Repeating the success of a nearly undefeated season can be a tall order.

The East Ridge boys’ soccer team saw the most success it ever had last season, going 21-1 and taking third place in the Class 2A tournament. The Raptors were the No. 1 seed in the tournament but were upset 2-0 in the semifinals by Wayzata.

It’s a new season now. With practice set to begin Monday, East Ridge is moving past 2014, using what happened then as motivation in hopes of getting back to the same spot, if not better.

There’s one thing coach Anthony Bidwell does not want to do, however.

“We’re not going to compare it to last season,” he said. “It’s all about the process and making sure that we progress each and every day.”

The team lost a bunch of talent to graduation, including top goal scorers Samuel Ruiz Plaza and Connor Stevenson, the 2014 Mr. Soccer. Most of the player turnover will be on the attacking end. The coach and captains see their squad as a possession-based team this season.

They’ll return 14 to 15 players and two of three lines (midfield and the back line). The focus this year will be working with those players who “have really been in the wings waiting for opportunities to present themselves” and to reach their potential, said Bidwell, starting his fourth year as East Ridge coach.

Scoring will be a collective effort, because it’s difficult when that burden is placed on only one or two players, Bidwell said. They also will strive to be more dynamic in their attack game, he added.

“We’ll be very strong defensively, and that will help get into our attack,” said Jarrod Ronquillo, a forward and senior captain.

In the semifinal loss to Wayzata, the Raptors uncharacteristically found themselves behind at halftime. Players were “all pretty mad at each other” at that point, said midfielder senior captain Keelan Spencer. Bidwell thought the team did a lot of things well in that game, such as controlling the ball and generating scoring opportunities.

Change a few unlucky breaks, such as shots off the post, and the game’s outcome could have turned out differently, Spencer said. The Raptors also had to wait around before the game started, while the first semifinal went into overtime.

“I think we just lost all our energy before we even started the game,” Spencer said.

An upside was that it was a great state tournament debut for East Ridge boys’ soccer, according to Bidwell. His players believed in each other and had exceptional camaraderie. Taking an undefeated record into the state tournament also was quite an accomplishment.

“We knew we were going to be pretty good,” Spencer said. “We didn’t know we were going to be that good.”

Successful teams, especially those with a string of victories, often play with a target on their backs. The captains know the importance of games against their rivals in Woodbury, Park of Cottage Grove, North St. Paul and Stillwater. But they know they can handle it.

According to Bidwell, East Ridge players love the pressure.

“That’s when we perform the best,” Bidwell said. “We want to be in that pressure cooker. But we don’t want to get lost in trying to replicate what we did last season.”

Rather, the Raptors want to go through the process of improving and continuing to grow as a team.

“The standard hasn’t dropped,” Ronquillo said. “We’re coming out hungry. Oh, yeah.”