CV a different team than the one that faced Pasco early in season

Central Valley soccer coach Brandon Deyarmin knows the Bears are in for a tussle when they play at Pasco in the State 4A quarterfinals.

But this isn’t the same CV team that lost 2-0 to the Bulldogs in Edgar Brown Stadium during an early season non-league match.

“You want to win,” said Deyarmin, “but it wasn’t important to go down there and play 11 or 12 guys and win. Everybody played a significant amount of time. And we are a whole different setup.”

For one thing, key defenders Luke Chesher and Taylor Fyhrie were not at the game. And the Bears have gone to a different alignment, using five midfielders and one forward in the playoffs, which has produced unprecedented results.

With it, the Bears won their first district championship after finishing second in league and last weekend stunned Wenatchee by scoring four goals during a shutout victory.

Wenatchee beat Pasco 1-0 during regular season and lost 2-1 in a shootout in the Big Nine district finals.

One need only to look at Pasco’s stats to see how the team wins its matches. The Bulldogs don’t score much, but in 15 contests, they’ve allowed only eight goals.

CV scarcely managed a threat when the two played at the beginning of the season.

“They’re really fast on turf, not real big, but aggressive,” said Deyarmin. “They win the ball in the air really well. That’s one thing we took away from that game.”

The Bears want to keep the ball on the ground and move it around. It will be imperative, he said, for outside midfielders Matt Bunch and Blake Trimmer to neutralize Pasco’s quickness.

“They are the key players,” said Deyarmin said of his duo. “Pasco’s strength is its quick outside midfielders. They will be asked to contribute more than they have.”

Meanwhile, Bears defenders, led by Chesher and Fyhrie, must keep the Bulldogs from taking hard shots and crashing the goal.

And the new-look offense, with Jay Vela (goals leader) and Jesse Dunbar (assists leader) in the middle, will hope to continue its late-season effectiveness.

“I know we’re playing a heckuva lot better than when we played them before,” said Deyarmin, whose team practiced on artificial turf at Joe Albi Stadium to ready for the turf at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco.

“Anything can happen, but I feel very good,” he added. “We’re playing very well now. I think we’re ready.”