Andy Mihovilovich and Dimitri Polichronakis have played hundreds of games while growing up in Bellingham as devoted and durable soccer standouts, and neither can remember playing on a weak team.
Having been elite club teammates and high school rivals for what seems forever to these athletes, they enter their second season as starters at Whatcom Community College hoping to find a way to extend their college careers while enjoying a strong final season together.
Unless, of course, they're recruited by the same four-year college. They wouldn't mind that a bit, since both would love to receive scholarship offers. They don't want this to be their last season of soccer.
Since both were four-year starters for outstanding high school programs - Mihovilovich at Sehome, Polichronakis at Squalicum - they're probably WCC's most experienced players after helping the Orcas qualify for the NWAACC tournament by finishing second in the rugged North Region at 6-6-1. They give new Orcas coach Joel Grossman good examples of leaders who truly love the game.
"Not a lot of high school soccer players get four-year college scholarship offers," said Grossman, a 2002 Anacortes graduate who played several different positions in three seasons at Western Washington University and was an all-conference academic selection.
"I have to pay for my own schooling," said Mihovilovich, explaining one reason he came to WCC. "I'm working my way through school."
"I came to WCC because I just wanted to keep playing and keep improving," said Polichronakis, a versatile threat who will again play center midfield, the spot where he dominated at Squalicum and helped the Storm to the 2009 Class 2A state championship as a junior.
Mihovilovich will play forward after serving at outside mid for the Orcas last season. He was a dominant midfielder his last two seasons at Sehome after playing two seasons at striker, helping the Mariners to the 2008 Class 2A state title as a sophomore.
Mihovilovich enjoys playing midfield -- "You get more touches" -- but he's fine with playing striker, where he displayed plenty of spunk as one of the area's best young players when he was at Sehome.
Considering that fewer than 5 percent of high school players can start for a team in the 32-team NWAACC, which covers Washington and Oregon, Mihovilovich and Polichronakis have already beaten tough odds to extend their careers.
"I knew it would be hard (to become a starter)," said Mihovilovich, who was the type of enthusiastic kid at Sehome who would leave the field only if he was seriously injured.
"I just worked hard," said Polichronakis, explaining how he became a starter. "I knew I could do it."
Both feel the Orcas have a chance to be better than their overall 8-10-2 record last season.
"We definitely have a more fit team," said Mihovilovich, pointing out how hard Grossman works the players and how much he stresses fitness (the new coach has extensive youth coaching experience and runs a business called Soccer Fit Elite). "I think we'll do well once we jell as a team."
Grossman says his relatively inexperienced 22-man team, which also counts heavily on returning defenders Ivan Ocampo from Mount Vernon, Dalton Rockwell and Adrian Tarkington, has solid depth.
"They can all play," said Grossman, who will also count on Nolan Shepard from Bellingham, Mitch Stevenson from Lynden and sophomore goalkeeper Carlos Alvarez from Meridian among seven players from Whatcom County Schools. "We had to make some cuts.
"We definitely have the potential to make the tournament (as one of the North Region's top three teams)."
Grossman said one of the squad's primary assets will be Mitch Barrows, a former Ferndale standout who is working with both the men's and women's teams, and Claire Morgan, the former Bellingham all-state performer who is serving as a new head coach of the women and also working on specific skills with the men as well. Barrows and Morgan were both four-year starters at WWU.
The Orcas will open on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m. against Chemeketa CC at Tukwila's Starfire Complex. Their first home game will be against Tacoma CC on Sept. 21.
