The Herald’s 2025 Boys Soccer Defensive Player of the Year: Caleb Butler

Through his vocal leadership and expert positioning, Shorewood defender Caleb Butler appears to be a senior shaped by years of battles in a tough Wesco boys soccer scene.

But 2025 marked the first varsity season for the sophomore, who played centerback on one of the stingiest defenses in the state this year.

In fact, in the Stormrays’ seven postseason games between districts and state, the four goals they allowed came at times when Butler wasn’t in the game. For his ability to stand out in a star-studded defense composed of All-Wesco selections like Tally Lord, Meiron Bereket and keeper Ivan Genediev, Caleb Butler has been named The Herald’s Boys Soccer Defensive Player of the Year.

Shorewood head coach Shaun Warner, who just won Wesco 3A/2A South Coach of the Year honors, saw plenty of potential in Butler as early as last season.

“He would’ve played varsity for almost every team (as a freshman),” Warner said. “But we didn’t want to put a freshman on our team and not have him get a lot of playing time.”

So off to junior varsity Butler went. He had heard plenty about Warner’s program, given that his brother Evan had played on the JV squad under Warner.

Not only did the young defender notch plenty of playing time, he led the squad in scoring as a centerback. It was clear Butler had a special talent for winning jump balls as he scored a substantial amount of goals on corner kicks in which he out-jumped opponents.

As a result of having around 10 players that would go onto varsity in the following season and standouts like Butler, the Stormrays’ JV squad went a perfect 16-0-0 and allowed just three goals. Although the overall competition wasn’t too tough for Butler on JV, he attributed much of his individual growth to the “practice culture,” facing many players who also had varsity aspirations.

With a good idea of his chances to make varsity after a strong JV campaign and a great ensuing club season, Butler earned the starting centerback role for the defending back-to-back district champs.

But playing varsity at Shorewood came with a heavy burden — the Stormrays were coming off one-and-done runs in their previous two state appearances despite top-three seeding in both.

“It’s been a huge disappointment for the whole school, it’s kind of something that’s stuck with the whole group,” Butler said. “We’ll have kids come up and say, ‘You better not lose in the first round this year.’”

With the pressure of overcoming the team’s bad luck at State weighing heavy, Butler attributed his early confidence to the upperclassmen.

“We didn’t have a lot of seniors, and the seniors we had put a lot of confidence in me. Especially Matthew (Bereket) from the start of the season,” Butler said. “(Bereket) being one of our captains, to have him give me that leadership role helped me fulfill it and do my best to be vocal.”

Butler set the tone early this season for the Stormrays, notching a game-winner over a tough Edmonds-Woodway squad in the league opener. It was a familiar situation for the sophomore to score his first varsity goal: a corner kick in which he’d have to win the ball up high to score.

He did just that on a delivery from fellow All-Wesco first-teamer Niki Genediev, but it was all the more impressive considering a moment Warner had with a member of the Warriors’ coaching staff before the game.

“I go, ‘Yeah (Caleb) is good in the air,’ and I go, ‘Yeah he’s so good, it doesn’t matter — he’ll score a goal on a corner kick. You can put three guys on him,’” Warner said of the exchange. “It doesn’t matter if you know about it, he finds a way to come up big.”

The Stormrays would win their first eight games of the season, allowing just three goals in that span as Butler settled into his role. He would win more than his fair share of tackles and often outpaced forwards for crucial through balls to stymie chances. Butler’s most impactful attribute was his positioning, however, as the sophomore covered gaps in the elite defense as it responded to the ball.

“I’m in the right places to win headers, win second balls and put in tackles,” Butler said. “I try to play as smart as possible so that I can deal with attacks before they develop.”

Although he’d finish the season with three goals, one aspect of Butler’s game has translated to the Stormrays’ prowess in counterattacks: his long ball.

One of Warner’s first takeaways from watching Butler play was his ability to “hit an 80-yard ball accurately to a player on the run.”

And it’s no accident.

“Pretty much every time I go to the field with a friend, that’s something I work on. Just hitting long balls back and forth,” Butler said of his precision deep passing.

The Stormrays allowed just 12 goals in 16 regular season games, clinching a second straight league title.

As the district playoffs arrived, Butler would be reunited with previously injured centerback George Clark in the backline. The two would help Shorewood dominate districts, claiming three clean-sheet wins and a third consecutive district title.

Shorewood had claimed the top seed in the 3A state tournament, but history still loomed over the players.

“There were definitely a lot of nerves going into that first State game, and I think (Warner) and (assistant coach Travis Bear) weren’t shy about our history in State these past few years,” Butler said. “We embraced that as a challenge to get over the hump.”

And indeed the Stormrays did, expunging an 0-5 State record under Warner with a 1-0 win over No. 17 Central Kitsap.

With a committed goal of keeping the ball in front of them after previous years’ blunders, the Stormrays held a solid Bellevue squad scoreless through extra time. As penalties arrived, Butler found out he would be participating in a shootout.

Qualifying for the State semis and going to Sparks Stadium had been a dream of Butler’s for years, and he wasted no energy making it happen. Butler buried his penalty, marking the first time he’d scored a penalty on a full-sized goal.

The rest of the Stormrays would make good on their looks, capping off a 7-6 shootout thriller.

Going into a semifinal matchup with No. 12 Ingraham, which is less than three miles away from Shorewood, Butler made sure his team was prepared. Having played against talent from the Metro League in club play, Butler offered advice to Warner and Bear to inform their decision-making.

“He’s a student of the game, I think he loves it,” Warner said of those moments with Butler.

Thanks to a Niki Genadiev hat trick and another gem of a defensive game, the Stormrays rolled to the state championship game. A late Ingraham goal came after Butler had been subbed off, as he was dealing with an injury.

With No. 3 Mercer Island looming the very next day, Butler gutted out the injury and took the field.

He forced a corner on a promising opposing attack early and looked like himself for the most part. 15 minutes into the match, he started to feel discomfort from the same lingering injury. Still, he and Clark made their usual impact, as Butler made a solid tackle to stop the Islanders in their tracks while Clark cleared in the 18th minute.

But by the 30th, Butler realized he “wasn’t going to be able to help the team,” and subbed out.

“It was super heartbreaking because I just wanted to be out on the field with my team,” Butler said.

His absence, as had been the case the day before, showed. The Islanders scored in the 37th minute before scoring twice more to take a 3-0 lead early in the second half.

Butler watched as the Matthew Bereket and Bruno each netted late goals, but it was too little, too late.

“Everyone was really sad but we were also just super proud of what we had accomplished,” Butler said, as the team sat on the track for 20 minutes to relive the season. “We were just excited to spend a final bus ride together as a team.”

Butler is now recovered from the injury and back to practicing. With a deep playoff push on his resume and no shortage of returners next season, the young leader is only focused on one thing.

“I want a clean sheet every time I step on the field, and to get that you have to win every single ball and work as hard as possible,” Butler said.