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Aug. 28, 2010

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

BEN FLETCHER - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Kellan Brown's sophomore season was a breakout.

After scoring 10 goals and notching five assists for the Western Washington men's soccer team, he was honored as a first-team all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference pick and named to the West Region first team.

But Brown said he'd trade it all for one thing.

"I don't really like all the attention," he said. "I just want to be on a team that can win."

Read: Make the playoffs.

Once again, in 2010 the Vikings have talent. So did last year's team, which at 8-11-1 finished below .500 despite a 5-3 record in the GNAC, good enough for second. It wasn't good enough to earn one of four at-large spots in the West Regionals of the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

Brown saw last year's team fall short by the slimmest of margins, with wins slipping away with what seemed like the arbitrary bounces of the ball.

"We've got to make our own luck this year," he said.

In Brown and his teammates, the Vikings have the guns to do just that.

While the hope is Brown can build upon his breakout sophomore year, he doesn't have to shoulder the load alone. Gibson Bardsley and his three years of All-GNAC production - including 25 goals and 11 assists to rank fourth and sixth respectively in Western soccer lore - return for his senior season, probably in the midfield.

"Gibson's probably the most explosive, athletic player I've ever played with," Brown said. "He's really strong as well. If we can figure out a way to get the best out of him I think he can be the player of the conference."

Also back in the fold is Oscar Jimenez, a Mount Vernon High School product who seems to be the one guy everyone wants to play with because of his ability to make others look good.

Jimenez, a lock in the center midfield, was a GNAC first-teamer and earned second-team West Region honors last year after scoring six goals and dishing five assists.

"He understands the game really well," said Brown, who played with Jimenez and Bardsley on the same Player Development League squad in the offseason. "He probably understands the game better than anyone on our team."

Then there's an influx of new faces, guys like former Ferndale forward Caden Sowers and former Meridian goalkeeper Dakota Huntley. Good thing there's ample experience to balance out 11 freshmen on the roster. Senior center back Thomas Kaufman, who has started 31 games over the last two seasons, is among 14 returning players with experience. That helps a lot.

After all, there are big shoes to fill with the loss of defender Chris Brundage, the GNAC Co-Freshman of the Year who decided to take his talents to the Division I stage at Washington.

"We have a ton of returning talent and experience," Western coach Travis Connell said. "And it isn't just time in the program, there are a lot of kids who have played almost every minute since they were freshmen. Our leaders are hungry for success and willing to do the work to achieve it."

Still, Brown's ability to produce in the offensive third is a creative spark the Vikings will need to make the postseason for the first time in the program's history.

Connell moved Brown, then a midfielder, up to the forward position late last year to take advantage of his knack for finding the net.

"We moved Kellan up front to 'release the shackles' and just let him go," Connell said in a prepared release. "He hasn't looked back."

Connell expounded further during a phone interview: "Technically, he's fantastic, but the best part of Kellan is he has an instinct in that final third of the field and in front of the goal ... it's almost he does the wrong thing and it turns out to be the right thing."

Connell is confident this team will score goals. But, aside from staying healthy, finding a balance between a supreme attack and a defense that when playing well can be just as stingy will be the key to the Vikings' season.

"We have to find that balance," Connell said. "We struggled with that last year."

To Brown, who is interested in pursing geology as a major, it's about "putting it all together" this time around.

"We just know every game matters," the junior said.