When Kassandra Riozzi was about four years old, she fell in love with soccer. Its the only sport I ever played, she said.
When the M-P senior isnt playing with the states best high school and college players for the Seattle Crossfire Sounders, the Olympic Development Program and the Washington State Youth Soccer Associations State Cup her team won in 2006 and 2007 she plays midfield for the Tomahawks girls soccer team.

The Marysville Globe: When did you decide you were serious about soccer?
KR: Oh geez. Well, (long pause) probably around fourth-grade. I used to play on my dads Force team, and I came to love soccer. My dad and I would go down to Allen Creek all the time and I would just train with him. I have to thank him so much because he just pushed me to be a better player. It was about that time I realized I really love soccer.

MG: What is your training schedule like?
KR: Recently I havent been training as much. Almost every day, Monday through Friday and then training with my team on Saturdays, too. About two hours.

MG: Who do you think will be some of M-Ps biggest rivals this season?
KR: Well weve always had a hard time against Snohomish, and we just really want to be good against them. Thats going to be our opener on Tuesday. I think that will be a good rival. Monroe, I think. Weve had some good games in the past. And Lake Stevens. Probably also Everett. We played them last year for the first time and played really well against them. They have a lot of new younger players that are really good. Hopefully we can keep up our new tradition and do good against them.

MG: What is it like playing with your sister, Krista?
KR: I like it. Im really happy that she made varsity as a freshman because weve never really played with each other except in the back yard or whatever. Hopefully I can guide her a little bit. We both play in the middle, so hopefully well be able to work off each other.

MG: M-P is a big school. Do you find you meet a lot of people through the soccer team?
KR: Not so much on the soccer team. Just overall in classes, I meet a lot of new people. You dont realize how many people there are until you go to school and you go, Oh wow. I feel like I already know almost everyone on varsity. Between varsity and C team there are a lot of girls you havent seen before.