Entering the season, Tigard wasn’t on anybody’s radar in 6A girls soccer.
The Tigers, coming off a 3-7-3 season in which they scored 17 goals and missed the playoffs, did not receive a vote in the first two 6A coaches polls. Without a winning record since 2014, it has been a while since they were regarded as contenders.
But anyone ignoring Tigard after the first month is doing so at their own peril. The Tigers have been the surprise of 6A, rising to No. 8 in the 6A poll by outscoring their foes 41-0 in a 7-0 start.
Tigard is doing it under a new coach in Duccio Tagliaferri, a native Italian who has coached girls teams in the Westside Timbers club program for the past five years. It is the first varsity head-coaching job for Tagliaferri, who coached Tualatin’s JV2 boys team last season.
“I stepped in and had a talented group. It just wasn’t a team, it was individuals,” said Tagliaferri, who moved to the United States in 2010. “We basically worked on developing more of a team mentality.
“We started off really shaky, and going on and on, with the scoring we had, we got more confident in the potential. The girls got more confident. That’s probably the biggest change compared to last year.”
Tigard has yet to face a team ranked in the top 10 of the 6A coaches poll, however. That will change Tuesday when the Tigers visit No. 6 Tualatin (6-1), which has lost only to No. 5 Sherwood (6-3).
It helps Tagliaferri that he inherited one of the state’s most talented strikers in senior Gabi Brown, who has committed to Nevada. Brown scored five goals last year but has erupted for 20 goals in the six games she has played this season.
“Physically she’s a soccer player. She’s like a national team player,” Tagliaferri said. “She’s 5-8, strong, physical, lots of power. She has great vision of the field and her teammates. She’s super smart. I’m super happy I’m able to coach her.”
Brown has made a dangerous combination up front with sophomore forward Lydia Emory.
“The offense is carrying the whole team right now,” Tagliaferri said.
The defense, led by senior center back Ava Damis and senior goalkeeper Natalie Carlson, has more than held up its end with seven shutouts. The team nearly gave up its first goal of the season in the final minute of Thursday’s 5-0 win over Liberty, but Dennis slid to knock the ball away from the goal line.
“They got together as a team, and think as a family, and protect each other every time,” Tagliaferri said of his defense. “That doesn’t allow anyone to score on us.”
Tagliaferri said he had been looking for a girls high school coaching position, and when Tigard came open, “it wasn’t a hard decision” to apply. How much fun has this season been for him?
“A lot,” he said. “It’s different than club, so in the beginning I had to adjust the way I coached a little bit, and the way I relate to athletes, because they’re students first and then athletes. But right now it’s fun. It’s nice to be around them, see their development, how they change. I’m super lucky.”
