ARLINGTON — The Lady Eagles have been eager to get back onto the pitch.

Nine months is a long time to wait, especially when a forfeit is what kept you out of the district tournament.

“Yeah, that one wasn’t easy to let go,” said Arlington soccer manager Nathan Davis.

But there is a lesson Davis said the Arlington girls have taken away from the 2009 season: don’t put yourself in a position where it’s out of your hands.

“We can’t afford to start slow this year,” said Davis, whose team won four out of its final six games to make a run at the playoffs.

The Eagles finished 6-10 last season, earning 18 points which was just two points behind Stanwood. The Spartans earned a late victory by forfeit to clinch the final playoff spot.

What might help this time around is having a non-conference game to start the season at Mountlake Terrace Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m., to work out the kinks before Wesco North play begins.

Davis will return eight girls from the 2009 team, three of which were starters.

“There’s a lot of talent still on this team and we can be right in there,” said Davis.

Davis’ assessment is based on players in key positions, starting with returning starters Macky Adell, Dana Canaria and Sadie Hitsky, who will likely provide the bulk of the offense.

They will be supported by midfielder Chelsea Dewitte.

With those players up front, Davis came into the first day of tryouts, Aug. 23, with little idea of what’s going to be available to build a defense, especially one that was led by first team all Wesco North goal keeper Chelsea Boulton.

“It’s going to be hard to replace Chelsea,” Davis said. “But we’ll have options to move forward.”

Looking around the league, Davis sees a bottleneck on top, with Everett and Monroe at the top.

“Monroe is loaded this year and returned almost everybody,” he said. “And then Everett went undefeated.”

That leaves four teams fighting for the remaining two playoff spots, and Nathan sees his girls competing with Lake Stevens, Snohomish and Cascade.