You won’t hear any complaints from Edmonds-Woodway boys soccer coach Tony Gilman about having to play seven non-conference games before the start of league play.
Not with the number of new players on varsity that the Warriors have.
“We’re young,” Gilman said. “That’s the biggest challenge we have.”
The Warriors start three sophomores, two juniors and a freshman, all of whom have never played on the varsity team before.
Complicating Gilman’s task is a flu bug at the high school that has played havoc with the lineup. Edmonds-Woodway has had at least two starters out for every contest since the second game.
Despite all of these challenges, Gilman said he may have found the right mix after a strong effort in a 4-3 loss to Mariner in a non-conference game March 31 at Edmonds Stadium.
The Warriors’ strength may be in their defense, which is led by senior co-captain Doug Whitney, a second-team, all-league selection from last year. Whitney also earned honorable mention recognition as a freshman and sophomore.
Gilman also will look to co-captains Robbie Null and James Lagucik, both midfielders, to provide leadership to the younger players.
Also back is goalkeeper Nick Hanratty and senior midfielder David McCoy. Senior forward Nathan Albrecht also saw a significant amount of playing time last season.
The three goals against the Marauders were scored by three different players — Albrecht, senior forward Nick Laffitte and freshman forward Max Doolittle.
That figures to be the indicative of the way the Edmonds-Woodway offense will score goals this season.
“It’s going to be a team effort,” Gilman said. “We have no one person who is an offensive standout.”
What the Warriors do have is solid team speed and what looks to be good team chemistry.
“They work hard,” Gilman said. “This is one of the best groups counting JV and varsity. They all seem to have a good team … we don’t see to have anybody pulling in the opposite direction.”
Here is a look at Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.
Lynnwood
The Royals return seven starters from a year ago, certainly the most in Tim Colvin’s four-year tenure as head coach.
The level of talent among the players also is much higher than in recent years.
“The challenge is to put it all together in a productive 11-guy effort,” Colvin said. “We’ve got a good team this year. We’ll continue to battle a little bit getting guys to play together.”
An unexpected development in the offseason was the loss of Lynnwood’s top returning scorer who moved to Bellevue.
“We lost a definite guy who could produce goals on a nightly basis,” Colvin said. “But we’ve had more balanced scoring. We have a number of people who can score … we’re kind of a threat from multiple places.”
Colvin decided to move a pair of midfielders up front. Junior Christian DeCastro and junior Mirnes Imsic provide what Colvin describes as an interesting attack.
“They are two guys who are extremely fast and very highly skilled,” Colvin said.
Lynnwood doesn’t figure to have any problems scoring goals this season but the question is whether the Royals’ defense will be able to shut down the opposition.
The answer is a qualified maybe.
In its final preseason game, Lynnwood battled Shorecrest to a 1-1 tie at halftime. But the Royals fell apart in the second half, allowing seven goals and ended up losing 8-2.
Colvin decided to shift senior forward Alex Stankovic, an honorable mention, all-league selection, back into the defense in an effort to shore up what has traditionally been a weak area for Lynnwood.
“He’s big, strong and fast,” Colvin said of Stankovic. “Lynnwood has always struggled defensive … defense has not been a strong suit.”
The Royals have a new goalkeeper in junior Diego Torres, who is moving up from junior varsity.
Lynnwood lost its first three preseason games by a combined score of 25-1 but then rebounded to defeat Burlington-Edison 2-0. The Royals then dropped their final three preseason games, losing two of the contests by two goals apiece.
“I’m optimistic,” Colvin said. “I think we should win five games, which would be historically better than we’ve ever done. It’s one of those seasons. I just don’t know what to think of these guys. When they’re up they’re great. When they’re down, they’re poor.
“It falls on their shoulders to get together and to be consistent.”
Mountlake Terrace
The Hawks are in a major rebuilding mode.
Mountlake Terrace graduated 14 seniors from last year and returns only one player with any varsity experience — senior co-captain/midfielder Nolan Johnson.
The Hawks also lost longtime coach Jerry Myers, who decided to step down as head coach a few days before the season started.
Junior varsity coach Ken Higgins has stepped in and is quite familiar with the roster, which is almost entirely composed of players from last year’s JV team.
“All the guys I know really well,” said Higgins, who had coached the junior varsity squad for four years. “They’re a good bunch of guys. They need to learn what the pace is at the varsity level. It’s a step up. When they play together as a team, they play really well.”
The Hawks, however, need to understand that they need to keep up the level of intensity throughout the entire 80 minutes, Higgins added.
“They need to have faith in each other and have confidence in each other,” he said. “Last year as a JV team they were very successful. They never lost a Wesco match.”
Early standouts include junior midfielder Jon Swanson, sophomore defender Kyle Torrescano and junior goalkeeper Peter Bell. The Hawks also have some good speed up front with junior forward Siwan Mudaliar.
“We don’t have a lot of size. We’re a small team,” Higgins said. “Most of the players don’t have the physical size. So we have quickness and a little bit of speed.”
Given the Hawks’ inexperience and the strong nature of the league, Higgins is shooting for middle of the pack finish this season with an eye towards the future.
“We’re going to be getting some varsity experience,” he said. “It’s a rebuilding situation.”
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