Cascade soccer team off to fantastic start

The Cascade Kodiak boys’ soccer team, despite not practicing outside, has started the season undefeated at 6-0-2. Last week, the team played road games at Cashmere, Selah and Brewster. 

Cascade played at Cashmere March 28. The game was originally scheduled as a home game, but it had to be changed, because the Cascade field was still not ready after the winter snowmelt. 

As with most Cascade-Cashmere games, it was very physical. Cascade was the obviously more talented team as they controlled play during the first half, despite not scoring. The game was 0-0 at the half. 

Raul Mata got the Kodiaks on the board with a goal. At 30 minutes, freshman sensation Arturo “Cholo” Avila scored from the right edge to put the Kodiaks up 2-0. Cascade collected four yellow cards in the game. 

At 32 minutes, forward Jose Valdez received a red card, so the Kodiaks played a man down the rest of the game. Cashmere was only able to generate offense during this time. Cascade was still able to hang on for the win. 

“It is usually a pretty physical game. Even before we started, we told them it would            be a physical game between the two neighbor towns. We need to be ready,” Cascade Co-Head Coach Jesus Sandoval

Sandoval said Cascade basically dominated the game. 

“Towards the end, when we lost our player, they started attacking a little more. We worked on distributing the ball side to side. The guys were doing that fairly well. We want to encourage the guys to continue to do that,” Sandoval said. “One thing we tell our guys, in order to dominate the game, we have to have the ball. That’s been working fairly well. It was the not the prettiest game, but it was a W.” 

It was nice to get this game, he said, especially since they have not been able to practice outside. 

“They are still working hard. Once we get a chance to be outside, we can improve our game,” Sandoval said. 

On March 30, Cascade played at Selah. The game ended tied 0-0. Cascade Co-Head Coach Pete Spiegel said they were down a number of players due to injury, vacation, choir trip and red card suspension. 

“As a result, players who often don’t see much varsity action played a lot and responded well. Our defense played a smart game. Julian Alvarez and Alexis Tovar are working well together as our center backs. Gauge Disher is also stepping up as a defensive force,” Spiegel said. “We had opportunities to score vs Selah, but couldn’t put anything away. It was the first game we didn’t score in this year. I thought we played a decent match and that it was a fair result.”

Last Saturday, Cascade played Brewster, always a talented team. Spiegel said it was good to have team captain Joseph Blake back from vacation and Jose Valdez back from red card suspension. 

Brewster took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. Just five minutes later, Arturo Avila took advantage of a Brewster miscue and kicked the ball into the empty net. Just before half, Cholo struck again, lacing a rocket into the right corner from 18-yards out. 

The freshman Avila leads the team in scoring. In the second half, Valdez found the back of the net as he got past defenders and the goaltender. Cascade led 3-1. The final goal was scored by Eduardo Camerena, his first varsity goal, a left-footed strike. 

“Brian Sanchez and Joseph Blake controlled the middle of the field. Ricky Barragan played with poise and gave us great opportunities in dead ball situations. Now, we have spring break and a little break to get healthy,” Spiegel said. 

Next game for Cascade is April 11 at home against Omak. 

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