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Connell and Wahluke, two teams with proud soccer traditions, will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday to decide who will move on to the 1A state semifinals in Sumner on May 29-30.
With just five combined losses between the two teams -- Connell is 17-2, Wahluke is 17-3 -- it's unfortunate that one of the two teams will have to stay home. But if history holds true, the surviving team could be in for a celebration at the end of the season.
The three times the Eagles and Warriors have met in the state playoffs -- in 2002, '04 and '05 -- the winner has gone on to win the state title. The two teams, which shared the SCAC East crown, split their regular-season matches. Connell won 4-0 at home and Wahluke returned the favor 2-1 in Mattawa.
"I think our level of competition in our league is really strong," said Wahluke coach Arthur deVictoria, who was an assistant on the Warriors' championship teams in '00 (2A), '04 and '05 coached by Tony Langdon. "We're going to have two of the best teams in the state fighting for the semifinals."
Connell, which won back-to-back 2A boys state titles in 2002-03 under Hugo Garcia, is coming off a fourth-place finish in 2008. The Eagles have won 12 in a row after routing Cashmere 5-0 in the first round and may have one of their strongest teams yet.
Connell has three players with 12 or more goals -- Eduardo Arzate, Freddy Barragan and Julio Ramirez -- but Wahluke has a secret weapon of its own in sweeper Adrian Martinez.
"No one really talks about him. He's just solid back there," deVictoria said. "(Goalie) Manuel Rubalcava gets a lot of accolades because he's a good keeper, but if he makes a save from 25 yards out its because Adrian is doing his job."
-- Prosser is still enjoying a banner year that saw the Mustangs win the CWAC South title and their first-ever district championship.
But Prosser -- led by top scorer Mynor Maza (11 goals) and playmaker Anthony Cervantes (6 assists) -- won't settle for that. Saturday, the Mustangs have a chance to earn their first-ever trip to the state semifinals.
In 2007, Prosser won its first-round match in the 2A state playoffs but lost to East Valley in the quarterfinals.
This time, the Mustangs play at home against Medical Lake (12-8), which finished third in the Great Northern League, five games behind first-place Pullman.
