Tritons overcoming early challenges

The Edmonds Community College men’s soccer team isn’t quite operating as a cohesive unit yet.

But the Tritons are making progress.

The Edmonds’ roster is starting to fill out as some players are recovering from injuries while others are becoming eligible to play.

Now the major task is to become more comfortable with each other on the field.

“Once we start working together, communicating a lot better … we’ll progress more as a team,” said sophomore defender Spencer Huffer. “We need to find our flow.”

The Tritons took a major step toward finding that flow in a 3-2 loss to Pierce College on Sept. 23.

Second-year head coach Jim Thomas said his team played much better than it has in its first five contests.

“We’ve had a lot more commitment to what we’re trying to do,” Thomas said. “We’re still ironing a lot of issues defensively with players finally becoming eligible, which has been a big issue for us. But the overall effort from the boys was very good. It was unfortunate to not get any points from the game.”

Huffer, a 2005 Jackson High School graduate, returned to the Edmonds’ lineup against Pierce after having recovered from knee and ankle injuries that have kept him on the bench.

Also back is Henri Amonles, who also will help to shore up the Tritons’ defense.

Edmonds has had a tendency to start slowly but come on strong late in the game.

“We played as hard as we could, really well in the last 20 minutes,” Huffer said. “We’re just trying to find a way to keep that intensity for the entire game, to start at the beginning and not let up. We’re trying to fire each other up and find out what motivates each other.”

Sophomore midfielder Cameron Hanke agrees that Edmonds must play better in the first half of its games.

“We do good in the second half,” the Kamiak graduate said.

Edmonds’ offense suffered a blow when leading scorer Wilmoth John-Baptiste suffered what likely is a season-ending leg injury during the Tritons’ 7-2 loss to Southern Oregon on Sept. 16.

“It’s going to hurt our offense a lot,” freshman forward Garret Lowell said. “He’s a really valuable player. I think we’ll be able to pull through it.”

Edmonds will look for increased contributions from Lowell, who hails from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Meadowdale graduate Brandon Norton. The two scored goals against Pierce. Other key offensive players included freshmen forwards Nick DeSimone and Carlos Portillo.

Edmonds doesn’t seem to have much problem putting the ball into the back of the net. The defense is where the Tritons have faltered.

Getting Huffer and Amonles back should definitely help the defense, freshman defender John Greig said.

“New personnel coming is going to make a huge difference,” he said. “We’re still getting used to working as a team. … Our defense has been scattered at best. But I think it’s coming together.”

The lineup has seen many changes early on and that hasn’t helped to build the cohesiveness among the players.

“We’ve had players progressively added to the squad,” Thomas said. “It’s been somewhat disruptive having new players coming in.”

Edmonds returned nine players from last year’s team but only about five of them were able to play early on. The returning players also are in new positions.

The Tritons are working on their conditioning, which Greig said was lacking in the first few games.

“Our fitness level hasn’t exactly been where it needs to be,” he said. “Coach pushes us good. I think this will come and I think everything’s there. We just need to put it together as a whole.”

League play already has started but there is still plenty of time for Edmonds (0-3-1 in the North Division, 0-5-1 overall) to climb out of last place and back into the playoff picture.

“I think we have the talent to turn it around,” Greig said. “Once we get everything going and buy in as a team I’m hoping we’ll put up a nice challenge for league.”

The Tritons have yet to play any of their divisional opponents and they will have rematches with the other teams they’ve faced so far, most of them at home.

“We feel we can beat all the teams we’ve played,” Thomas said. “We’ve been in each of the games apart from one. I seriously believe things will turn around for the positive.”