CV’s Vela scores with a little help from his friends

Youth aside, Central Valley junior soccer player Jay Vela has been one of the league’s most prolific scorers over the past two years.

Vela has scored in every Greater Spokane League match and shares the scoring lead with 10 goals, 13 overall.

His knack at finding net is something both he and his coach attribute as much to opportunism as to the fact he possesses some of the fanciest footwork in the GSL.

Vela credited the Bears center midfielders with his being at the scoring end of their runs.

Said coach Brandon Deyarmin: “Jay is just in the right place at the right time. When the pressure is on he just finds a way to put the ball in the net. That first goal against Mt. Spokane speaks for itself.”

In the match between league unbeatens, with CV trailing 1-0, Vela sprinted across the field and caught the Wildcats by surprise.

He took a ground ball corner kick from teammate Jesse Dunbar on the near post side instead of the traditional boot for a header ball in the box, and scored during the ultimate 2-1 victory.

It is a play they practice, he said, but was not called by Deyarmin. It was instinctual on the part of club teammates.

“Jesse and I are good friends. All we talk about is soccer. Basically it’s our life, I guess,” said Vela. “I’m terrible at heading the ball, awful, and those guys were just huge. There was no way we were going to get a header goal in.”

Deyarmin credits club teams with providing him the talent that has CV in GSL soccer contention.

“Those players have been hard to come by,” said Deyarmin, “at least for me in the last so many years.”

Seven Bears, including Vela, play for the Falcons. Vela credits coach Jason Cooper, who played at Gonzaga University, with his improvement.

“He’s helped me a ton,” Vela said. “He’s a good foot skills coach and has helped my footwork extremely.”

How good is Vela’s footwork?

“I’ve seen (other) good forwards,” said Deyarmin. “He’s a different type than those guys, but very, very effective. His foot skills are amazing, almost like floating. Just when you think a defender is going to get the ball out, he has the ability to take the extra quick touch.”

It has resulted in him finding ways to finish, after adjusting early last year to the pace of GSL soccer.

“My first game last year was crazy. I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ It was hard to dribble,” Vela said. “I felt it was a lot faster, there were harder tackles.”

Now?

“Everybody likes to score goals. We all have roles and that’s kind of my role,” he said.