By Aaron Coe
Herald Writer
For the Monroe soccer team, the defense never rests.
Today’s opponent for the Bearcats in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs certainly won’t give the Bearcats a break.
Monroe, last season’s Class 3A state champion, will have a tall task today in 2001 4A champion Decatur, author of a current 40-game unbeaten streak.
For Monroe (14-2-2 record) to do what many soccer followers believe to be unthinkable and beat the Gators, the Bearcats know they will need a perfect game from what has been a near-flawless defense.
Monroe allowed two goals only once this season, and it cost the Bearcats in a 2-1 loss to seventh-place Stanwood in its third game of the season. The Bearcats have shut out nine of 18 opponents and allowed one goal in eight games.
The defensive dominance has been necessary. The Bearcats have an opportunistic offense, but not one that will take over games. They have scored three or more goals only four times this year. Five of Monroe’s 14 victories were by one-goal margins.
Though Monroe graduated Josh Carswell – last season’s All-Area Player of the Year – and has struggled offensively at times without him, the stout defense is back.
Defenders Austin Allen, Blake Bural and Bill Bordner were perhaps the best threesome in the Western Conference.
“I think our strength as a team is our defense,” said goalkeeper Ben Dragavon, who will play for Western Washington next year and is among the state’s elite. “They work together and they understand how each other plays. They can take a beating and give a beating.”
The group of senior defenders and striker Brett Walsh are a tight-knit group. Most of the team’s eight seniors have played together since grade school. They have dinner together before every game and often watch film at coach Paul Hurme’s house.
“It’s different than last year,” said Walsh, the Bearcats’ leading scorer. “This year we work harder. Last year we might have had more skill.”
It will take both to knock off mighty Decatur tonight at Federal Way Stadium.
“This year’s team has a different personality,” Hurme said. “It took me a few weeks into the season to differentiate between the two. Losing Carswell and (Alex) Pagon and their influence on the team was a big deal. This year’s group took a while to forge its own personality.
“This year, ‘last year’s state champs’ is in the lead-in sentence to every paragraph,” Hurme added. “We’ve had targets on our backs all year.”
Meadowdale promotes McGuire: Chad McGuire, who directed the Meadowdale junior varsity boys team to a 20-0 record last season, has been promoted to varsity head coach. He replaces Troy Parker, who resigned to spend more time with his family. McGuire, who is an Edmonds-Woodway graduate, has taught history at Meadowdale the past six years.
Mariner names volleyball coach: Rob Moya has been named the new Mariner volleyball coach. Moya, who has coached the Rain City Volleyball Club for nine years, takes over a program that has struggled for the last 10 years.
Heads nor tails: The M-P softball team won a coin flip against Mount Vernon to decide second and third place in the North Division softball standings, but said no thanks to second. According to Greg Erickson, Marysville-Pilchuck’s athletic director, the Tommies elected to finish third in order to delay a meeting with defending Class 4A champion Shorecrest and pitcher Kristina Thorson. Marysville-Pilchuck and Mount Vernon both finished 12-4 in the division.
Bekins sets mark: Cascade junior Brittany Bekins set a school record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.79 seconds at Friday’s North Division meet. Her time of 46.35 seconds in the 300 hurdles tied a school mark. Bekins also finished fourth in the shot put and ran on Cascade’s 400-meter relay team to compile 29 of Cascade’s 72 team points.
Smart golfers: The Oak Harbor girls golf team won the Class 4A academic championship with a combined GPA of 3.88.
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