Demons ?starving? for season

Despite claiming the first conference title in school history last season, the Washington boys? soccer team wasn?t able to celebrate it the way they wanted to, and you can bet the Demons haven?t forgotten it.

An overtime loss in a season-ending make-up game with Fort Madison robbed the Demons of an outright conference championship, and that is certainly not lost on any of the returning athletes.

?I can?t explain how hungry we are,? Washington senior Joe Smith said. ?It?s like we were abandoned at sea for two years, we are starving. We all want this.?

Smith (eight goals, one assist last season) will be helping lead the Demons in 2015, and he said that the team had to endure some challenges in the offseason, but the team is more focused and ready to go this year.

?Some guys got cut, because they didn?t want this, and we thought that was good,? Smith said. ?We want the people who are here to be ready to work, and all the guys who show up, show up every day. We all go to work, and it?s better that way, instead of having guys who are going to slow us down.?

Despite taking a share of the conference crown for the first time, senior goalkeeper Jacob Baughman said the team isn?t feeling too much extra pressure, as they look for a full title this season.

?Not really,? Baughman said. ?We are just trying to do what we do every season. We are trying to get these guys who haven?t played before where they need to be, so we can work as a team.?

Baughman was the primary keeper last year for the Demons, making 199 saves (fourth in Class 2A), and posting a save percentage of .858 (fifth in Class 2A, minimum 50 saves).

The senior is looking to improve his stats this season, but is focused on making sure that he can help out the team any way he can.

?I want to be better than I was last year, but if it doesn?t come down to that, I want to make the team better than myself,? Baughman said. ?I want to put them in a position where they can count on me, and I can count on them. Teams know we?ll come out and fight against them.?

Offensively, the team lost 2014 leading scorer Mason Quigley, who finished the year with team highs in goals (12), assists (6) and shots on goal (23) last season.

Washington soccer head coach Steven Caulk said the focus will on figuring out who can take that role early in the season.

?I?m making some changes, even with some of those core players we have returning, but we have some new guys who are very talented guys,? Caulk said. ?Mason (Quigley) played a primarily attacking role for us, and we have a few guys in mind that I think can help fill that gap he left.?

Caulk said that Smith and senior Chris Avila (5 goals, 3 assists in 2014) will be among the leaders whom Caulk will look to for production this season.

Smith said he is ready to take on whatever role comes his way this season.

?From my coaches and my past experiences, I feel like I?m prepared for this,? Smith said ?I?m excited because it?s my senior year and we have a good bunch of guys. I think it?ll help me perform better.?

Caulk said the team is feeling the effects of one of the better years in program history, with increased numbers coming out for the Demons this season.

?It?s meant a few more numbers this year,? Caulk said. ?Up until last year or the year before that, this program was looked at within this school community as not successful and carried the stigma of maybe not ever being successful. Now that it is, we are drawing a few more different athletes.?

With those increased numbers, it makes it more important for the Demons to increase the learning curve with what Smith called ?good, athletic freshmen.?

?We have to get them taught up quickly,? Smith said. ?They are learning well and they are fine to be on track. I would say our defense is our weakest point, but we?ll have them ready before our first game, though.?

Looking at the season, the road to repeating as conference champions is going to be tough, with both Fairfield and Fort Madison returning a 27-goal scorer from last year.

?There are a lot of good teams in this conference which will be a big obstacle,? Caulk said. ?We play some really good teams both in and out of conference that have historically been hard to beat.?

One of those tough teams comes in the first game of the season, when Washington will face off against 2014 Class 1A runner-up Mid-Prairie on April 14.