By Gail Wood
All season long, the Aberdeen High School Bobcats boys soccer team hasn’t had to rely on one, go-to player to score a goal.
Whenever the Bobcats needed a score, they’ve had lots options. Fourteen Bobcats have scored this season, making the team unpredictable for opponents.
And against Tumwater High School on Tuesday night in the playoffs, Aberdeen was unpredictable again. Four Bobcats scored in a convincing 4-0 win at Tumwater Stadium, advancing Aberdeen to Thursday’s playoff game at R.A. Long.
Against Tumwater, Larry Fleming, Aberdeen’s head boys soccer coach since 2002, got the goals he wanted, helping Aberdeen to improve to 15-4 on the season.
“We missed a couple, but we’re finally putting the ball into the goal,” Fleming said. “And it seems every game it’s three or four different guys scoring. Which is great because they just can’t key on one guy.”
Aberdeen’s challenge is clear. Go ahead, double Cesar Corona, the Bobcats leading scorer with 14 goals. Or double Alex Barene, who has 10 goals and is second on the team in scoring.
“Put two guys on our best player,” Fleming said. “We just make it the whole team thing – that helps a lot.”
Aberdeen, winners of eight of its last 10 games, is peaking at the right time. They shutout six of their last eight opponents in the regular season. But it’s not been a stifling, ball-stealing defense that’s been the reason for the outbreak in shutouts. The Bobcats’ defense has been solid. But it’s been Aberdeen’s ball-control, pass-happy offense that makes them so tough to score against.
“Offense isn’t the best defense, but possession is,” Fleming said. “If they don’t have the ball, it’s hard for them to score.”
Against Tumwater, Aberdeen, with its precise passing on offense that eats up the clock, had an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal.
Aberdeen broke a scoreless tie against Tumwater when Miguel Torres kicked a shot into the left side of the net from 15 yards out, giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the match. Just six minutes later, Isaiah Contreras ran down a loose ball in front of the goal and kicked it into the back of the net and Aberdeen led 2-0 at halftime.
“We just wanted to get after it right away,” Barene said after the match. “We wanted to get our offense going.”
Early in the second half, Cesar Corona kicked in a loose ball in front of the net for a 3-0 lead. Corona chased down a loose ball after a missed header off of a corner kick and scored 11 minutes into the second half.
Victor Corona stretched Aberdeen’s lead to 4-0 when he drilled a shot into the left corner of the net on a penalty kick with 20 minutes remaining in the second half. It was a win that showcased the Bobcats’ depth and their commitment to teamwork. Aberdeen has clearly bought into the concept of team.
“We play for the team,” Barene said. “Not for yourself.”
All season long Fleming has been telling his defenders to be the aggressors, be the one hustling after a loose ball or be the one making the header on a high-arching pass. They did that against Tumwater.
“On defense we won almost every ball,” Fleming said. “It’s not just skill, it’s a mindset. It’s my ball unless someone calls me off. And I’m going to win it every time.”
Victor Corona, a senior defender, is a key to Aberdeen’s defense. He uses his speed and anticipation to stop opponents from moving the ball upfield.
“I’m basically the stopper of the sweeper,” Corona said when asked what his role is. “My responsibility is to catch all the balls in the air. Make sure everyone is marked up. Just try to defend as best as I can.”
And the objective is not to put it on the shoulders of the goalkeeper to win the game.
“We want to control the ball,” Corona said.
Aberdeen has had two shot-stoppers at goalkeeper this season. Victor Gomez, a sophomore who played on the Bobcats’ varsity basketball team, started the season at goalkeeper. It was his first time playing soccer, but Gomez got the job done.
“He’s a good athlete,” Fleming said. “He had never played organized soccer. But he came in and did an amazingly good job.”
Midway through the season Alexis Garcia took over at goalkeeper after he became academically eligible. Garcia, who is also a sophomore, gives Aberdeen more experience at that position.
Fleming has tweaked his young lineup that starts four sophomores and a freshman throughout the season. Now, he’s hoping they’re peaking at the right time.
“We played our last three games really well, all on the road at Chehalis, Ridgefield and now at Tumwater,” said Fleming.
And now this young Bobcat team that only has four seniors is hoping to keep going deep into the playoffs.
