CV Bears have something to prove
The Central Valley boys soccer team has been down this road before.
This year, the Bears are hoping for a better destination – atop the podium.
“We’re definitely playing with a chip on our shoulder,” said CV coach Andres Monrroy, whose Bears are in the State 4A semifinals for the second straight year.
Last year, CV was unbeaten going into the title game, where it lost to Snohomish. Along the way, it beat Davis and Pasco in the first two rounds of state – the same teams conquered by this year’s Bears.
CV’s opponent in Friday’s semfinals is Wenatchee, the team it beat in last year’s semis. Two-time defending champ Snohomish faces Tahoma in the other bracket.
While reluctant to compare this year’s CV team to last season’s – that wouldn’t be fair to last year’s seniors, he said – Monrroy said the 2015 run could pay dividends this weekend.
“This team is a little more mature because we’ve been there before,” said Monrroy, whose girls teams won back-to-back titles in 2013-14 partly because of their experience level.
Monrroy gave his players the day off Tuesday. The Bears will practice Wednesday on the artificial turf at Gonzaga Prep to prepare for the weekend at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. CV will depart Spokane on Thursday to practice that afternoon in Puyallup.
“We’re definitely very excited to go there again, because we feel like we have something to prove,” Monrroy said.
The Bears (16-3) have won three straight one-goal games since falling to Lewis and Clark in the regional semifinals. They’ve also given up just three goals in their last six matches.
“We’re playing our best defense right now,” Monrroy said. … “The LC match gave us an extra spark, something that reminds us that there are some things we need to accomplish.”
Friday’s match will hold few surprises. In addition to last year’s 1-0 semifinal win, the Bears beat Wenatchee 2-0 in this year’s season opener. They also caught the Panthers’ 2-1 win over LC last weekend at Spokane Falls Community College.
“They’re a very talented team,” Monrroy said of Wenatchee, which is 14-7 overall but has won eight straight.
Looming on Saturday is a potential matchup with Snohomish, which beat the Bears 3-1 in last year’s title match to cap what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
This year’s Panthers are unbeaten at 14-0-4 and are the favorites to repeat despite eking out a pair of 2-1 wins to get to Puyallup. A year earlier, they beat Ferris for the title.
“Snohomish is the team with the target on their backs,” Monrroy said. “Ask our team who they would want to play (for the title) and it would be Snohomish.”