Checking in with Max Lipset at Kitsap Pumas in Seattle Washington

IMS has been following Minnesotan Max Lipset this season as he plays with the Kitsap Pumas, the first-year club from Seattle, Washington. The Pumas are having an exceptional year and Max has been a large part of that success.  Max checks in with Inside Minnesota Soccer and journals for us as his season winds down and his team heads into the playoffs.

If the Thunder are looking for a big central defender to shore things up at the end of the season, I think I know where one can be found.

It’s been a beautiful summer in the Pacific Northwest; everyone here has been commenting on the exceptional weather, cherry harvests, salmon runs, and the quality of the soccer. From the Seattle Sounders FC, who have sold out every game, including 65,000 last week for a game against Chelsea, and found their way into the Open Cup final, to the MLS-bound Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps, down to the Northwest conference of the PDL, it has been a great summer for soccer out here.

Playing for the Kitsap Pumas has been a great experience, and we enjoyed a lot of success during the regular season that we’re looking to bring into the playoffs with us, as we kick off at home this weekend. We finished top of the league with 11 wins, 1 loss, and 3 ties, good enough to place us third in the country just two points out of the first place Reading Rage.

The defense that I’ve been a part of all summer, starting 15 of 16 games at center back (I sat one after a red card against Victory for a late challenge at midfield), ended up with the fourth fewest goals allowed in the league, 13. We were sitting at 8 goals allowed when we clinched first place with two games left to play. In those final two games, we allowed five goals, and dropped our first game of the year in an extremely disapointing performance in Victoria, Canada. Mentally, I think something slipped for us when we clinched the division.

As everyone knows, too much confidence is probably the deadliest thing in soccer (just ask the Spanish national team how they managed to lose to the US in the Confederations Cup a few weeks ago). We came out in the Victoria game and gave up our first first-half goal of the year in the 10th minute, we equalized in the 29th but failed to execute a number of chances late in the half and then again in the second half. In any case, we came out Sunday and went up 3-0, then 4-1 on Tacoma…After extensive lineup changes we gave up two goals in stoppage time and the game ended 4-3.

This past week, we’ve been training and preparing for the first round of playoffs, which begin Saturday evening. We will play the Seattle Wolves, who beat Portland Timbers U23 this afternoon for the right to play us, at home. So far this year we are 2-0 against the Wolves, but they’re a good side and it’s hard to beat any team three times. We’ll be ready. This is what we’ve been playing for, a shot at the national championship and the exposure that comes with it. That exposure is not only great for us as players, but is great for our club, the Pumas, being a first-year program. We’re looking forward to a great turnout Saturday night. We have great fans up here and have averaged around 1200 fans a game, with the highlight being 2200 during the Open Cup game vs. the Portland Timbers. That game was an all-around good experience. We were able to see that we can play with them and so were our fans. All told, going into Saturday’s game, playing for the right to enter into the PDL final eight, with the support of this whole county, with a great team (especially our staff, coaches and front office), and an amazing group of guys whose friendships I really value, things are going really well…

As far as after the season, things are totally up in the air….so, I’m taking this whole thing one day at a time, and treating these games as the great opportunities that they are.

Best in Soccer-
Max Lipset