Warriors and Knights dominate all-league soccer selections
Hermilo Tlatelpa of Wahluke (7) has been named the SCAC East's most valuable player in soccer.
MATTAWA - Wahluke and Royal may not have made it to state in soccer out of the tough South Central A Conference East, but they enjoyed quite a consolation prize when they dominated the all-league selections.
Wahluke took five of the first team slots and the most valuable player award. Royal took four first team slots. Kiona-Benton and Warden took the other two first team slots, shutting out league champ Connell.
The reason for that could be that Connell's five selections to the second team were all underclassmen, which bodes well for the Eagles next year.
Wahluke sophomore Ulysses Gonzalez was named the first team keeper. Connell's Josue Vargas was named to the second team.
Wahluke senior Hermilo Tlatelpa, a first team defender, was named the league's most valuable player. The coach of the year was Ki-Be's Marty Martinez, and Ki-Be won the sportsmanship award.
The rest of the first team is senior midfielder Jhonatan Gutierrez of Ki-Be, senior forward Jose Medina of Royal, senior forward Cesar Bernal of Royal, junior midfielder Jose Ponce of Royal, freshman midfielder Michael Rojas of Royal,
Junior Defender Jose Garcia of Wahluke, senior defender Hermilo Tlatelpa of Wahluke, senior defender Manuel Rodriguez of Wahluke, sophomore forward Emmanuel Hidalgo of Wahluke, junior forward Sergio Vela of Warden and senior midfielder Arlando Alba of Warden.
The second team includes Ariel Barragan of Connell, Jose Fraga of Connell, Gerardo Reyes of Connell, Pablo Gil of Connell, Martin Gonzales of Ki-Be, Maurice Devers of Ki-Be, Miguel Andrade of Ki-Be, Israel Cortez of Royal, Juan Bravo of Wahluke, Rodolfo Gonzalez of Warden and Peter Manville of Warden.
Connell, Royal and Wahluke lost only to each other during the regular season, and every outcome was close. In succession, Wahluke lost the league title contest to Connell, 1-0, and playoff games to Highland and Granger by 1-0.
Royal and Wahluke played solid defense and adequate offense on the field. But they struggled to get the ball into the goal at the end of the season.
Wahluke coach Arthur DeVictoria expects to field a good defense next year. He will need to work on the offensive attack, especially near the goal.
DeVictoria reminded the players for next year's girls and boys teams that there will be a UK Soccer Camp on June 8-12 at Mattawa. He added that the boys will participate in the Bomber Classic tournament at Richland on July 17-18.