SHORELINE — First-year coach Mark Szabo’s plan for mending Shoreline Community College’s ailing women’s soccer program doesn’t include a long waiting period.
He expects the Dolphins to be playoff contenders next season and move into the hunt for an NWAACC championship the year after. Hefty goals for a team that’s never posted a winning record and won just one game a year ago.
Szabo, who coached Seattle Community College’s short-lived men’s team, figures some of the changes he’s making will be noticeable the second half of this season.
“By the middle of the season we’re going to be competing with the majority of the teams and we won’t have any situations where we’re getting blown out,” he said.
That hasn’t been the case early on. The Dolphins were outscored 14-2 in three season-opening losses.
But Szabo, Shoreline’s third coach in as many years, said his players are showing a willingness to learn and improve.
“They’re learning a lot,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff they need to learn. We’re spending a lot of practice (time) working on defensive aspects and different concepts that most of the girls haven’t heard of.”
Defense has been the team’s No. 1 priority.
“It’s something that anybody can learn … you just have to understand the concepts and where to be tactically,” Szabo said. “You can teach anybody to play defense as long as they have the intensity and desire to do it.”
Only four players return from last year’s 1-12-1 team but overall numbers are up significantly. Though Szabo was brought in just three months before the start of the season, he still landed a few recruits and is continuing to search for players.
Szabo said the newcomers are already making a difference and he believes the recruiting process will become easier “once the word gets out that the program is a viable option for girls who want to play soccer.”
Tacoma, Southwest Oregon and Clark are picked in the Southwest Division preseason coaches poll to repeat their 1-2-3 finish of 2001.
A trio of Northeast Division powers — Walla Walla, North Idaho and Edmonds — are the early favorites to take the NWAACC title.
If Szabo’s forecast is on target, Shoreline’s postseason push could be just around the corner.
“I truly believe the second half of the season is going to be a very good part of the year and a great stepping stone for the program off into the future,” he said. “People are going to be amazed when they come across us again.”
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