Pasco soccer doggedly works toward third straight MCC title

Team captain Sergio Avalos doesn’t have much trouble finding the words to describe the Pasco High School boys soccer team.

“This team, honestly, we stick as a family,” said Avalos, a senior defender. “We’re not just individuals, though some people may see it like that.

“We always are on top of our academics, and we just play as a team.”

That bond seems to be the catalyst of the Bulldogs’ recent run of success. The past two seasons have ended with Mid-Columbia Conference regular-season championships and appearances in the state quarterfinals.

Despite graduating four All-Conference players, including one of the Co-Players of the Year in forward Hector Magana, Pasco looks like it again won’t miss a step.

“This is my fourth year, and I always see changes, new players coming in and out,” Avalos said. “And this team so far, I love the team. I’m really confident about this year.”

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some growing pains.

The Bulldogs (3-1, 2-1 before Friday vs. Hanford) got an early wake-up call when they opened their season March 14 with a 1-0 home loss against Kamiakin, a team they had won five straight one-goal games against.

“We couldn’t get a non-league game like we had against Mt. Spokane last year before we actually played a real league game,” said senior forward Jesus Meraz-Rodriguez, the other 2016 All-MCC Co-Player of the Year. “It was a good game (against Kamiakin). And I prefer to lose now than to lose later.

“Losing’s not a good thing, but I mean, you learn from it.”

But Pasco channeled that frustration into a huge 5-2 road win the following night against Central Valley, which knocked the Bulldogs out of the state quarterfinals the past two seasons.

“Any win is nice, No. 1, and No. 2, Central Valley is a very, very, very good team,” Pasco coach Matt Potter said. “I don’t think the score quite indicated how good of a team they are, and they held the run of play for the majority of that game.

“They’ll be around long into this season.”

While a lot of the team’s success this season will hinge on what Meraz-Rodriguez can create up front, Potter suggests the biggest key will be whether or not Avalos and the rest of the back line can produce like last year’s unit, which allowed just 13 goals in 20 games. Oswal Lopez and Alex Kirk, who were seniors last year, were first team All-MCC defenders for Pasco, and Avalos was on the second team.

“As always, we have to defend better. We don’t have a shutout yet,” said Potter, whose team has given up one goal in each of its first four games. “We believe shutouts are real important, and we’ve gotta keep possession of the ball.”

While time will only tell if all the pieces will come together for the Bulldogs, there’s no shortage of confidence in their camp.

“It’s one week at a time,” Meraz-Rodriguez said. “But basically, yeah, I feel like I could lead this team all the way.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Pasco soccer doggedly works toward third straight MCC title."