Mt. Spokane tries to extend soccer season Saturday
It didn’t take long for Logan Georgeadis to feel a part of the Mt. Spokane soccer family.
“The guys, they treated me like I’ve been here all four years,” said Georgeadis, a senior transfer from South Carolina who quickly got up to speed on what mattered on the pitch.
“Everybody told me how important it was to beat Mead,” said Georgeadis, whose second-half goal on April 18 did just that.
“That was a defining moment for our season,” said coach Ryan Campanella, whose team faces another today at 2 p.m. at Albi Stadium in a regional match against Sunnyside that will either send the Wildcats to state or send them home.
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Soccer practice at Mt. Spokane High School is so seamless it practically runs itself – until one of the players runs out of gas.
That would be Campanella, a 31-year-old who can run like a deer until he remembers that he has a dozen years on the other young bucks on the field.
“It’s a lot of fun when I can actually get out there and and kick it,” Campanella said. “But each year I realize they’re really fast and I’m getting slower.”
Whatever the pace, it’s been a wild ride for the Wildcats (10-5), who’ve bounced back from adversity more than once this year and will need to do it again today after losing a first-round regional match Wednesday to Kennewick.
“I know my guys have seen it before, but our guys are pretty good at sticking to it,” said Campanella, whose club is one of the youngest in the Greater Spokane League.
The seed for success was planted last year, even in a season-ending 3-2 regional loss to Eastmont that saw several younger players gain experience.
“That’s when it dawned on me that we would have a good team,” said Campanella, whose back four includes not a single senior. “They definitely have my back,” says another underclassman, sophomore goalkeeper Robert Powles.
They include juniors Ross Mader and Parker Button, and sophomores Austin Ziegler and Jerry Havens, who helped the Wildcats to four straight late-season shutouts, including a 1-0 win over University that not only clinched the top seed in district but also erased some bad memories.
The Wildcats were cruising early this year, coming off a 1-0 win over defending GSL champion Ferris when 3A rival U-Hi took a 5-0 win that shook their confidence. That was followed by a 1-0 loss to Central Valley.
“It was a big blow,” Campanella concedes. Still, the young Wildcats – with just five seniors on the roster – outpaced their 3A rivals this year and finished in a tie for second this year in the Greater Spokane League.
“It’s been a joy to watch them this season, very positive.” Campanella said.