|
By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
August 27, 2008
In
the last two years the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the Mount Hood
Conference have gone to Central Catholic and Hood River Valley.
The Rams have claimed the No. 1 spot both years by virtue of a
win and tie.
This year, the decision on who gets which spot may be out of the
way early on.
The Eagles host the Rams in their MHC opener on Sept. 9 and they
play at Central Catholic on Oct. 9.
“We have to prove we are up there with them,” HRV’s Diego Diaz
said of playing the defending 6A state champions. “We want to
come back and beat them.”
The Eagles will have plenty of weapons to deploy in their effort
to unseat Central Catholic from atop the conference. The bulk of
the team’s midfield and offense from its state quarterfinal run
last season returns, including All-State nominees Diaz and
Felipe Heredia, and All-League player Cesar Hernandez. Senior
forward Raul Marquez will also help anchor the front line.
“We did it (advanced to the state quarterfinals) with mostly
sophomores and juniors,” HRV coach Doug Beveridge said. “And now
we have got a strong junior and senior class.”
Goalkeeper is one of the few areas where the Eagles do not have
a returning veteran.
Nathan Ponce, a two-year starter, graduated following last
season and Beveridge is still trying to figure out how to
replace him.
“We have a big hole at goalie that we haven’t figured out yet,”
Beveridge said.
With the defensive end of things still in something of a state
of flux, the rest of the Eagles know they will have to step up.
“The mid-fielders need to make the commitment to help back,”
Hernandez said.
If the midfielders and forwards can help take the pressure of
the defense while the defenders and new goalkeeper get their
feet under them, Hernandez has confidence the Eagles can hang
with the best in the state.
“We are not going to be scared,” he said. “We can be right there
with them.”
Beveridge does not want to get too far ahead of himself in
making predictions for his team.
“That’s probably the way it would be,” he said when asked if the
winner of the HRV-Central Catholic matches would take the
conference title.
But he quickly qualified that by saying, “But there are some
good teams in this league and we can’t overlook any of them.”
In order not to overlook the rest of the team, Beveridge said he
wants his team to focus on “the process” of winning and playing
fundamentally sound soccer.
“We need to do the little things like being a team, working on
our passing and our conditioning,” he said. “Then I think the
results will come.”
Whether it is a win for one, a loss for another or a draw, the
first meeting between the Rams and the Eagles this year will
likely show who will be the favorite to win the conference.
In the first meeting between the two teams last year, Hood River
Valley rallied from two goals down in the closing minutes to
salvage a tie. Even though they eventually lost to Central
Catholic in the penultimate game of the regular season, many of
the Eagles see that comeback as the spark toward their deep
playoff run.
“We want take it all the way this year and try to have fun,”
Hernandez said.
But, as their coach is more than happy to remind them with
plenty of conditioning drills, the fun and winning means plenty
of work.
“Our biggest rule is ‘Have fun,’” Beveridge said. “But having
fun means challenging yourself to be better than the next team.
It takes hard work to have fun.”
|
