‘That gave these girls hope’

WARDEN – Coming off a 2021 season where the Cougars were one game shy of state, Warden girls soccer welcomes the return of standard soccer season in the Basin.

“It’s good,” Warden girls soccer head coach BryLee Pruneda said of the return of the season. “Especially without COVID, you don’t have to wear the mask. I’m so happy to be back to normal.”

Pruneda, who is in her fourth year as head coach of the Cougars, said that the previous two seasons were difficult for the players due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“It was really hard on the girls,” Pruneda said of the effects the pandemic had on athletics. “These girls had to run with masks on for the first half of the season last year, and I can't even imagine. I played soccer my whole life, and I can’t think about playing with a mask on.”

With pandemic restrictions, some aspects of the game that were before an afterthought were taken away.

“You didn’t shake hands with the team – and that doesn’t seem like a big thing, but it’s part of the game and adds to it,” Pruneda said. “It made everything different.”

Entering 2022, Warden lost a handful of players to graduation and now fields a younger team. After a difficult start a season ago, Pruneda and company hope to learn once again from last year’s quick improvement process.

“We lost a couple players,” Pruneda said. “We started off rough last year, and the improvements we made throughout that year were outstanding. Like, I can’t even believe who the team was from the beginning to the end.”

Developing players as they’re younger is an important aspect of a team, and now this year’s seniors are paying it forward.

“My freshman year, I learned a lot,” said Lisbet Martinez, one of the team’s three seniors. “I was scared, but the upperclassmen really helped me toughen up.”

With a team where many players are new to the game, the leadership of elder teammates can go a long ways toward starting off on the right foot.

“I took everything that I learned and taught myself and others – including my sister, actually,” Martinez said. “I feel like I’ve been doing a good job at it, because they understand that I run things back there (on defense).”

Pruneda said that the team’s turnaround in 2021 inspires this year’s team that they’ll be able to do the same.

“That gave these girls hope, because we’re a really young team this year,” Pruneda said. “Just being able to see what we did last year has helped a lot of these girls.”

If the Cougars can recapture the same levels of improvement they saw a season ago, a further run in the postseason could be in their near future.

“We were in the playoffs, we were one game away from going to state – so that just shows you how much you can improve if you put in the time and work,” Pruneda said.

Warden begins its season on Sept. 8, on the road to face White Swan. The match begins at 6 p.m.

“I was very excited because I knew there wasn’t very many of us (on the team), but I was looking forward to seeing other new girls come in,” Martinez said.

Warden Girls Soccer

Sept. 8 - @ White Swan - 6 p.m.

Sept. 13 - @ Mabton - 4 p.m.

Sept. 15 - vs Wahluke - 6 p.m.

Sept. 17 - vs Quincy - 11 a.m.

Sept. 20 - vs Goldendale - 5 p.m.

Sept. 22 - @ Cle Elum-Roslyn - 6 p.m.

Sept. 27 - @ Highland - 6 p.m.

Oct. 4 - vs Granger - 6 p.m.

Oct. 6 - vs Mabton - 4 p.m.

Oct. 13 - @ Goldendale - 6 p.m.

Oct. 18 - vs Cle Elum-Roslyn - 5 p.m.

Oct. 20 - vs Highland - TBD

Oct. 25 - vs Columbia (Burbank) - 6 p.m.

Oct. 27 - @ Granger - 6 p.m.