Up 2-0 at halftime, the Washington soccer team was 45 minutes away from picking up a win against a quality Carrboro club and advancing to the fourth round of the state playoffs last season.

Entering with just one loss prior to the matchup, a Pam Pack victory seemed imminent. But head coach Jim Kozuch’s pair of dynamic senior strikers — Jorge Rodriguez and Alex Donadio — were silenced and the defense broken down in the second half. The Jaguars went on to slip three shots by goalie Williams Tate to steal the win on Washington’s home field.

It was a heartbreaking, anticlimactic conclusion to what was otherwise a quality campaign. But the scar has given Washington the humility, unrelenting work ethic and motivation to address some unfinished business in 2014.

“To be honest with you, no we weren’t happy the way last year ended,” Kozuch said. “Were we excited to be where we were on the big stage? Yes, we were, but we thought we could have played a little further.”

At last week’s tryouts, 26 players, including five returning starters, did not miss a beat. Each player, Kozuch says, exerted maximum effort throughout the five-day long, nine-session tryout, which included a series of conditioning drills with simulated games in the afternoon. The tryouts exposed the team’s true leaders and gave Kozuch and assistant coach Ed Rodriguez the opportunity to analyze different players’ growth, footwork and intelligence.

“They came out with a little chip on their shoulder,” said Kozuch. “Some of the veteran guys were getting on the other guys who weren’t running very hard. As a coach, that’s what you love to see. That makes it easier to choose captains. It was nice to see some of the older guys pushing the younger guys to do better.”

Washington’s five returning starters — defenders Williams Page and Holt McKeithan, midfielders Lupe Barrera and Sergio Higuera and the keeper, Tate — will be the foundation behind the team’s customary 4-4-2 formation. All five players, including sophomore Eric Ruiz, a scrappy defensive center midfielder who will slide into the starting 11 this fall, participated in the Greenville 7-on-7 High School Summer Soccer League. Washington was crowned champions of the league with a 6-0-1 record.

Kozuch says the summer campaign offered an early look at potential starters, like Ruiz, as well as a star-studded preview of those who carried the team last season. One Washington player seemed to improve his scoring ability significantly since last season, taking the league by storm.

“Lupe (Barrera) has gone from a great technical player to a goal scorer,” Kozuch said. “The man has great moves and a powerful shot. He was unstoppable this summer, which was great to see. Hopefully, play like that becomes contagious throughout.”

Other players like Kyle Hodges and Leo Brown also showed more than just a few flashes of brilliance.

Despite losing their top-two goal scorers, the Pam Pack has their eyes on the prize this season, with one goal in mind.

“We’ll start small, we want to win conference,” Kozuch said. “We don’t want to stop, though. We have a tough schedule ahead. We’re going to get ourselves better prepared to go further. We don’t want to lose in the third round of the playoffs this year. We want to win the state championship. Our goal is to be in Raleigh this spring.”

Washington begins the season with a grueling opening stretch of games, beginning with a tough road game at J.H. Rose on Aug. 18, followed by a home matchup against the 2013 state runner-up in First Flight the next day.

The remaining five starters will be determined over the next week. On Friday, the Pam Pack will scrimmage Kinston at home at 5 p.m.