As soon as Auburn Riverside girls soccer coach Paul Lewis saw his squad on the field for the first time this season, one word came to mind – potential.

“I tell our kids that we are the embodiment of true potential,” Lewis said. “We looked it up in the dictionary, the definition of potential, and we defined it as ‘latent excellence.’ They have the ability, it’s just about whether they could put it all together. So the underlying theme this year is unleashing the excellence.”

Last season the Ravens finished second in the South Puget Sound League 4A North Division behind Kentwood and ended the season just shy of the state tournament with a 9-4-5 record.

From that team, nine players are gone, including first-team all-league performers Ariell Swan – lost to graduation – and Stephanie Horibe – lost to an ACL injury.

“We do lose a lot of kids, but we have a pretty strong group of returners and we gain two seniors who will be starters,” Lewis said.

For 2009, the Ravens return Gina Cardenas in goal, first-team defender and senior captain Shannon Keith, senior midfielder Chelseas Pries and junior forward Megan Amis. Also back is co-captain Nellie Packer.

“Gina is back there in goal. We affectionately call her ‘The Beast.’” Lewis said. “She’s just such a strong athletic kid.

“Last year I felt, because she followed Rachel Givens, who was our superstar goalkeeper, I felt like she was trying to do too much. She would make spectacular saves, then give up weird, easy things.” Lewis added. “I think this year she’s more composed. I think she’s really going to shine.”

Cardenas, who at 5 feet, 11 inches towers over most of the team, said she was fine with her nickname.

“I’m the biggest on the team, so it’s my responsibility to get the ball in the air and take people out when I need to.”

On defense, the Ravens will look to Keith to anchor the unit.

“She’s just a solid kid,” Lewis said. “She’s just one of those kids who has it all going for her. She’s just a smart player.”

On the attacking side, Lewis said he will look to Amis to provide leadership and scoring. Amis was an honorable mention all-SPSL North performer last season and a first-teamer as a freshman.

“She has a special determination to be a better player this year,” he said. “She kind of sets the goals for us this year. I’m impressed with her determination this year.”

Beyond the returning veterans, the Ravens will call on experienced newcomers Kaylee Huie and Sarah Johnston.

“(Huie) actually was a starter on the Todd Beamer team that was second in state two years ago,” he said. “She is going to play center-mid for us this season.”

Lewis added that Johnston played for the Ravens’ JV as a freshman and sophomore and is back on the team after taking a year off as a junior.

“We’ve got a lot of good attacking players. The trick is going to be how well do we defend,” Lewis said. “Our thinnest position is defense. It’s how well we can gel together. Last year, we had Megan, but pretty much the rest of it was, ‘Can Stephanie (Horibe) score?’ This year, we’ve got more options.

“Stephanie was a special caliber player and you can’t replace her, but maybe this year having more options will increase our effectiveness.”

Last year the team finished with five ties.

“I think with the addition of Gina being a little sharper in the goal for us, we can win some of those ties,” he said. “Although we had a good team, we never quite got on a roll.”

The key, however, will be getting the young team to come together and garner some experience.

“It’s going to take them some time to get used to playing with the older girls,” Amis said. “But I think overall we have girls who are pushing toward the same goal. It should be a good year.”

“I think we need to work on settling down,” she continued. “Sometimes we get into a game of boot ball and that’s not always going to work for us, because we don’t have girls with the greatest touches. But when we settle it down, we play really pretty soccer. … We just need to learn how to compose ourselves.”

Cardenas agreed.

“We tend to panic a little bit,” she said. “We need to stay composed more. We just have to keep our cool, stay calm and it will all come.”

With just one game under their belt, the Ravens already have shown they are eager to live up to their potential. They opened play Tuesday against Kent-Meridian, blanking the hapless Royals 8-0. Abrass and Pries led the team with two goals and an assist each and Huie added two assists. Amis had a goal and an assist and Johnston, Lauren Johnson and Tayler Holtman each had one goal apiece. Megan Folsom added an assist. Cardenas was credited with the shutout between the pipes.

ALSO

On Tuesday, Auburn Mountainview opened with a 3-0 non-league win over White River. Jamie Byarlay, Brianne Wills and Karissa Ritter each had a goal and Alayna Wagers, Kristin Herren and Sydney Coleman each contributed assists. Deanna Colburn and Jessica McAllister shared the shutout… Auburn dropped a 1-0 decision to Kentridge on Tuesday. Jessica Hendricks scored the goal.