Not many teams can see through the Mercer Island Forrest. Not many can score on him, either.

Mercer Island senior goalkeeper Forrest Marowitz gives the boys soccer team a distinct advantage this season despite losing five key players from last year’s 3A KingCo title team. Marowitz has anchored the defense for three seasons, becoming one of the best in the state.

“It is a tremendous, big advantage,” said Mercer Island coach Steve Newman. “Anytime you have a veteran goalkeeper and the same defense for a couple of years, it’s big.”

The entire defense was a big reason for the team’s third-place finish in state last year. But the Islanders have a few changes in front of Marowitz.

“It’s a different group, different shape. We lost some athleticism,” said Marowitz. “But the overall talent, soccerwise, is better.”

Marowitz believes in the team so much that he decided to quit playing basketball to focus on soccer during the offseason.

“It has made me 1,000 times better,” said Marowitz. “Club soccer is so much faster.”

Marowitz is one of three captains on the team, including Jed Jacobson and Chris Morris. Leadership will be key for the Islanders, as many of the players who graduated were scoring threats.

“We need to lead by example,” said Marowitz. “We lost our first game of the regular season the last two years and we need to get rid of the attitudes that led to that.”

Mercer Island faced longtime rival Bellevue on Tuesday (after Reporter deadline) to open the regular season.

“We have the same core group and a lot of depth,” said Newman, who has only juniors and seniors on the varsity team. “The highlight guys are gone on offense, but we are more well-rounded.”

Newman hopes to employ multiple scoring threats, making it difficult for other teams to shut down the offense.

“We have some speed, but we are a possession-style team,” said Newman.

The team has such a broad base of talent that Newman will be able to deviate a little from his normal formula.

“We will have three different formations, and we can shift some guys around,” said Newman. “This is a very versatile team. It is very unusual.”

The change in the league will give a different structure to the Mercer Island game schedule. The team opened last week with four games against 4A schools. That challenge, no matter the outcome, will prepare the team well for the regular season.

One team that will stand in the Islanders’ way is Bellevue.

“They have a lot of depth, and they always create problems for us,” said Newman.

The Islanders will also have to contend with Woodinville and Inglemoor, two teams that they have not seen.

Newman said that one indication of how good the team could be is the players’ dedication.

“They love their club teams, but most of them would rather play for their school, and that says a lot,” said Newman, who guided the team to state four out of the last five years.