Mead Finds Itself In Familiar Position

Prep soccer

Rarely, if ever, has anyone other than Mead been favored to win the Greater Spokane League boys soccer title.

This year, despite the Panthers’ 11 straight titles, Mead was considered just a contender to Gonzaga Prep.

Yet when the GSL season passed the halfway mark last week, there was Mead in its accustomed spot on top with an 8-0 record that included a shootout victory over the Bullpups.

“I’m pleasantly surprised, sure,” Mead coach Dick Cullen said. “They’re good kids that are working hard, but we haven’t accomplished anything yet. There’s a lot to do.”

Mead ran its record to 10-0 Wednesday with a 6-0 win over Rogers. In other GSL games, University beat Central Valley 3-2, Ferris stopped North Central 2-1 and Gonzaga Prep topped Lewis and Clark 2-1.

Getting through the first round unscathed gave a young team confidence, especially on defense where Aaron Trainor, a part-time starter last year, is the only veteran.

“Since we’re the underdog, we gained some confidence,” Cullen said.

Helping goaltender Rich Cullen post eight shutouts and allow only three goals (two by Prep) has been a young defense.

“Mark Lupton has been a real pleasant surprise,” coach Cullen said. “He was a good player on the junior varsity team last year but we didn’t know if he had enough speed. Jeff Colyar has really stepped up, and (Jeremy) Keesecker and (Aaron) Grubb.

“I play a lot of kids, but those are the main ones (on defense). They’re still competing with each other, which really helps.”

Cullen isn’t counting on his 12th title just yet.

“I think a surprise to me is University,” he said. “They lost a lot of seniors, too, and they’re playing real tough.”

The Titans lost to Mead 1-0.

“There’s not a great margin (between winning and losing),” Cullen said. “There’s some parity but that’s not a surprise, everyone expected that.”

At Central Valley, Jason Daniel scored 2 minutes into injury time as the Titans (5-2-3-0) came from behind to beat the Bears (2-7-0-1) 3-2.

At North Central, Tommy Servine struck for two goals, including the game winner in overtime, to rally the Saxons (2-6-0-1) past the Indians (4-4-1-1) 2-1.

At G-Prep, Joe Schwehr scored the game winner from 20 yards out at 65 minutes to propel the Bullpups (8-0-0-2) by the Tigers (3-5-2-0).

At Rogers, Ben Baxter had a goal and an assist as the first-place Panthers (9-0-1-0) beat the Pirates (0-10-0-0) 6-0.