Speed propels Bears to Eastern regionals

The Richardson sisters and their Central Valley High School soccer teammates have a secret weapon.

The Bears roared up from a third-place finish and a 5-4 record in the Greater Spokane League during the regular season to be the Class 4A District’s No. 1 seed.

The team used a high-energy, high-speed, quick-strike style to knock off Mead just days after falling to the Panthers, 3-0, in the regular season finale, then ran past Gonzaga Prep, 2-1, Tuesday to earn the right to play Eisenhower for a state playoff berth this afternoon at 1 p.m. at Albi Stadium.

There is no secret to the team’s success on the field.

Coach Andres Monrroy employs a high-octane offense that features speed – an attribute Central Valley has in abundant supply. As a fallback, the team has more speed on the bench.

“That’s the way we’ve been playing since this group of seniors arrived as freshmen,” Monrroy said. “We’re so fast that we put a lot of pressure on a defense because you never know who’s going to break open. Our outside backs, (junior) Paige (Ellingson) and (freshmen) Savannah (Hoekstra) and Sara (Grozdanich), can all run right past you and that opens things up in the middle.”

Speed, yes. But to hear senior forward Alex Richardson tell it, the team’s true secret weapon lumbers along on four wheels when it has to move, but works best when it’s parked.

“Our team chemistry is incredible and one of the things we love to do together as a team is eat,” the senior explained. “I don’t think there’s ever been a plate of food this team won’t eat, but our favorite team dinner is at a taco truck on Sullivan Road.”

In the GSL’s preseason poll, Central Valley wasn’t picked to be where it is today. The Bears weren’t even picked to be in the upper half of the league based on its 2009 performance, which included a 4-6 record and a sixth-place finish in league.

“We were picked to finish seventh this year,” the coach said. “We saw that, and we knew we were a better team than that. We used that to help motivate us.”

The major difference, team captain Nicole Richardson insists, is this year’s team chemistry.

“I’m not sure I can even tell you what the difference is,” she explained. “It just is.

“We had some great freshmen come in, and they’ve added a lot to this team. In fact, I’d have to say that we (veterans) learned more from them than they’ve learned from us. And I would have to say that my sister (Alex) has done a great job of creating that team chemistry by doing all kinds of things to bring us together as a team. We do everything as a team, and it shows.”

It helps, Alex adds, that the team has sisters in the middle of play.

“I think it really helps that Nicole and I get along so well,” she said. “We’re both kinda goofy, and we like to laugh and have fun. We’re always joking around, and I think that helps our team chemistry.

“And it helps our offense to have the two of us know each other so well.”

On the field, the team plays the soccer version of a spread offense. With Ellingson and company putting intense pressure on defenses along the sideline with their speed, defenders get spread wide to cover the field. Nicole Richardson and her midfield teammates take advantage of the resulting passing lanes to push balls through the defense and onto the hard-charging feet of, well, any of a bevy of speedsters.

In the past 10 games the Bears have had as many different players score. It was Alex Richardson scoring twice in Tuesday’s win over Gonzaga Prep. In the 2-1 win over Mead, it was sophomore Paige Gallaway and Hoekstra who scored. In a 7-1 win over Rogers, senior forward Jasmine Ayala scored a hat trick and freshman defender Maya Anger added a goal. In a 3-0 win over Gonzaga Prep, Ellingson and freshmen Holly Miller and Elena Townsend all scored. Senior Kaleigh Fox scored in back-to-back games against Mt. Spokane and Shadle Park. In a shootout loss to University the Bears got goals , scored five minutes apart, from Nicole Richardson and her sister, Alex.

Along the way, Grozdanich and Haleigh Miller added multiple assists.

“I think that’s one of the strengths of this team,” Monrroy said. “I have a very deep bench and we can always keep fresh legs in the game and we just keep up the attack. That’s the difference between us and most teams out there.”

“Against most teams, you can really see them wear down over the course of the game,” Alex Richardson explained. “As you get deep into games they get tired and slow down. I love it when we bring in fresh legs. We all root for one another. I love being able to go to the sidelines and root for my teammates, and I think we all feel that way.”

When you have an offense that emphasizes speed, you need a defense ready and able to cope with the inevitable misfire and a midfield that can control the ball and stoke the offense with consistent passing.

“That’s where Nicole is invaluable to this team,” Monrroy said. “She’s not one of our fastest players, but she adds a calm to the middle of the field, and she controls the tempo so well.”

The midfielder is confident heading into today’s playoff game, especially now that she and her teammates have unlocked the mystery of artificial turf.

“At first, we hated playing on turf,” she said, “but now that we’ve gotten used to it, it’s fun. You don’t have to worry about putting a lot of strength into your passes because the ball goes and goes on turf. You just have to aim it right and our forwards are going to run onto it.”