Once mid-April is here and May’s on the horizon, there aren’t a lot of surprises anymore. At this point, you are who you are.
And what the Centralia High School boys soccer team has been for much of this spring is a group that saves their best for the second half. It was the case against Cascade Christian, Rogers, Black Hills, W.F. West and Shelton.
So after heading into halftime down 3-1 to Aberdeen on Friday night, there was no panic.
“What are we worried about? We’ve been in here before,” Tigers head coach Noel Vazquez said. “We play our best under that type of pressure. Instead of trying to fix it to a deeper level, we just embrace it. That’s who we are.
“Regardless of winning or losing, the game is not over until it is over.”
Sit down, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
The comeback kids of Centralia were at it again in a match between two of the best in the Evergreen Conference. Three goals in the final 16 minutes catapulted the Tigers to a 4-3 overtime triumph over the Bobcats at home to run their winning streak to four straight.
Coupled with W.F. West upending Tumwater in penalty kicks, Centralia (8-3, 4-1 EvCo) is all alone atop the standings.
“We never stop believing in each other and that’s one of the key things,” junior striker Damian Corona said. “We know when to work and we never give up until the whistle blows.”
For much of the night, it was not easy.
Aberdeen – one of the more physical teams in the league – seemingly read every Centralia touch, through ball and pass like a book. Whether it was blocking shots or putting a toe in front of a pass, the Bobcats had an answer.
When Corona got a yellow card in the 63rd minute and shots on target from Johnny Ruiz, Gabriel Cruz and Evan Alexander Tackman were scooped up, time was dwindling down at a rally.
“We’re all family, we try to put our lives on the line for each other,” freshman Andres Cruz said. “We might be the smallest team, but we put our heart into the game. It is all about chemistry.”
Corona got back onto the pitch and got behind the backline, extended his leg and tapped the ball over Bobcats goalie Grady Osina’s out-stretched hands in the 68th minute. Centralia kept bringing numbers forward and continued to dominate possession.
In the waning moments, Andres Cruz came to the rescue.
He crashed the goalie and the initial save by Osina slipped underneath, which led to Cruz making one move and slotting the game-tying goal in the 80th minute. He ran towards the Centralia section of fans and was mobbed by his teammates.
His ninth goal of the season breaks the most by a freshman in a single season, passing Corona’s mark of eight.
“Keepers, they will spill eventually and I always make sure my presence is known,” Andres Cruz said. “It was really amazing to pull through. On this field, we’re trying to make a name for ourselves.”
Aberdeen had a shot and a corner kick within the 90 seconds of the first five-minute OT period, but nothing got past the back-three. Centralia unleashed a counter-attack pointed by Gabriel Cruz on the wing. He beat his defender and saw Corona nestled in the middle.
One pass, one shot and one celebration later in the 84th minute, the Tigers comeback was completed. It’s now 15 goals this spring for Corona.
“I was just hoping he’d pass it to me,” Corona said. “To score the last minute goal to win for the people that come out and watch us, that’s what I’m supposed to do as a striker. It felt really good.”
Vazquez ran from the coaching sideline to the other and embraced his players. He did a couple Sign of the Cross prayers before the handshake line.
“We’re gonna win on this hill or die on this hill, we were gonna risk it all to win in regulation,” the fourth-year leader of the program stated. “We talked about matching their energy, matching their physicality."
The Bobcats struck early, in the sixth minute on a Gonzalo Blanes goal. Gabriel Cruz took a free kick and found the head of centerback Daniel Rios Hernando in the 16th minute to tie the game at one.
On a corner kick in the 22nd minute, Kevin Torres fired a high shot that bounced off the top of the bar and crossed the white line even with Tigers goalie Romario Mejia attempting to clear it out. Blanes scored again in the 27th minute.
“He came in and took us off our game really early,” Vazquez said. “We talked about the fixes we needed to do and we shut them down in the second half.”
Now at the official halfway point of the league season, Centralia will get to face everyone again, starting with Black Hills on Tuesday before The Chronicle Cup against W.F. West next week. Corona, Vazquez and Andres Cruz aren’t shying away from the end goal.
Still, they understand the parity in the league and as the top dog currently, everyone is coming after them.
“Since the beginning of the season, our only mindset was to be No. 1,” Corona said. “Beat everybody. We’re getting close, but we still have to keep working for everything. We’re trying to make statements.”
