FIve Questions With Shorewood Boys Soccer Coach Nathan Davis

1. Shorewood is undefeated and in first place in Wesco 3A and ranked second overall in the Seattle Times state 3A poll. Did you expect this team to be this good after some disappointing games last year? 

 Last season was tough. There were some tough losses, but it was a learning year. We have talked about how last year we lost some games late in the game. We were not very good at closing or finishing games. The returning  players and I have talked about this and we focus on playing a full 80 minnutes and finishing games. They have done just this. We have won games 7-0 by scoring in the first 3 minutes, but we have also been patient and trusted our game and scored 60-70 minutes into a game. Beyond that, we have won games 1-0 which shows us closing games out, somthing we did not do last season.

To say I expected to be 12-0 without giving up a goal would be a lie.  I did think we had great leadership coming into this year, great talent, and more important great drive and the players lived up to this. This has been a pleasant surprise but it is deserved because these players work very hard, work together, and play as one team.

2. Talk about your defense and goalkeeping. Twelve shutouts is impressive in any league. 

Twelve shutouts is unthinkable. If our goalie and three defenders  are not first team all-league then they were robbed. I have been very impressed with them. The defense communicates well, wins the 50/50 balls, is very good with one versus one defending, and stays calm under pressure. Daniel Nadeau, our goalie makes five to seven saves a game and most are routine, but the reason we have 12 shutouts is because he also makes the three to four really great saves a game. If he let's those in, then we tie or lose a few games. A good goalie makes the routine saves and a great goalie makes the routine saves and the few no so routine saves, and that's Daniel.

3. How does senior center midfielder Hayk Avanesyan set the tone for squad offensively?

Hayk is a very emotional player and plays with his heart. He does this in games and in practices and this sets the tone for the rest of the team. He is a leader and pushes to team to play better and harder all the time. He has a great shot and has scored some great goals from distance. He also is very good a distrubuting the ball. When talking about leading the team I have to mention my other three captains as well. All of them set the tone for the season and their work rate is impressive. I know that when a game starts do not need to do anything because these four guys can run the team, make in game adjustments, and be the game changer needed to win.

4. How does the experience of 11 seniors help this squad?

Having so many seniors has been great, but what I like about this team is that being a senior or junior or sophomore doesn't matter, everyone is equal and everyone is held to the same high standard. The seniors may set the tone, but the underclassmen are very talented as well and push the seniors.

5. What are the key games down the stretch and how do you maintain this high level of play?

We have a few keys games left. We have home field advantage for the district tournament, but we cannot let up now. Tonight's game (against Marysville-Getchell) is very important, as is the Everett game on Wednesday. Our team goal is to win Wesco, and every game is important until we do that.