Evergreen Lutheran soccer has 11 players on its roster. That hasn’t stopped the Eagles from making the state semifinals

The Evergreen Lutheran High School boys soccer team may be small, with only 11 players on its roster, but if you ask anyone the Eagles have played, they are considered a fierce opponent that made the most out of a small pool of players to draw from.

“We have 80-something kids in the entire school,” Eagles coach Bill Renner said. “We have football going on, and we have soccer going on at the same time, so the two sports are competing for all the kids.”

For much of the season, Evergreen Lutheran has been playing with barely players enough to field a team — there were originally 12 on the roster — and just one substitution available.

That meant each player had to make sure they remained healthy, with some taping up their ankles before each practice and game to avoid injury.

A recent season-ending injury to one of the Eagles’ standouts means Evergreen Lutheran has exactly 11 players entering Friday night’s Class 1B state semifinals match against Orcas Island. Another injury, or a player getting carded, would leave the Eagles shorthanded.

“Preparation is key right now because one of our key defenders, Sam Bessler, broke his collarbone in the last game so now we’re down to no subs,” said senior Liam Peterson, who was named the 1B SeaTac League MVP. “We’re trying to do a new formation so that’s really gonna be key.

“It’s going to be a 3-2-3-2, because we’re without our center back, so hopefully two defensive center mids will help fill the spot, but not put someone in a completely new position.”

Bessler’s injury and the subsequent shuffling of formation has come at crunch time for Evergreen Lutheran.

“Unfortunately, that was a huge loss,” Renner said. “Our defense gave up a total of 11 goals all year. That’s the best of any team I’ve coached in 25 years. I can’t say enough about Sam. He’s phenomenal. He works hard. He plays hard and he’s key to our defense.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge to overcome his absence, but I think the guys are up for the challenge. They’re still upbeat, they’re still looking forward to the game. I think we’ll be ready for the game.”

The Eagles plan to use their new formation as well as their lack of extra players to their advantage against Orcas Island.

“I watched one of the Orcas Island games, and the one thing they’re good at is that they possess the ball really well, especially from their defense through their midfield,” Renner said. “If we can keep our main three defenders that we have, and take one of the back four and move him into a defensive midfielder, I’m hoping that’s going to give us a better opportunity to control our midfield.

“With our guys having to run 80 minutes every single game, they’re going to be less tired than what Orcas Island is. I think they’re in better position to handle the stress of no rest than what Orcas Island is going to be.”

And, if the worst case scenario happens and the Eagles lose another player? They have a plan for that, too.

“This game, even if we lose a player and we’re playing down a man, we’ll pull up and play defense and go for the overtime penalty kicks shootout,” Renner said. “I’ll put our 11 guys against any 11 guys out there in penalty kicks.”

“The kids are awesome and this team is really special. I can’t tell you how special this team is.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2018 at 11:21 AM.