One problem that second-year Boothbay Region soccer coach Kim Dionne didn’t have in her first season was finding playing time for her players. With 14 players, including one who missed most of the season with an injury, it seemed everybody saw plenty of action. But the small roster also took its toll on the team. The lack of depth wore the Seahawks down in several games last year. The team struggled to a 1-12-1 record.

However, Dionne was still optimistic about her team’s success for this year. The Seahawks return 10 starters. And a strong influx of 15 freshmen has nearly doubled the size of her previous squad, and seemingly multiplied everyone’s expectations for this season. The older players are making a concerted attempt at welcoming the freshmen to the team. The veterans are encouraging the rookies and asking for their advice on team matters.

“I’m really looking forward to bonding with freshmen, and giving them a better high school experience,” said senior Lindsey Buckingham. “We only had a couple of subs last year which really hurt us. Now our team has almost doubled in size. There’s a lot of talented freshmen, and I think they are going to help us win games.”

The Seahawks have two weeks to prepare for their 14-game regular season. Dionne has already decided that Jamie Wheeler will return for her second full-season as the goal keeper, and fullback Brenna Alley will be back on defense. Dionne wants to wait and see how the freshmen develop before deciding an alignment for the rest of her team.

“We’ve got a long way to go in becoming a team,” Dionne said. “We don’t have a ‘team identity’ yet. I need to see how  the freshmen play with the older girls to know exactly where the other players should be positioned.”

Dionne expects her team to improve on defense this fall. She is confident that Wheeler’s experience will make her a more confident goal keeper. Dionne believes Wheeler is already showing growth in the position.

“She looks good out there,” Dionne said. “Her punts have looked really good, too.”

Besides the strong turnout, Dionne is also pleased with her team’s attitude entering the season. She said her team’s camaraderie should only grow.

During the preseason, Dionne is focusing on conditioning and skill development. She hopes her team will develop better individual ball skills as the season progresses.

“Conditioning and ball skills that is something we really need to do a better with” Dionne said. “No matter how many players there are, conditioning is always important. It’s always difficult after a long summer for players to get into really good condition.”

The Seahawks begin the regular season with a home game at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5 against Wiscasset.