LC’s Peter Dunau grows into strong midfielder role

Those who know and play soccer understand the most balanced player on the pitch is usually the midfielder.

He has to play both offense and defense equally well and must be able to distribute the ball at will to a waiting forward for a quality scoring chance.

Above all, he must be patient with the ball.

If there’s one player on the Lewis and Clark High School team who understands patience, it’s senior Peter Dunau.

“Peter’s technical skills have always been good,” said LC coach Casey Curtis. “When he was a freshman, we were a pretty senior-led team, so his chance to play on the varsity wasn’t really there.

“His sophomore year, it was kind of the same deal. It was like we could take him, but he wasn’t going to play a lot.

“He’s grown physically a lot. Last year it was a no-brainer. He was going to be one of our key players.

“He was second team all league last year and a big part of our attack. This year I look for him to build upon that.

“He’s real excited to be a bigger contributor than he was last year.”

Dunau has not only grown with his skills, but also physically, sprouting up around eight inches in height to 5-foot-8 since his freshman year.

“I know as a freshman, technically Peter was good enough,” said Curtis. “It was just physically it was just the kind of thing he was going to be knocked around a lot, so it wasn’t worth it to play him on the varsity.

“He’s a lot stronger on the ball (now). A lot of times you can be smaller in stature, but if you’re real strong on the ball, it doesn’t matter.

“Now it’s a matter of even the bigger kids have trouble getting the ball from Peter because he’s good with his hips and positions himself well.”

Dunau used his time on the junior varsity to observe his Tiger varsity teammates, who enjoyed a lot of success on the field, advancing to a couple of state tournament appearances.

“When I was a freshman, they were basically giants,” Dunau said. “Actually, one of the best players when I was a freshman, Skye Henderson, his dad was my coach in U-13, so I had known him for a while.

“If you watch him, he’s probably one of the smartest players that I’ve seen in terms of passing in my position. I always watched them in hope that one day I could lead the team to the success they did. We’ll see.

“The big thing was he was always patient on the ball and never lost the ball, something I try to do, but he was a lot better at it than I am.”

Dunau, who also played some at forward last year, will concentrate on midfield this season, as he hopes to lead the Tigers back to the top of the Greater Spokane League.

“I think I would prefer midfield for sure because I’m more of a passer and set-up guy than the big forward,” Dunau said. “I want to score more goals this year, but I’d rather distribute the ball.

“You can control the pace of the game more from the middle. You’re more involved.”

“He’s a real good distributor, which is nice, and that’s what we need,” Curtis said.

“A big thing for Peter is he’s a quiet guy. He’s a smart kid, not loud.

“If you saw Peter at school, you’d probably not even notice him, but on the field he gets a little more fired up and gets more into it.

“He talks more and demands the ball. That’s a big thing.

“When you’re trying to be an attacker, especially in the midfield, you have to demand the ball. Not in a rude way, but ‘Hey, I need the ball. I can’t help us if I don’t have the ball to get it to that guy.’

“That’s where he’s really grown, in his ability to demand the ball from his teammates. At the same time, Peter leads by example.

The kids see him work hard offensively and defensively, and that helps a lot, especially with the younger kids.”

Dunau leads several returning players for the Tigers and has high hopes for this year’s squad.

“We have a lot of guys returning, so I think we should have a real strong team,” Dunau said. “I’d like to score more goals and make more game-changing plays than I did last year.

“As a senior, I want to be more of a leader on the team.”