There's announcing your presence with authority, and then there's what Caldera's girls soccer team did last week in starting the program's first varsity season.
The 5A Wolfpack of Bend put the state on alert with wins over both of last year's 5A finalists and the top two teams in the OSAAtoday 5A preseason coaches poll. Caldera defeated No. 2 La Salle Prep 1-0 on Aug. 26 and top-ranked and reigning champion Wilsonville 2-0 on Aug. 31.
It was enough to vault the Wolfpack from unranked to No. 1 in the coaches poll this week, ahead of No. 2 La Salle Prep and No. 3 Wilsonville.
“It felt good,” coach Gavin Myers said of the wins. “It was kind of our first real test to see if we could hang at this level. I think we proved we could do that. It was pretty cool.”
Senior-less Caldera had high expectations entering the season after its JV team went undefeated last year, outscoring opponents 86-3. That team opened its season by winning four consecutive games against 4A varsity teams and dominated JV teams from the 6A Mountain Valley Conference.
“I knew we had a really talented group of kids, a really special group,” said Myers, who took the job at Caldera after going 50-19-3 in five seasons as the coach at Bend (2016-20). “But I know the varsity level is always different. We knew that we had to step up our game this season. So far we've been able to do that.”
Caldera got a first-half goal from sophomore Grace Salvo to beat La Salle Prep. Sophomore Kylee Jerome scored in the first half and freshman Shaelyn McCarl converted in the second half in the win over Wilsonville. Sophomore goalkeeper Reese Bradbury recorded both shutouts.
“A big part of our success in the second game was Reese making some big saves,” Myers said. “Wilsonville put some shots in frame and probably possessed slightly more than we did, but we were able to hold them off.”
The Wolfpack is getting strong leadership from its captains, Jerome and sophomore Lola Maniscalco in the midfield and junior center back Hadley Williams, who moved over from outside back to anchor the defense.
The front line is a diverse attack that features junior Sienna McCarl and sophomores Jaymi Dickenson, Camryn Wurth and Ali Heinly.
“We have a lot of offensive threats,” Myers said. “That's what's kind of nice is we can spread it around. We're pretty good at spreading the wealth. That's been kind of the strength of our team.”
Caldera will find out more this week when it crosses the mountains to play at co-No. 7 Corvallis (1-1) on Friday and No. 6 Crescent Valley (0-1) on Saturday.
“We always said that we wanted to go up against quality teams in the preseason,” said Myers, who will go head-to-head with his former high school at Crescent Valley, Blake Leamy.
So far, Myers is enjoying the opportunity to build a program from scratch. He also teaches at Caldera.
“It's halfway through my career, and I wanted to try something new,” he said. “It's been a roller coaster. Opening a new school in the middle of a pandemic was rocky at first, but it's been super rewarding, as well.”
Myers said it helps that his players are committed to getting better. At this point, the program's potential appears to be off the charts.
“It's high school soccer, so we'll try to make sure we can keep everybody together and excited,” Myers said. “Having no seniors does make the future bright.
“These girls not having played varsity soccer, it's kind of ignorance is bliss. So we're kind of walking into these matches just knowing they've got to go out there and play soccer.”
Notes: Jesuit is the new No. 1 team in the 6A poll after beating Woodburn 7-0 and Cleveland 8-0 last week. In those games, the Crusaders were led by Claudia Rose (five goals, four assists) and Marian Dunne (four goals, three assists). … Sherwood, a 6A quarterfinalist last year, is off to a strong start, beating reigning Southwest Conference co-champion South Eugene 4-1 and playing to a 2-2 tie against Grant, last year's 6A champion and the No. 1 team in the preseason coaches poll. Ella Weathers scored twice against South Eugene and once against Grant. Sherwood, ranked third, plays host to No. 2 Sunset on Thursday....
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jerryu@osaa.org
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