The most glaring subtraction comes in net, where Ramos, a 5-foot-8 junior, was a two-year starter with two shutouts to his name this season. To fill the roster void, Reid promoted three junior varsity players but is left with a rotation in flux and an untested sophomore keeper in Dannill Paraskevov.
Washington played one game, a 5-2 win over Masterman, with the new lineup. Though the Eagles closed the season with a victory there, they played sloppy in all phases - with misread balls, lack of aggressiveness, player misdirection, and little communication.
"The whole gamut," Reid said.
The Pub playoffs begin Thursday, but Washington, the tournament's No. 1 seed, gets a bye to the quarterfinals on Tuesday. It gives the team an extra week of practice to meld and work the 6-foot-5 Paraskevov into form.
"We're working him to death in practice," Reid said. "We're constantly shooting on him."
Washington seeks its first Pub title since 2009, Reid's first year on the job. The team canceled a nonleague matchup with Archbishop Ryan this week to avoid injury to an already depleted roster. Practice will be largely devoted to working over the defensive backs, a unit Reid admitted concerned him.
"I think we can score some goals. It's just preventing the goals that I'm a little worried about," he said.
Northeast, Central, and Fels figure to be the Eagles most dangerous competition heading in the playoffs. A month ago, most wouldn't have picked against Washington. Now, things could not be more tenuous.
"I want to say that I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll get into postseason hopefully playing good soccer," Reid said.
