EV loses star, but still strong
When East Valley boys soccer coach Jeff Rose lost the All-Greater Spokane League Offensive Player of the Year to graduation after last season, he wasn’t too worried.
Sure, Ben Funkhouser scored a lot of goals, and if you looked at the Knights’ box scores and stat sheets, his name was everywhere.
“Ben won us a lot of games last year, single-handedly,” Rose said of the midfielder. “We have a lot of work to do to fill the shoes of Ben, and it’s not easy. He was in every close game we had and a lot of times was the difference.”
But Rose, whose Class 3A Knights are the two-time defending league champions among mostly 4A teams, knew he had Josh Polello and Josh Peck in the backfield.
Now seniors, Polello and Peck are at the heart of a defensive-oriented lineup.
“I’ve been stressing defense this year – I think the guys are getting sick of it,” Rose said.
The fourth-year head coach said defense will be the key this season, especially the play of Peck, a first-team All-GSL goalkeeper last year.
“Josh is just amazing player,” Rose said. “Last year we would win games 1-0, 2-0, not a lot of blowouts. When we win, we don’t win 7-3 or anything. Josh Peck and, for that matter, Josh Polello – they are the leaders of the team.
“With both of those guys back there, if everyone else does their job we’re in good shape.”
The Knights (1-2-2) are off to a decent start. They have a 1-0 win over Lewis and Clark, a league-title contender, in their first league game of the season. In non-league games, EV lost 1-0 to Mead and 2-1 to University.
“I would imagine that (Mead) is going to finish first in the league,” Rose said. “Behind them, it’s a mess – Ferris, LC, us – it’s tough. And then Central Valley and U-Hi are right there too. Those teams are tough every year.
“It’s competitive, and it’s a very competitive league this year.”
Rose and the Knights will rely on an offensive spark from a few different players: Senior forwards Cole Abramson, who finished as the league’s regular-season scoring leader last season with 16 goals (18 including postseason play), and Jeremy Jacobs. Abramson has only scored once so far this season.
“We will be looking for Cole to pick up the slack,” Rose said. “When he gets on track he’s going to catch fire I believe. We expect big things from (Jeremy Jacobs) too.”
With EV’s senior leadership (there are 12 seniors on its roster), Rose expects the Knights have a solid shot at making it to state.
“That’s my focus for this year,” Rose said. “It’s not so much the league, it’s the playoffs. I’m hoping to make it to state. The only thing stopping us is ourselves and I’m hoping this year that we don’t.”