Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Cascade completes the regular season unbeaten

Kodiaks are the number one seed in Districts

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Chelan has been the dominant team in Caribou Trail League soccer the past few years. The Cascade Kodiaks assumed that mantle this season as they ran through their schedule unbeaten, including a sweep of the Goats. 

On May 2 at Leavenworth, the Kodiaks slammed the door on the visiting Goats 6-0, completing the league schedule 8-0. Overall, they are 14-0-2. Cascade Co-Head Coach Pete Spiegel said it was a satisfying victory over Chelan. 

“They’ve had our number for a few years. For us to come out and beat them twice, that is very satisfying, especially in the manner we did it last time. It’s really nice,” Spiegel said. 

Spiegel said the final score does not indicate how close the game was at first. 

“We were a little on the back foot to start the game. We were slow for the first 15 minutes. They had a lot of good opportunities on goal. Keeper Jose Mendoza just played a great game,” Spiegel said. “He tends to rise for the bigger games, Chelan especially. He really kept us in the game. In the first 15 minutes, if not for him, the game could have easily turned.”

Freshman standout Arturo “Cholo” Avila scored the first goal. 

“Arturo tried a bicycle kick. That bounced away, but still on his back, he put the ball in the net. He’s a special player,” Spiegel said. “Once we got that first goal, the floodgates opened. In high school soccer, things are a matter of momentum a lot of times. They had the early momentum, then it shifted in our favor. We continued to play with that for the rest of game.”

Sophomore Jose Valdez scored again before halftime. Avila and Valdez scored again in the second half. Also scoring was Raul Mata and Eduardo Camarena.  

In the first round District play on May 5, Chelan beat Oroville 4-0 and Cashmere beat Tonasket 1-0. On May 9, Chelan played at Brewster in one semifinal. Cascade hosted Cashmere in the other semifinal. Results were unavailable before press time. 

The winners play in the District Championship on May 11 at the Wenatchee Apple Bowl. The losers play for the third and fourth seeds on May 11 at the Apple Bowl. The top two teams advance to state. The third and fourth seeds playoff against NEA League for state berths. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.

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