With the graduation of 11 lettermen, the Coupeville High School soccer team will be in youth-movement mode this spring.
“We will be a young team this year with quite a few players having this be their first year on the varsity squad,” coach Kyle Nelson said.
Among those lost to graduation is Abraham Leyva, who left CHS with the single-season (20) and career (45) goals records, as well as the career mark for assists (26).
The Wolves do return five letter winners who “will be playing in the central positions up the field, forming a solid core,” Nelson said.
Among the core is junior midfielder William Nelson, a first-team, all-Olympic League player who set a school single-season assist record (14) in 2016.
Also back are senior defender Uriel Liquidano, senior forward Zack Nall, junior defender Laurence Boado and junior midfielder Ethan Spark.
Players moving up from the junior varsity to help fill out the lineup, according to Nelson, are senior midfielders Nick Dion and Brandon Jansen, sophomore defenders Uriah Kastner and Teo Keilwitz and goalies junior Mathew Shreffner and sophomore Brian Roberts.
Freshmen who could see some playing time are Aram Leyva-Elenes and James Wood.
“My goal is to form a well-organized, disciplined defensive squad,” coach Nelson said, adding, “and with anyone who watches us play this year seeing significant improvement through the course of the season.”
Coupeville posted a 5-8-1 record last spring, finishing third in conference play with a 2-8-4 mark.
The Wolves go to Silverdale Stadium to meet Olympic at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 11, in the opener. The home and conference opener with Chimacum follows at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14.