Trio leads Tigers by example

On and off the soccer field, Lewis and Clark High School’s Stephen Craig, Galen Gorski and Matt Rubright are virtually inseparable.

“They’re around each other all the time,” said Tiger head coach Casey Curtis.

The only three seniors on the Tiger roster, Craig, Gorski and Rubright have been instrumental in leading LC toward the top of the Greater Spokane League this season, battling Ferris, Mead and Central Valley for the top spot in the GSL.

“It’s a really close bond because we are such good friends off the field,” said Rubright, who plays in the midfield. “Stephen and I have been friends off the field the last few years. Galen and I have been playing club for the last four years. We understand each other on the field. It’s one of those things you learn when you play together. I think it helps us to know what to expect of each other and to know they’re there to back you up.”

“It just comes from playing together for four years,” said Craig. “Our freshman year we played together and we’ve always played back there together. We kind of know what to expect from each other.”

“We’re all in the same sort of classes together,” said Gorski, who has been paired with Craig on defense all four years at LC. “It also helps we’re the only three seniors on the team, so it’s a bonding thing being the only three. We’ve been pretty good friends off the field even before high school soccer.”

Craig, who was a second team All-GSL selection last year, co-captains the Tigers with his good friend and defensive partner Gorski.

“They’re definitely the guys I want to lead,” said Curtis. “They’re both very intelligent and all-around leaders. Stephen’s a 4.0 student and Galen’s like a 3.97, so they lead that way, too. Here’s one of the better players in the league and has some of the best grades in the school. We have younger kids who are struggling to find that common ground. It’s nice that I can point to them and say that’s how you do it. I like that I can tell Stephen something and he can share it with the other kids and make sense of it so I don’t get that blank stare, like, What?”

While the three Tigers seem to be triplets, they each have their own style of play to lend to the LC attack.

“They’ve been together for so long that they kind of know what each other is doing without having to speak up a lot,” Curtis said. “Right now, the three of them kind of fit down a row down the middle. Galen knows where he wants to go with the ball and knows how to get involved. Stephen’s not the kind of kid who overextends himself. He’s not trying to get crazy or pretty. He’s a worker bee, I’d guess you’d say. He knows what he can do and he does the job. He’s not trying to put any flash on it, whether it’s defensively or starting the attack. He just does the work.”

“Matt’s fiery,” continued Curtis. “Sometimes I have to reel him in a little bit. He gets frustrated. He wants to play at the highest level possible. Offensively we look to him to start the attack and be creative. He does a tremendous job. He works well with the other guys. As much as we tell him to shoot the ball, he could never shoot it enough and be happy. He moves the ball when he needs to. His defense has really improved, too. At the beginning of the year our midfield wasn’t too focused on the attack and now we’re getting things figured out and that starts with Matt. He’s got the high work rate so that helps the rest.”

The three may have different playing abilities, but in the leadership department, they are one and the same.

“None of us are really vocal, so it’s kind of lead by example,” said Craig. “We go out and work hard in practice every single day. We have four freshmen on varsity, so we try to get to know them and show them how to play Tiger soccer.”

After missing out on a state berth last season, the LC seniors hope to make the trip in their final attempt.

“Coming into this year we had a little team meeting and we decided that we wanted to get to state,” Gorski said. “The year before Stephen and I were freshmen, we had a real good team and they got fourth in state. Stephen and I have always wanted to get back there.”

“All we can really do is play our game, win out and go from there,” said Rubright. “Our team’s played pretty solid together. We’ve had a few unlucky losses. We’re in a place where we can make a pretty good streak going into the playoffs. As far as going to state, we can do it.”

“What we want to accomplish is still available and we can’t lose sight of that,” said Curtis. “The older guys, especially those three, understand that. Last year, we were a game away, really eight minutes away, from a state playoff berth and then it all fell apart. The eleven kids that graduated, they didn’t get another chance at it.”