If the Mercer Island High School (MIHS) boys soccer team keeps playing strong and scoring goals, the locals have a good shot at excelling on the pitch when the playoffs roll around, according to senior captain JP Headrick.

Headrick, who plays center back, said that he’s excited to see the team’s chemistry come to the forefront this season.

“The season’s started pretty well. We have a lot of high talent that’s been through the program for a while. It’s been good playing with my friends,” said Headrick, adding that the Islanders’ team sports 15 seniors.

He captains the squad (5-2-1 overall at press time) with fellow senior stalwarts Woody Brown, a midfielder, and Nick Chou, a defender. Other top players are senior defender Alex Findlay, junior midfielder Charlie Frink and sophomore forward Mathias Perrenoud, said Headrick.

Head coach Fikay Abolade called Headrick an “ever-reliable warrior” as he holds down the defense with hopes of keeping the Islanders’ net clean.

“I work my hardest and leave everything out on the field, put my body on the line and never let anything past me,” said Headrick, adding that he’s comfortable playing defense and letting other players take hold of the offensive reins.

Headrick, who plans to major in engineering in college, currently plays club ball with the Liverpool FC International Academy Washington out of Issaquah (formerly the ISC Gunners, which he also played for over the years). He may play club soccer at college or turn his attention toward a different sport.

The Reporter asked Headrick a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his life:

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Not talking. Sometimes people get in their own head and don’t communicate as much as they want to. That kind of leads to people not understanding what everyone wants and then (they) get mad at each other for not doing what they needed to do. The team doesn’t work as well when people don’t talk.

What’s your favorite restaurant on Mercer Island?

I go to Pagliaccis a lot with my friends.

If you could go to dinner with one person, who would that be?

Christopher Nolan (filmmaker) seems like a cool person to go to dinner with. I feel like he has a lot of insight into different things.

What superpower would you like to have?

I think I’d like to go invisible. I think that would be fun to be able to sneak around.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

‘The little things matter’ is what one of my coaches would always say, just over time things build on each other. If you do one thing bad, every day it’s going to turn to a lot worse, but you can also make that positive and do one good thing over time — be a big change.

What’s a special skill that you’d like to learn?

I would love to be really good at piano.