12A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018
SEASIDE SEAGULLS
GIRLS SOCCER • BOYS SOCCER • CROSS COUNTRY
Lots of experience on
the field for Seaside
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
he 2018 Seaside boys
soccer program is on
a mission: The Gulls
are out to get what they didn’t
get last year.
Ranked No. 1 for much of
the season, the Gulls lost in
the Class 4A state quarterfi-
nals a year ago, a 2-1 heart-
breaker to Newport, which
scored a late goal to escape
Broadway Field on its way to
a state championship.
Had they beaten Newport,
the Gulls would have had the
home field advantage in the
semifinals.
Seaside lost a few seniors
here and there, but for the
most part, the Gulls are back
and stronger than before.
Clatsop County has never
produced a high school soc-
cer state championship team.
The 2018 Gulls — who were
ranked No. 1 to end last sea-
son — are hoping to be the
first.
A
T
struggling program
looks for positives
wherever it can find
them — and there weren’t
many for the Seaside girls soc-
cer team in 2017.
Over their first six games
last year, the Lady Gulls were
0-6 and had been outscored
29-1.
Still, Seaside managed to
find a positive with a strong
finish, as the Gulls had just
one loss over the final four
games, with three ties.
In addition, they had four
players on the all-league team,
and three of those four return.
That has the Seaside girls
soccer team thinking posi-
tive as the Gulls enter a new
season, the third under head
coach Josh Garhofer.
THE COWAPA
The defending league
champion is gone, but the
defending state champion is
still there, as the “Conference
of Champions” gears up for
another season.
Scappoose — which was
10-0 in league games last year
— has moved to the Class
5A level, leaving the Cowapa
with just five teams.
Valley Catholic finished
second in the league stand-
ings last season, but got hot in
the playoffs and won the state
title, defeating Hidden Val-
ley 1-0 in the championship
game, giving the Valiants their
third title in the last five years.
Valley Catholic had seven
players on the all-league team,
including five juniors.
“Valley has a new coach
(Kibwe Cuffie), but they
always have a solid program,”
Garhofer said. “I have this the-
ory, where I don’t like one pro-
gram holding everyone back.
But we’ve really had some
tough opponents the last few
years in the Cowapa League.”
Banks finished 4-6-3 over-
all last year — below par for
the Braves — but Garhofer
said, “Banks is back, and Til-
lamook’s been putting a lot of
summer work in … it’s really
interesting right now, because
everything is up in the air.”
THE LADY GULLS
No one was happier than
Garhofer when the Gulls
showed up at preseason prac-
tices with one of the largest
turnouts in years.
“This is the biggest turn-
out I’ve ever been a part of,”
Garhofer said. “Our freshman
class is our biggest, which is
the first time we’ve ever had
that.”
Seaside only lost three
seniors off last year’s team,
but all three (Bryre Bab-
bitt, Corrie Falleur, Sonoma
Moon) were significant.
“Each one played defense,”
Garhofer said. “But we have
Lofty goals for
Seaside boys soccer
THE COWAPA
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Chloe Bartel enters her fourth varsity season.
SEASIDE
GIRLS SOCCER
Coach: Josh Garhofer,
3rd year
2017: 1-9-3 (1-6-3 league)
All-league loss: Bryre
Babbitt.
All-league returners:
Jessica Angulo-Joli, Sr.,
Chloe Bartel, Sr., Corrie
Falleur, So.
a lot of young girls coming
up with a lot of experience
there. So as much as I miss the
seniors, at least these girls will
take some of the pressure off.”
The Gulls have a whop-
ping nine seniors on this
year’s roster.
Among those, “we have
Chloe Bartel, Audrey Kunde,
Katie Zagata and Maddy
Brown — four seniors who
have been varsity for all four
years,” Garhofer said. “When
they go, it will be a huge blow
to the program. They know a
lot about ball movement and
they understand the game.
They communicate well — it
sounds like they’re teachers
out there.”
Seaside’s starting goal-
keeper also did not return, but
“we have a lot of players in
training, and they’re getting a
crash course in keeping,” Gar-
hofer said. “Taylor Carson
(senior) has a lot of JV keep-
ing experience, so she might
be there. She’s really athletic
and strong.
“We also have some others,
including Jihre Lopez (fresh-
man) and Annaka Garhofer
(coach Garhofer’s younger
sister), who will be a senior.
It’s also nice that we have Jes-
sica Angulo-Joli (senior). She
had to play keeper the last half
of last season, when we lost
our keeper to a concussion.
Having her up top full-time
now will be a huge relief.”
There’s also some youthful
talent on the way.
“We have a young fresh-
man defender, Suzy Velas-
quez, and she looks real strong
and aggressive right out of
the gate. It’s really something
when a freshman can come
out looking that good.”
Whether the Gulls can add
numbers to the win column,
only time will tell.
“It’s really up to these
girls,” said the coach. “They
have the tools now, they have
the group, and there’s a lot of
young, athletic people com-
ing up. It’s just how bad they
want it. I just want to see
that aggression, that ‘no fear’
attitude.”
Assisting Garhofer will be
a supporting cast that includes
Matt Johnson, Dave Rouse,
Peter Shepherd and Andrew
Walker.
It was no contest last year.
The Gulls and their 9-0-1
league record finished well
ahead of second-place Valley
Catholic (6-2-2), while Asto-
ria (the team that managed a
2-2 tie against the Gulls) fin-
ished 5-3-2.
It may be even less of a
contest this year. The Gulls
have had problems in the past
with Scappoose, but the Indi-
ans are no longer there, hav-
ing moved to the 5A level.
“If we don’t win (the
league title) clearly, I’ve got
a problem,” Chapman said. “I
think we’ll be fine.”
In fact, Chapman is more
worried about the Oregon
West Conference.
Woodburn drops down to
4A after winning the last two
state titles at the 5A level,
and five championships since
2010. Also in the Oregon
West is defending 4A cham-
pion Newport, which features
two-time all-state goalkeeper
Luis Reyes.
“Any of the teams play-
ing in that league with Wood-
burn, their league season is
almost like a playoff tourna-
ment, with how good they
are,” he said. “They will have
challenging games week in
and week out.
“And if we make it into the
playoffs — which I anticipate
we will — if we meet any of
those teams, they’re going to
be firing on all cylinders.”
Originally, the Gulls had
Stayton and Woodburn on
their preseason schedule. But
the Oregon West ended up
with seven schools, which
added games to their league
season. As a result, Wood-
burn and Stayton had to can-
cel their nonleague games
with Seaside.
By contrast, teams in the
The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Westin Carter, No. 17, is looking to fill a void left
by his older brother Colton, the Cowapa League’s Player
of the Year in 2015, ‘16 and ‘17.
SEASIDE
BOYS SOCCER
Coach: John Chapman,
6th year
2017: 13-2-1 (9-0-1
league)
Playoffs: Defeated Philo-
math (1-0) in first round,
lost to Newport (1-2) in
state quarterfinals.
All-league losses: Colton
Carter (MVP), Ashton
Boyd, Henry Chapman,
Rafi Sibony.
All-league returners:
Westin Carter, So.,
Parker Conrad, Sr., Chase
Januik , Sr., Irving Contre-
ras, Sr.
Cowapa League may take
a hit in the RPI rankings,
with Scappoose no longer
there.
The Fishermen, Valiants
and Gulls were the only
three teams that had win-
ning records in the Cowapa
League last year, and the only
three to finish ranked in the
top 20.
It all adds up to another
league title this year for Sea-
side, which should have no
problem in repeating as the
Cowapa champions.
THE GULLS
For the first time since
2014, the Cowapa League
will have a Player of the Year
other than Seaside’s Colton
Carter, who was league MVP
in 2015, ‘16 and ‘17.
The likely candidate
would be Carter’s younger
brother, Seaside sophomore
Westin Carter, who was a
first-team all-league defender
last year.
However, “Westin is out
injured at the moment,”
Chapman said. “If he had
been playing against New-
port, I think we would have
put that one away. But he
strained his hip playing
against Roosevelt in the sum-
mer, and will be out a couple
weeks.”
Even with Carter not in
the lineup, the Gulls should
be strong on both ends of
the field, and Chapman isn’t
worried.
“We have a good team,”
he said, following Seaside’s
opener Tuesday against
Newport. “Natanael Conrad
(junior) had a great game.
Samson Sibony (senior) had
an unbelievable night in goal
for his first game. He’s earn-
ing that spot. He’s got good
field knowledge.
“And the defensive backs
did a great job — didn’t let
a shot get in,” he said. “With
Parker Conrad (senior) on
the back line, Irving Con-
treras (senior), Chase Januik
(senior) and Bryce DeWinter
(senior), we’re strong there.
“Josue Sanchez has
stepped up as a junior,
Natanael has stepped in to
take one of those spots on the
back line, and Luke Verley,
an incoming freshman, has
taken over for Henry (Chap-
man). He’s not as quick, but
definitely has some talent
on the ball. Stephan Snyder
(sophomore) is another who
has stepped up.
“We’re pretty loaded up
front, for a change,” Chap-
man said. “We just have to
learn to finish now.”
A large turnout should
ensure further winning in the
years to come.
“We’re just under 40 play-
ers,” Chapman said. “We
have a very solid underclass-
men and JV team, with a lot of
freshmen and sophomores.”
Prediction: A league
championship is pretty much
a given. Seaside is hoping to
challenge Woodburn for a 4A
state title.
“They’ve been in the (5A)
final seven of the last 10
years,” Chapman said. “They
lost two guys last year, so
they’ll be big-time favorites.
We’ll see. We’ll take ‘em on.
We’re ready for it.”
Seaside runners hope to lead Gulls back to glory
The Daily Astorian
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Senior Ana Rojas was the
top finisher for the Seaside
girls in last year’s Cowapa
League championship meet.
Seaside cross country
endured a rare “rebuilding
year” in 2017, under first-year
coach Frank Januik.
The Seaside boys, fresh off
a state championship in 2015
and a runner-up state fin-
ish in ‘16, ended up fourth in
the Cowapa League meet last
year, while the Seaside girls
did not have enough runners
to qualify for team scoring.
The good news — the Sea-
side boys only lost one senior,
while the Lady Gulls have
some experienced runners
who could chase down top 10
finishes in the league meet.
Seaside’s big loss to grad-
uation was Rafi Sibony, who
took third in the league meet
as a senior last year.
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That leaves three run-
ners with varsity league meet
experience on the Seaside
roster (as of Aug. 29): seniors
Mathew Carpenter and Sam
Henderson, and sophomore
Cameron Lippert.
Leading the Lady Gulls
are a trio of senior returners,
including Ana Rojas, Hayley
Rollins and Katie Zagata.
Rojas placed 26th in last
year’s league meet.
Other runners adding
depth to the Seaside lineup
include junior Jacie Greg-
ory, sophomore Brooke Blak-
enhorn, and freshmen Grace
Landaker, Kimmberly Rodri-
guez and Elise Seppa for the
girls.
Running for the Seaside
boys will be juniors Nick
Mace and Luis Moreno, and
sophomores Sean Barnett,
Henry Garvin, Jude Gomez,
Francisco Rojas and Hayden
Spratt.
The Seaside roster will be
subject to change as the Gulls
approach their season opener,
today in Hillsboro at the Bill
Chapman Invitational. Sea-
side also runs Sept. 8 in the
Jewell “Elk Run” at Teevin
Ranch.
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