Zags vow to disarm naysayers again

Einar Thorarinsson has witnessed this before.

The men’s soccer coach at Gonzaga for the past dozen years, Thorarinsson again must preach the mantra of earning respect after the Zags were predicted to finish last in the West Coast Conference this upcoming season.

The message worked last year as the Bulldogs finished .500 in conference play, resulting in a fifth-place finish in the seven-team conference. Those meager steps were a welcome sight after Gonzaga had finished at the bottom of the WCC standings the previous two seasons.

Junior forward George Josten led the conference with a team-high 12 goals last year. Also returning is productive goalkeeper Vito Higgins, a redshirt junior who allowed 1.39 goals per game in 2005.

Josten’s proven productivity will result in opposing teams focusing their defensive effort toward slowing the Gonzaga standout. The Bulldogs must showcase more scoring balance to allow Josten to roam free in front of the net. Four different players scored in the Zags’ 4-1 victory over UNLV on Friday, and Gonzaga posted its first four-goal contest since 2004.

Josten had an assist in the game, giving him 41 career points. That tied Jason Adams for sixth on the school’s all-time list.

Whitworth hungers for more than merely becoming the first Northwest Conference team to win three consecutive league championships. Ranked third in the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25, the Pirates expect to make another run for an NCAA Division III championship after reaching last year’s national semifinal.

If past seasons are any indicator, forward Niko Varlamos should close out his senior season as the school’s all-time leading scorer, and senior midfielder Ali Seyedali was tabbed a second-team All-American last year. Goalkeeper Kevin Bostock will cap his collegiate career starting for the fourth straight year.

The depth Bushey enjoyed last year still exists. Forward Chris Johnson was Whitworth’s fourth-leading goal scorer. Junior Curtis Flournoy and sophomore Jordan Lister combined for four goals and four assists off the bench in 2005.

“Winning the title the past two seasons should help us to believe that we have the capabilities to do it again, but it also tells us that we will have our work cut out for us,” Bushey said on the school’s Web site.

North Idaho coach Scott Moorcroft is loading up again after dominating the five-team Scenic West Athletic Conference in the Cardinals’ inaugural season playing in the conference. NIC finished 12-2-3 last year and one victory short of reaching the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament.

Last year’s conference player of the year, Garga Caserta, has graduated and joined Moorcroft’s coaching staff. The Cardinals’ four other all-conference selections a year ago also graduated.

CC Spokane returns to action after finishing third in the NWAACC playoffs last season with coach Kenny Krestian being named the Eastern Region Coach of the Year in his first year as the Sasquatch head coach.