Douglas High girls' soccer coach Lorraine Fitzhugh could barely believe her ears last October as she spoke before the other Sierra League coaches.
The Lady Tigers had just clinched the league title for the first time in four years on the back of a regular season which included the longest win streak in school history (10) and fourth-most goals scored in state history (88).
Yet as the league's coaches fielded nominations for postseason honors, one by one Fitzhugh kept getting the same response for hers.
To a surprising degree, she kept hearing things along the lines of, "We aren't familiar with that player," or "We don't know her."
With a starting lineup made up of five freshmen and one sophomore, some of that was to be expected. But it drove an eye-opening point home to Fitzhugh.
"I was standing there begging and pleading to get them to realize what we had down here," she said. "I couldn't explain that they really all should be
highlighted. We had some standout players, but we were so good last year because of the subtle little things happening away from the ball. I couldn't quantify that for them."
It's a problem Fitzhugh said she wouldn't be surprised to see again this year.
"We had a lot of freshman who started last year and this year's team has a very large sophomore group," Fitzhugh said. "For everything we accomplished last year, it's a clean slate this year.
"You just see what they bring. We have some big holes to fill, but there is a high level of athleticism, strength and soccer ability overall. Our overall depth is very good.
"Normally you get a drop off from your starters to your reserves, but this a tight group all the way through. Everyone is very close in terms of ability.
"There will be some tough decisions and it might be a situation where we have different starters every week. They'll be competing for spots all year long."
For the majority of the returning lettermen, Fitzhugh said there is a bitter taste left from the 3-1 loss to Reed in the state title game. It's something she said she hopes will drive the team through the year.
"You have to take it one game at a time always, but they are very hungry to get back to that spot again. There is so much growth from the disappointment. That title game wasn't indicative of the other games we had last year. We just weren't quite ourselves."
This year, Fitzhugh said the team's depth will give opposing defenses fits.
"We're stacked with midfield and forward players," Fitzhugh said. "We like for them to be creative and they are going to get to move around and attack a lot, which is they're nature as a team.
"We should be able to do the things we want to do. Every player we put out there understands they get to make the creative choices on the field. We don't want them to be robots. We want them to run it out there. That's the high level that they play at. Our practices so far have been top notch."
Junior midfielder Alex Laing, who led the team with 10 assists last year, figures to be the central component of the offense.
"I expect her to take charge out there," Fitzhugh said. "She's been solid through tryouts and I think she is in line for her best year. I've never been able to go with just one midfielder, but with her I think we might be able to. I'd like to run that 4-3-3 with the five other forward players kind of churning around her. We're thinking about implementing a new system like that, but they'll dictate that on the field the next few weeks."
Laing will lead a deep and experienced group of midfielders that includes senior CJ Baumgartner (8 goals, 6 assists) and sophomore Katie Dry (9 goals, 7 assists).
"CJ is going to be a leader for us," Fitzhugh said. "She played a lot over the offseason and has come back very strong. She has the skill and desire to have a big season. Katie has the speed and the urgency. She's just a firecracker out there. We'll use her in a number of different positions this year."
Douglas also returns sophomore Tia Lyons, who scored 24 goals last season to go with six assists.
"Tia is coming back very strong and she can become more of a forward force," Fitzhugh said.
Senior Jennifer Gorton and junior Nicole Duster are expected to join the attack up front while Kyra Barth (3 goals, 2 assists), Natalie Freitas (3 goals, 2 assists) and Sierra Bertolone-Smith round out the returning attackers.
Freshman April Hoogendijk, junior Jessica Vega and sophomore Shannon Prinz are all new to the team this year and will contribute on the offensive side of the ball.
Defensively, Douglas returns three of the back five that posted seven shutouts and allowed 25 goals last season.
Sophomore Brianna Randall is back in net after recording 83 saves.
"Bri had some extra training over the summer and she is very motivated to continue getting better," Fitzhugh said. "We have Holly Downer as her backup, but she'll see time on defense too. Holly has always been a forward, but she came to me this year and said she really likes playing defense so we are going to try her out there."
Sophomores Shannon Hubbard and Cora Moody are the remaining returning starters on defense for the Tigers while seniors Shelby Eisele and Jillian Brune will figure into the mix as well. Downer and Erica Macias will contribute there as well.
"I have a lot of strength and height on defense, more than I have ever had there before," Fitzhugh said. "If we want, we have the ability to match speed for speed too if we break Katie Dry back.
"We're young on defense, but the defense last year came out second in the region even though five players there were freshmen. So we're potentially already strong."
Joey Crandall can be reached at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
