Monroe boys soccer shuts out Marysville Getchell

Published 12:30 am Wednesday, March 25, 2026

MONROE — There was nothing exceptional about Monroe boys soccer’s opening goal against Marysville Getchell at home on Tuesday. It would not appear on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays on Wednesday morning, but to Monroe coach Korey Hope and his players on the field, it was a work of art.

Make no mistake, it was a well-executed play. Just outside the 18-yard box, senior Julian Perez spun past a defender with the ball rolling at the inside of his foot before dishing it out to senior Miguel Murillo out wide to the left. Murillo found Tony Granados in space in the middle of the box, and the senior made no mistake slotting it into the bottom right corner. Just four minutes into the game, Monroe held a 1-0 lead. According to Hope, the beauty was in the simplicity.

“It’s exactly what we want to do,” Hope said. “Exactly the game that we want to play, that we’re suited to play. It was probably our best goal of this season, and it wasn’t anything spectacular. It was just simple, and sometimes the simplest things are the hardest things to do, and that was a good example of it.”

For the majority of the game, the Bearcats (3-0-1, 2-0-0 league) continued to move the ball around, dominating possession en route to a 2-0 win against the Chargers (0-5-0, 0-2-0 league). It was Granados’ goal that set the tone for the rest of the match.

“We just try to see how they play first, the first few minutes,” Granados said. “And then from there, we just set everything. We get in their head. Instead of playing physical, we like to play more like passing, and I feel like that’s how we keep the game good.”

After graduating eight seniors from last year’s team, which reached the District 1 3A title game as well as the second round of the 3A State Tournament, Monroe has more or less picked up where it left off. After a “scrappy” 1-1 tie against Cedarcrest to open the season March 11, the Bearcats are winners of three straight, including two against Wesco North 3A/2A opponents. Its undefeated start is in large part because of the new crop of leadership.

One of those leaders is Perez, who remained a consistent presence on the ball all night. Driving attacks into the Marysville Getchell half, Perez finally doubled the lead in the 49th minute, dribbling into space around two defenders and looping a shot in from the right side of the box.

“As soon as I saw the defender miss the ball, I knew it was a goal,” Perez said. “So just routine stuff like that.”

Added Hope: “Julian works so hard for the team, so big credit to him as well. He’s becoming an outstanding linchpin for our team. He deserves a big shout out because he can make everything tick around him, which is a unique talent.”

The Chargers came close to finding the back of the net on multiple occasions, but ultimately could not put it together. Marysville Getchell is looking to find its footing after graduating eight impact seniors from last year’s roster, which reached the district semifinals and fell just short of qualifying for the state tournament.

According to coach Stephen Strom, the most pressing issue so far has been falling into deficits early, which remained the case on Tuesday, but he’s seeing progress in other areas even as the results lag behind. Although Monroe controlled most of the possession, the Chargers backline did well stifling the Bearcats’ attempts to get behind them with through-balls.

“I know it’s a little frustrating, but I think they have the right attitudes and leadership,” Strom said. “… Just (need to start) finding our connection with each other, possessing the ball and just taking opportunities in when we can, but it’s getting there.”

Perhaps the best chance for Getchell came just a minute before Perez doubled the lead, as senior Joshua Baena broke into space near the top of the box and sent a shot just barely over the crossbar in the 48th minute. With a strong wind blowing from goal to goal across the field all night, Monroe had to fight the wind in the first half before it was the Chargers’ turn in the second, but the players downplayed its effect on the game.

Chances for both sides settled down once Granados grabbed the lead in the opening minutes, but they picked back up again in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Marysville Getchell junior Ebrima Fatty fell to the ground with the ball at his feet, but somehow managed to get upright and past two defenders while maintaining possession. However, the effort sapped any power that would have went into the shot as it rolled to the keeper in the 32nd minute. Each side created a clear look inside the box within the final five minutes, but both were sent wide.

The Chargers had multiple opportunities to tie the game entering halftime with a series of set pieces in Monroe’s half, but the Bearcats held them off to protect the lead.

“We knew coming in that it was going to be a challenging game,” Hope said. “(Strom) does a really good job with those guys, so you really like seeing them and playing them. … They always give us a really good game, and they were doing it tonight, too. They made us really uncomfortable for a lot of the end of the first half and the start of the second half. They had a lot of the better play, and we were under pressure. I gave credit to our guys (in the back line.)”

As Marysville Getchell looks to put the pieces together in the upcoming games, Monroe will aim to build on its early placing atop Wesco North.

“Regardless of it being conference or not, we still want to show our ability down south or wherever the other teams are. Not just up here in Wesco North,” Perez said. “So continue to play stronger and play our level.”