New coach, fresh faces, clean slate for Grays Harbor soccer in 2018

ABERDEEN – The Grays Harbor Chokers soccer program has a pretty good idea of who will be part of the starting 11 in 2018, but the team will have to fight though some injuries first.

The Chokers (0-2 overall) start the conference part of their schedule today at Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Green River Community College, but a rash of injuries at the start of non-conference schedule has put the Chokers in a difficult position if they are to improve on last year’s 1-15 record.

Grays Harbor head coach Dave Brown isn’t expecting any of his injured players to miss too many games this season but he did acknowledge that the injuries come at a bad time with the team looking to get into a rhythm early on.

“We have some great talent this year but not as much depth, so we’re struggling with injuries right now,” he said. “We have a number of players who are close to getting back but if they had to play a full game right now, they’d be in trouble.”

The injury concerns are compounded by a roster that Brown said is lacking in numbers. Brown was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in January, leaving little time to recruit after taking the reins of the program from former head coach Ian Connell.

With little time to fill out his roster, Brown tapped into the local talent pool in his brief time as a recruiter and added five players from the area to the roster.

Hoquiam graduate Emma Skinner will see a lot of playing time at midfield as will Ocosta alum Adriana Huerta. Former Aberdeen Bobcat Alex Wilson could also see the field at forward along with returner Judy Renteria, who graduated from Hoquiam in 2016.

Skinner in particular was excited to join the team after missing her senior season when a knee injury she sustained playing softball that put her soccer career in limbo.

With a lot of room for improvement, she thinks the team could be good once the players get comfortable with each other on and off the field.

“We’re definitely a bunch of underdogs,” she said. “We’re a young team but I think if we keep working hard and having positive attitudes we could be really good. Once we all mesh and do more things outside of practice we could be really good.”

The team also boasts some talent from outside the Harbor as well. Rachel Ruell from Black Hills will bring speed to the team’s offensive attack while Brown hopes Las Vegas native Courtney Kashin will bring some playmaking ability to the midfield.

Having a high number of new faces who weren’t around for last year’s one-win season could help the Chokers to start with a clean slate, though getting them ready for college soccer presents a challenge in itself.

“The best way to build confidence is to try to work hard and understand what the level of competition is,” Brown said. “The problem is we have more new players than we have returners, so that’s a little bit of a challenge.”

Ruell said she isn’t too worried about getting up to speed before her first conference game and noted that learning the tendencies of her teammates in practice should help her get adjusted.

“We have some things to work on but we all get along and we understand how everybody plays. It’s easier that way than trying to figure out each other’s playing style during games,” she said.

With other teams in the conference coming back strong again this season, Brown doesn’t anticipate things getting easier this year and is hoping to finish in the middle of the pack in the NWAC.

Skinner doesn’t have the league standings on her mind just yet. At this point of the season all she wants to see is progress.

“I’m looking forward to seeing improvements every time we step on the field,” she said. “I’m super excited to see how we start and how we finish a the end.”