Alexes Lopez-Shaw controlled the back row while Caroline Brawner made sure things were flowing well up front.
Both Bothell girls scored. Not in the back of the net, but with skills and smarts that helped push their Crossfire Premier U17 soccer club to the US Region IV (West) championship and a coveted spot in the upcoming US Youth Soccer National Championships July 21-26 in Lancaster, Mass.
“This is the big thing, everyone wants to go to nationals,” said Brawner, a forward/midfielder who attends Archbishop Murphy High in Everett. “Getting to nationals is awesome — everyone’s looking up to us.”
Added Lopez-Shaw, a goalkeeper and student at Holy Names Academy in Seattle: “In practice, you can tell that everyone is determined to keep working harder. We’re even more focused. We’re not gonna go there (nationals) without being our best.”
The Dick McCormick-coached squad notched a trio of shutouts against Real So Cal Blue (3-0, final), Utah (4-0, semifinal) and Arizona (1-0, quarterfinal) at regionals in Lancaster, Calif., last month to qualify for nationals.
It will be the first trip to nationals for Lopez-Shaw, 17, Brawner, 16, and their club. Both girls made their high-school all-league squads last season — Brawner a 2A Cascade first-teamer and Lopez-Shaw a 3A Metro honorable mention — and they’re ready to take their skills to a higher level.
Brawner, who made the 2A all-state first team last year, has been spending her summer days training with the state Olympic Development Program team and with Crossfire. She never tires of life on the soccer pitch.
“It’s all I like to do — It’s my passion,” Brawner said. “I have a goal: I’ve always wanted to be on the women’s national team, play on the World Cup and Olympic teams. Ever since I was a little girl, that’s what I’ve wanted to do.
“I just keep playing and do workouts on my own. Keep working hard — I have the dedication and determination to do well.”
Lopez-Shaw, who has committed to attend the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. after high school, admits that she’s quiet off the field — but in the net, she’s a talker with a capital T.
“I’m loud — I get people to do their job,” Lopez-Shaw said with a laugh. “I probably save myself, not always with a lot of save action, but by communicating.
“You can stop an attack that’s coming if you can get your defense ready for it.”
Lopez-Shaw hasn’t begun her senior year at Holy Names yet, but she’s already prepared for the Naval Academy. She visited the campus in February and tested her physical limits in a recent summer seminar. Aside from soccer, she’s interested in a career in the government-intelligence field.
“My idea of the Naval Academy is that they are all leaders. They’re intense — I figured that was my personality,” said the honors student. “(At the summer seminar) It made me feel a lot better about my choice. It kind of heightened it.”
Brawner, who sports a 3.99 grade-point average and is a food-bank and child-care volunteer, is a giving person on the field, as well.
“I’m not a goal scorer, I don’t like to shoot — I like to give other people the chance to shoot,” she said. “I just play the ball, I’m kind of a playmaker and am not selfish.”
