By Katen Burgess

The Shoreline men’s soccer team started off a little slow. The team began the season losing four out of their first five games, but has managed to win three of their last five. Despite the lackluster beginning, the Phins are still in the playoff race.

“As poorly as we started… if you rattle off a couple wins, you’re right back in it,” said head coach George Dremousis.

The coach knows a thing or two about soccer; he’s been playing and coaching the sport in Seattle his whole life. He played at Shoreline Community College before transferring to the University of Washington, coached Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds-Woodway to their high school championships, and eventually became the head coach here at Shoreline in 2001. Under Coach Dremousis, the Dolphins have won more games than with any other coach. They have also reached the playoffs five times, and in 2010, won the North Division title.

The team cycled through four goalkeepers through the first eight games of the season. Coach Dremousis said that the team lost one to relocation, one to a broken leg, and another to a concussion. The team was struggling to find continuity and to build familiarity on the field due to the constant shuffle to cover the position. This struggle is quite evident when you consider that at one point the Phins had allowed more goals than any other opponent in the division, and scored the fewest goals scored of any team in the North Division. The team has since turned this around after winning back-to-back games against Skagit Valley and Edmonds.

The way that the NWAC tournament is structured, the top three teams make the playoffs with the first place team getting a bye, the second team getting home-field advantage, and the third team going on the road to play the second-place team. Peninsula and and Whatcom have a pretty firm grasp on the top two spots in the North Division, but Shoreline is currently leading the race for third place and spot in the NWAC Tournament.