Just three weeks ago, Luis Magana didn’t have a coaching job lined up for the spring. The Centralia girls coach had coached the Tigers in the fall and was wrapping up his club season, and he was looking forward to taking a break.
He then received a text asking about his potential interest leading the new Onalaska boys program. Days later, he had the job as the team’s head coach.
“I’m so excited about starting a program,” Magana said. “The opportunity to start a program from scratch was something that was very, very attractive.”
On Monday, the Loggers took the field for the first time at the Centralia Jamboree, facing Centralia and Black Hills in a pair of 20-minute contests.
The young Loggers lost both matchups, 1-0 against the Tigers and 3-0 against the Wolves, but they have another week before their season opener at home against La Center.
Magana is taking over a young team, not only in the sense that it’s the program’s inaugural season, but also in that its two oldest players are sophomores. Beyond that, it’s all freshman and eighth graders.
It’s a group that has plenty of experience playing together, though, as their turnout and consistency in the local youth soccer scene helped kickstart conversations to get a boys program going at the high school level.
“You can tell they’ve been playing together for a long time,” Magana said. “Starting this program has given me the joy to love soccer again. This kind of recharged my energy, and I feel great about it.
The Loggers will be competing in the 1A Trico League, and all 16 of their scheduled games will be league games.
After hosting La Center on Monday, March 17, they’ll head to Toledo to face Toledo/Winlock United, a matchup that Magana highlighted.
“I know it’s gonna be pretty competitive,” Magana said. “Especially since it will be a little local rivalry … I’m looking forward to a couple of games we have coming up.”
Bearcats prepping for early gauntlet
The W.F. West Bearcats didn’t set their team until Saturday, meaning Monday was the first time that the group took the field as a varsity team.
As a result, there were some communication and execution issues, but coach Allen Anderson expects those to be ironed out quickly once they get more minutes together on the field.
“We just kind of look at it as a 40 minute practice,” Anderson said. “It’s gonna take a little bit of time … We’ll work through it in practice, and we’ll be better the next time we step on the field.”
The Bearcats will have a couple of more practices before their opener at River Ridge on Thursday, then they’ll host Mountain View on Monday. After that, it’s five straight road games, including trips to Battle Ground, Prairie, and Evergreen (Vancouver).
“It’s really gonna be challenging for us,” Anderson said. “Which I think is a good test. We want that. I’m excited.”
Wolves flash high-octane offense
Last season, the Black Hills boys soccer team didn’t score three or more goals in a single game, and it scored two goals just three times.
The Wolves were clicking on all cylinders offensively on Monday, though, as they scored six goals in 40 minutes of action. It’s an early trend that coach Jackie Zvirzdys Wood is hoping continues.
“One of the things that I feel like Black Hills has been lacking in the last couple years is our attack,” Zvirzdys Wood said. “It’s really exciting. Today, it was really cool to see how what we've been doing in practice is actually being implemented on the pitch.”
Their first game test comes very quickly, as the Wolves host 3A River Ridge. The two teams played last year, and the Hawks came away with a 2-1 win.
Zvirzdys Wood is confident that they can put on a better showing not just against River Ridge, but in league play as well, where they won just one game last season.
“We’re really trying to create a competitive team and a competitive program,” Zvirzdys Wood said. “And we have really great teams in our league. So I’m pretty excited about that, because we have lots of talent in our league and lots of great coaches who have been around a long time, so it’s gonna be really fun.”
Warriors eager for first season back in 1A
Rochester got to play two EvCo opponents in W.F. West and Centralia on Monday, but this season, the Warriors will be back in the 1A Evergreen League alongside Tenino, Onalaska, and Toledo/Winlock United.
Rochester coach Matt Ashton said that he expects the Warriors to earn a playoff spot, and he is also hopeful that they can compete for a league title.
That being said, he also knows it won’t be a cake walk. Montesano and Raymond-South Bend both went 12-2 in league play last season, while Elma went 10-4.
It was a mixed bag for the Warriors on the Centralia turf, as they topped W.F. West 1-0 before falling to Centralia 3-0.
“It’s just nice for us to get out on a nice field, play a different opponent than our own selves, and learn what we have to work on,” Ashton said. “I was optimistic. I think we saw some really good stuff, and I think we’re gonna compete well.”
Tenino’s Espinoza primed for stellar junior campaign
Tenino’s Miguel Espinoza scored one of the best goals of the day on Monday, a beautiful strike from the edge of the 18-yard box.
It was the highlight of the day for the Beavers’ offense, which scored in both of their matchups against Black Hills and W.F. West.
Espinoza had success last season as a sophomore, and coach Trevor Fetbrandt is excited to see him take the leap this spring.
“We're stronger as 11 on the field, rather than 11 individual players,” Fetbrandt said. “He’s definitely bought into that and put in the work in the offseason … He’s been such a leader in practice and so vocal in pushing the guys. He’s been so committed in taking that next step.”
So committed, in fact, that he’s been named a team captain.
Despite scoring in both matchups, Tenino lost 3-1 to Black Hills and 2-1 to W.F. West.
Fetbrandt was pleased with the adjustments he saw from his defense despite the final scorelines, saying it got better as the day went along and should continue to get better as the team gets more reps on the field.
“We’re not worried about the number of chances we give up … It’s about the quality of chances. And they were never able to get that really, really clean look inside the box. So we were happy with it.”
Reloaded Tigers aiming for state run
Last season, the Centralia Tigers made it past the district pigtail for the first time since 2019, and they finished one win short of their first state tournament appearance since 2011.
They are down a whopping 14 seniors from last year’s group, but Noel Vazquez is confident in the pieces that he has coming into the fold to keep Centralia in state tournament contention this spring.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” Vazquez said. “I think just getting our foot there, it’s a step in the right direction … We have the talent and the dedication within the players themselves. There’s enough excitement in the group that they want to compete and stay sharp.”
With about five starters back from last year, several top junior varsity performers are expected to step in.
The new group had a slow start on Monday, defeating Onalaska 1-0 in the first game of the day, but they scored three goals in the finale against Rochester.
After the final match of the night, Vazquez said he was pleased with what he saw throughout.
“I think every team got something positive out of today,” Vazquez said. “And I think that’s the purpose of this. I’m very thankful for all the coaches that came out and I’m excited to see how everybody’s going to do this season.”
