Even as the Eagles struggled for wins, playing a bulked-up schedule in preparation for their first postseason at the Division I level, coaches and players made no excuses about how young the team was.

After finishing the season playing as well as they did, the Eagles, with 13 letterwinners expected back, are finally looking ahead.

"We focused on 2009," coach Chad Schuler said. "But everybody knew that not only were we playing for 2009, but we were already getting ready for our season in 2010."

Coming off a rough stretch in which they lost 11 of 12 games, the Eagles rebounded with two solid games in the Division I district tournament. After a first-round bye, New Albany beat Delaware 2-0 in the second round on Oct. 24, avenging a 1-0 loss from Oct. 6. The Eagles advanced to a district semifinal, where they lost 2-0 to eighth-seeded Dublin Coffman.

Against Coffman, New Albany withstood several early chances before settling in midway through the first half. The Eagles nearly took a lead with roughly nine minutes left in the first half when Trent Guy ripped a shot that sailed inches right of the goal, but the score remained tied at 0 going into halftime.

Coffman's Zak Leedom scored on a shot from 20 yards out just four minutes into the second half. Then, six minutes later, Carl Ruf added a second goal on an assist by Ryan Snashall.

Despite the fact that New Albany was seeded 22nd, lower than any other team in a district semifinal, Coffman coach Steve Watts said he knew his team could not afford to overlook the Eagles.

"We knew that if (New Albany) came in and played well, we'd have trouble," Watts said. "We knew if we came in and didn't play well, we'd have trouble. We just needed to make sure we took care of ourselves."

New Albany finished the season 5-12-1 overall. In the OCC-Capital Division, the Eagles tied Hilliard Bradley for sixth at 1-5, behind Olentangy Orange (5-0-1), Mount Vernon (5-1), Big Walnut (4-1-1), Watkins Memorial (2-3-1) and Delaware (1-4-1). The Eagles played seven of 16 regular-season games against teams that reached at least a district final.

Despite the Eagles' youth, they will lose three seniors. Jay Griffith was a three-year starter on defense and made special mention all-OCC-Capital this season. Matt Washington was a two-year letterwinner and started at midfield. He was named honorable mention all-conference. David Soldaini was a two-year letterwinner and was a major contributor in the midfield.

The Eagles will rely on a sizeable junior class next fall that includes several players with at least two years of varsity experience. Guy and Jack Buck elevated into key roles this fall after seeing significant action the past two years. Guy started in the midfield and made first-team all-conference, and Buck earned second-team all-conference honors as a forward. Midfielder Kyle Wisniewski and defender Braden Passias are two-year letterwinners who started this season.

Sophomore Tyler Washington leads a deep sophomore class. Washington, a two-year letterwinner, started most of the season at forward before moving into the starting goalie spot for the final four games. He had his first career shutout in the postseason win over Delaware. Sophomore Chad Guy started most of the season at goalie.

Also expected back are juniors Ryan Little (midfield), Eric Macchi (midfield) and Rob Bradbury (midfield) and sophomores Chad Coomes (defense), Derek Moon (midfield), Alek Buck (defense) and George Brand (goalie).

Although the Eagles definitely expect to improve with a more experienced roster, Schuler said his players must continue to develop their individual skills in order to compete with the elite Division I teams.

"We rely too much on passing the ball, and we have to start to attack on the dribble more," Schuler said. "But right now, we only have one or two guys that can attack on the dribble, with the ball at their feet with really good pace. The other guys, when they attack with the ball at their feet, it's at three-quarters speed. That's not going to get it

"We explained to the guys that in the offseason, you have to evaluate yourself, the positives and the negatives. We told them that we definitely have to have more people with the ability to dribble with pace."

At a glance

•Record: 5-12-1 overall, 1-5 (sixth) in OCC-Capital

•Seniors lost: Jay Griffith, David Soldaini and Matt Washington

•Key returnees: Jack Buck, Trent Guy, Braden Passias, Tyler Washington and Kyle Wisniewski