All those items – large or small – on and off the soccer field that may not always show up on a scoreboard but nevertheless serve as the blocks that forge a team’s success, those are Liam Miller’s domain.

As the center back defender in Bellarmine Prep’s aggressive three-back system, Miller served as the quarterback, of sorts, for a Lions defense that allowed just 10 total goals over 20 matches this spring. Yes, that works out to an average of 0.5 goals a game.

Miller’s leadership, the result of natural ability and a relentless work ethic, led Bellarmine to the Class 4A state boys soccer title last month and made him the News Tribune’s All-Area player of the year. The Lions defense gave up just two goals in four state tournament matches, and beat Skyline, 1-0, in the championship match to finish 17-2-1 overall.

On the field Miller, a junior, never stops.

“He’s the heart and soul of the team,” Bellarmine coach Jim Dempsey said. “He doesn’t just say the right thing. He shows it. Players often think they are putting in the effort, but, when you watch them, you know they’re not. With Liam, even if the ball gets by him he’s still working to disrupt the play, to get back and support the guy that is supporting him.”

Flanked for most of the season by seniors Jack Radovich and Andrew Parra along the final line of the Bellarmine defense, along with Jayson Baldwin in goal, Miller cajoled his unit to respond to any and all challenges. There were moments of doubt, but that trio came through despite discussions about switching to a four-man defensive line.

“They didn’t necessarily buy into the three-back system at the start,” Dempsey said. “Philosophically, I like to do that. But you can only do that if you have the right people.”

Late in the regular season, with the South Puget Sound League title potentially slipping away against Puyallup, the halftime talk turned to putting another defenseman back. The Lions trailed 1-0. But Miller was having none of it.

“There actually were a couple of games,” said Miller, who also pointed to an early playoff game against Eastmont when the opposition pressure seemed to be gaining control of the game. “I just said, we should stick to our three-back and believe in coach. He believes in us, so believe in him. We’re a family. Believe in ourselves.”

Keeping just three defenders along the back line allowed Bellarmine to push an extra man forward into the offense. That aggressiveness turned into added opportunities all season as the Lions converted 53 total goals in 2022.

“The three-back was a main key,” Miller said.

While the defense molded itself over the first few games, the offense scored plenty of goals. As Bellarmine clicked, the Lions began to manifest their ultimate goal.

“We did ask ourselves, what do we want to accomplish?” Miller said. “The answer was to win state. That really motivated me, even if I didn’t really believe it at first.”

Like everyone else, it had been three years since a state title was even up for grabs. The COVID-19 pandemic shut spring sports down in 2020, erasing Miller’s freshman season. As a sophomore a year ago, there were games to play, but the WIAA canceled all state-level post-seasons for the entire school year.

Miller remembered the 2019 team that his brother, Shamus, played with. That Lions team won just two matches all season long.

Still, with early success, Bellarmine began to believe a state-title run could happen in 2022. Miller certainly was ready.

“Liam was a major, major leader in that cause,” Dempsey said. “It’s all about how you respond to adversity, respond to challenges. And Liam developed significantly over the last year (as a leader), changing messages to appeal to different players and their strengths.”

Miller learned to be relentless early on. He and his brother didn’t play video games much growing up, instead finding themselves in the backyard with father Brady, a former Gig Harbor High baseball player, playing soccer.

Yes, they tried baseball. Miller even ran a little track in middle school. His club 4x100 relay team out of Federal Way advanced all the way to the seventh-grade nationals, where it finished 13^th in the country that summer.

But the passion always was with soccer.

“My dad coached us when we were little kids,” Miller said. “Soccer was what we did for fun.”

That fun now has turned into big results for the Lions. Already, Miller and company have started to contemplate what might be possible in 2023.

“Definitely,” Miller said. “Yes, we are losing key factors in some seniors (like Radovich and Parra). But we have a lot coming back.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 5:00 AM.