Challenge of going young

When things change for the Central Valley High School girls soccer program, they change in big ways.

For years, the Lady Bears were a senior-dominated program. It was rare that sophomores cracked the varsity, let alone freshmen.

This year, the first under new coach Andres Monrroy, Central Valley features a varsity roster with as many freshmen (six) as seniors.

“We knew coming in that we were going to be pretty young this year,” senior midfielder Abbie Corigliano said. “I think it was good that we started this year with a clean slate. Nothing against our old coach (Brandon Deyarmin), but we started the year with everyone starting out fresh and coach Monrroy had an open mind about the freshmen.”

With the majority of their experience focused in the defensive end, the Bears start a young attack – freshmen forwards.

“We do seem to get younger the farther up the field we go,” senior defender Christi Schofield said. “As seniors, we have really tried to look after the freshmen. They have a lot on their shoulders and we try to remember that.

“I was a sophomore when I first came up to the varsity and I didn’t have a lot of company. I felt pretty alone with a group of about 10 seniors. We’ve done a lot of team bonding and we have team dinners every week to make sure everyone feels together.”

Going young – as young as it gets in the Greater Spokane League – can be a challenge.

“When you stop and think about it, the GSL is a U-18 league,” the coach said. “What we have is a group of 14-year-olds playing against 18-year-olds. We don’t have a lack of skills. I’m pleased with our skill level. What we don’t have is experience. Our next couple of weeks will tell us where we really are.”

Part of the challenge is the Bears’ lack of size.

“What (these freshmen) have is speed,” Monrroy said. “What we lack right now is size. As they mature, they’ll get stronger and be able to match-up better physically. Right now, they get pushed around by more physical teams.”

“I look at these young freshmen and I marvel at just how good they’ll be when they get to be seniors,” Corigliano said. “Experience is key in this league, and they’re going to have a ton of experience by the time they’re through here. They’re going to be so good.”

The young Bears hit the ground running, winning their first five games. But as the league season heated up, CV dropped three of four games to Mead, Ferris and Shadle Park – managing a shutout win over Rogers before rebounding Wednesday at home with a 2-0 blanking of North Central.

Freshman Alex Richardson scored an unassisted first-half goal against NC, and junior Ashley Wiggs added an insurance goal off an assist from sophomore Jackie Morden.

“Our inexperience shows at times,” Monrroy said. “The Shadle Park game was one where we were really, physically intimidated a little bit. We didn’t respond very well in that game. But we played the same kind of game against East Valley (a 1-0 win) and we did a great job of taking them on and playing with them.”

Mead tops the GSL standings with a 5-1 league record. Three teams – Lewis and Clark, Gonzaga Prep and Shadle Park – all are tied with 4-1 league marks, followed by Central Valley at 3-3. That puts the Bears in solid position to reach the district tournament.

“Last year I thought we had a pretty good squad, but we let things slip away and we didn’t play well,” Corigliano said. “This year we’ve played so much better than I thought we would. We were on a great roll to start the year. Once we lost to Mead, some of those old feelings started to come back from last year.

“But this team is different from last year. It was important for us to get the win (Wednesday) and we have a big game ahead of us Monday with University”

For Schofield and the rest of the seniors, Monday night’s 7 p.m. showdown with the Titans is a highlight of the season.

“I’m not sure our freshmen really understand what a big game U-Hi always is,” she said. “But they’ll figure things out in a hurry, I’m sure. For the rest of us, we’re all pretty familiar with their players. I play club soccer with some of the U-Hi players and whoever wins will make life miserable for the others for a year.”

Monrroy said he expects his team to play well in its final four regular season games – against University, Lewis and Clark, Gonzaga Prep and Mt. Spokane.

“I fully expect us to make Districts,” he said. “We’re going to get as much experience as we can this year and get our young players ready for next year. We’re still going to be young next year. Next year we’ll lose this group of seniors and we’re not going to have very many seniors next year. It’s important to get these young players as much experience as we can this year.”