Growing up in Snohomish County, two years and some 20 miles apart, Kyle Bjornethun and Nathan Aune never knew each other. They knew of each other, sort of, but their paths never crossed on the soccer field or anywhere else.
But in the space of a few months the two have not only become good friends, but good teammates on a good Seattle University soccer team. Bjornethun and Aune are the team’s starting center backs, meaning they play side by side on the back defensive line, and they have helped the Redhawks to a 10-3 record this season.
“They’re partners,” said Seattle U head coach Pete Fewing, “and they’ve both just been very rock-solid back there.”
Bjornethun, a junior, graduated from Snohomish’s Glacier Peak High School in 2013. Aune, a freshman, graduated from Arlington High School last spring. Because of the age difference, and because they both played academy soccer during high school — Bjornethun played his last two years with Seattle Sounders FC Academy, Aune his last three years with Crossfire Academy — they were essentially strangers when the team gathered for preseason training camp.
“I hadn’t known much about Nathan other than that he was from Arlington,” Bjornethun said. Likewise, Aune said, “I didn’t really know Kyle at all.”
But as the team began to take shape, the two Snohomish County products discovered a natural camaraderie and chemistry on the field. The Redhawks played a preseason exhibition match with Portland, and Aune started the second half with Bjornethun, who was already a two-year starter and a 2014 first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection.
Right away, Fewing said, it was obvious “they were just very cohesive together.”
“Within the first few games we played together, we realized that it was a good fit and that we liked playing with each other,” Bjornethun said. Added Aune: “I loved playing with Kyle right from the start.”
Still, they are different players. Being older and a fulltime starter since his freshman season, Bjornethun is more experienced. He is, Fewing said, a “a very cerebral player.” At 5 feet 11 inches, he is also small for a center back. Certainly he is small next to the 6-4 Aune.
That size helps Aune, in his own words, be “more of a bruiser, more of a physical threat compared to (Bjornethun).” Together, he added, “we complement each other real well on the field.”
Defense has been a big reason the Redhawks are soaring this season. After splitting the first four games, Seattle U ran off seven straight wins heading into two games in Texas last weekend. The Redhawks dropped a 3-1 game at Houston Baptist on Friday — it was the first time this season they had yielded more than one goal in a game — but bounced back on Sunday to beat Texas-Rio Grande Valley 2-1.
Seattle U was ranked 19th on last week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. On this week’s national Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), which takes into account strength of schedule, the Redhawks are 14th.
Among their victories are decisions against Northwestern, Harvard, Dartmouth, Oregon State and Washington, with the latter being a 2-1 decision on Sept. 24. It was Seattle U’s first win against the crosstown Huskies since returning to NCAA Division I in the fall of 2009.
“Washington is a fantastic program, they really are,” Fewing said. “So to beat them was great. It was a big deal, a big win.”
Going forward, Seattle U hopes to improve its regular-season record, make a strong showing at the postseason WAC tournament, and then make a long run in the NCAA Tournament. The Redhawks can get an automatic bid by winning the conference tournament, or by receiving one of 22 at-large berths into the 48-team NCAA tourney.
The team is “getting better each week, which is fun,” Fewing said. “This is a team with high expectations, and this season we haven’t been outmatched. … I think we’re starting to go, ‘Maybe we’re OK. Maybe we can play with some of the big-name teams in Division I.’”
“With the way we’ve been playing, I think there’s a lot of potential for us,” Bjornethun said. “As long as we don’t let (the rankings) get to our heads and if we play our game, I definitely think we can get to the NCAA tournament and even make it far, too. I think we all have our eyes set on that.”
“I think we have all the tools to do something big,” Aune agreed. “This team is built that way. We have the right mindset. I can look at the nation and look at our schedule, and there’s not a team that I fear and that Seattle U can’t play with. So the confidence on our team is high, but we still have to take it one game at a time and continue to strive for greater things.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
