The Auburn Riverside Raven girls soccer team was long on talent and experience last season.

This season, the talent is still there for the Ravens, says coach Paul Lewis, but the team will need to mature quickly to remain competitive in a tough South Puget Sound League North 4A.

Over the offseason, the Ravens took a big hit, losing seven players to graduation and three starters from last year’s 7-4-7 squad to transfers.

“We have a really young team,” Lewis said. “The kids are talented, they just don’t have the varsity experience. We know that this year is going to be a project of continuing to build on things, so that’s where our focus is going to be.”

The team returns just three seniors, inclucing co-captains Megan Amis and Lauren Johnson. Also back is junior co-captain Danielle Robinson.

Amis, a forward with 18 career goals, was a second-team all-SPSL North 4A selection last year. Defenders Johnson and Robinson were honorable-mention performers.

The squad also returns sophomores Ashley Enlow and Katie Baber and junior Carly Morgan to help guide the team.

Beyond that, the Ravens will turn to their newcomers, freshman defenders Emmi Seelbach and Laren Crimi.

“It’s a really, really good group of kids, and they really do put out a tremendous amount of effort,” Lewis said. “It just takes a little time to build that chemistry, and that’s what they’re really working on.

“Athletically, they are super strong kids and smart kids,” he continued. “It just takes time to put together the composure of playing together as a team, especially with so many players coming up and taking new roles.”

Lewis said the key was learning from each game, regardless of whether the Ravens come out on top.

“We know what we want to learn from each game, keep building and hopefully by midseason we’ll have hit our stride,” Lewis said. “I’m excited for them because there is a tremendous upside once it all starts to come together. Right now, it’s just a learning process. We’re learning from every game.”