, Kelsey Gilman, Huggins, Humes, Sophie King, Miner, Allison Robinson and Winter.

Sara Brink, Lauren Ives, Heather McFarland, Jessica Nelson are the sophomores.

The rest of the 2006 schedule:

Sept. 21, Juanita at Summit #2

Sept. 26, Eastlake at Eastlake

Sept. 28, Woodinville at Woodinville

Oct. 3, Redmond at NE Complex

Oct. 5, Inglemoor at Memorial Stadium

Oct. 10, Lake Washington at Lake Washington

Oct. 12, Redmond at Memorial Stadium

Oct. 17, Woodinville at Summit #2

Oct. 19, Juanita, at Juanita

Oct. 23, Bothell at Pop Keeney Stadium

Oct. 25, Roosevelt at Summit #2

Oct. 26, KingCo Tie Breaker game

Oct. 28, KingCo Playoffs Round One

Oct. 31, KingCo Playoffs Round Two

Nov. 2, KingCo Playoffs Round Three

Nov. 4, District vs. winner of round three for third state spot.

All varsity games start at 7:30 p.m., JV games at 5:30 p.m.