Coach: Colin Rigby (fourth year)

Last season: 2A/3A KingCo regular season champions (12-0-0 in league play), fell to Garfield in play-in game to state tournament.

Captains: Matt LeProwse, David Braman, Lucas Meek

Other key athletes: Max Boksem, Austin Taylor, Eric Dreyer, Hunter Bauman, Reis Kissel

Strengths: “We have a really good defensive unit and we’re really deep defensively so we’ll be able to sub people in at any time and still be able to be strong back there,” Meek said.

“I feel safe with the guys in front of me, but we also have good skill going forward,” said LeProwse, the starting goalkeeper. “I think we have guys that can inspire creativity in the others around them in different parts of the field, but I definitely think that defensively, we’re going to be pretty stout as a unit. That’s where our experience is.”

“I think we’ve got the backbone of the team down the middle of the field,” Rigby said. “We’ve got a strong goalie, we’ve got a strong center defender, we’ve got a strong center midfielder and we’ve got strong strikers up top. So the spine of the team is probably going to be where the success on the field comes.”

Needs to improve: “There’s going to be a lot of restructuring going on just because a lot of the leadership last year was from the seniors who moved on,” Braman said. “We’re working really hard to try and get the group together and coordinated and getting to know each other because a lot of these guys are different age groups. But we’re mostly juniors and seniors, so I think it will work really well.”

“The clientele has changed. Positionally, the personnel is different,” Rigby said. “It’s going to take a lot more creativity from a tactical side to make sure that the pieces of the puzzle are fitting.”

Goals: “[It’s a] different team, expectations are the same,” Rigby said. “For me, expectations at Mercer Island soccer are always going to be trying to make the state final.”

Games to watch: 3/22 vs. Interlake, 4/6 vs. Liberty, 4/13 @ Interlake, 5/3 @ Liberty

“All of our non-leagues are going to be fun to watch and fun for our boys to play,” Rigby said. “I’d say the most competitive games this season are going to be Liberty and Interlake.”