The first games of Oregon’s high school soccer season are almost here, and we’ve got a preview of each Basin squad. Here’s a look at the five boys teams: Henley, Klamath Union, Mazama, Lost River/Bonanza and Tulelake.
Henley
At a glance
Head coach: Lupe Gonzales (25th season, 162-91-15 at Henley)
League: 4A Skyline Conference
2023 results: 12-2-1 (6-1-1 Skyline), OSAA quarterfinals
Returning starters: 7
Players to watch: Layne Worrell, Jr., F/MF/D; Michael Ruelas, Jr., F/MF/D; Brian Leon, Sr., F/MF/D; Max Tobiasson, Sr., F; Ivan Garcia, So., GK
Season outlook
Henley brings back several key players from a team that won a third straight Skyline Conference championship, including conference player of the year and first team all-state selection Layne Worrell (one of two underclassmen in 4A to earn all-state recognition in 2023), but Lupe Gonzales–who was named conference coach of the year–believes that the fight for a four-peat will be its toughest one yet.
“It’s always Phoenix and Hidden Valley and us [competing for the title], but this year, Klamath Union is going to be really good,” Gonzales said. “I expect them to be fighting for a conference title.”
Playing such a rigorous schedule may be part of the reason Henley’s regular season success hasn’t carried over to the playoffs. The Hornets have earned a top-four seed in each of the past three years but have made it past the quarterfinals just once, losing in the semifinals as the No. 2 seed in 2022. They aren’t alone, though; Hidden Valley was the No. 5 seed last season and lost to No. 12 seed Marist Catholic in the first round, while Klamath Union lost a home play-in game.
“We have a tough conference,” Gonzales said. “Everybody is beaten up by the time we get into state [tournament] play.”
Gonzales, who owns the 23rd-most wins of any boys soccer coach in state history and could climb as high as 18th by the end of the season, believes this year’s team is poised to get over the hump come playoff time.
“I think that they are focused, and they want to see what they can do,” Gonzales said.
One of Henley’s biggest strengths will be its stars’ versatility. Worrell, fellow junior Michael Ruelas (who earned second team all-Skyline honors despite playing most of last season with an injury) and senior Brian Leon (another second team all-Skyline selection) are capable of playing anywhere on the field depending on what the matchup calls for, Gonzales said.
“If it’s a midfield game, they’ll probably be in the midfield,” Gonzales said. “If we need to score, they’ll probably be up top trying to score. If we need to defend, they’ll probably be on defense.”
Other Hornets excel in one particular role. Senior forward Max Tobiasson (who Gonzales called “a football player disguised as a soccer player”) and sophomore goalkeeper Ivan Garcia were both second team all-Skyline selections, and Garcia was the only freshman to earn first or second team recognition.
Gonzales said the players set to lead the program this season have drawn inspiration from now-former teammates like Alejandro Baza (second team all-state), Aiden Hayes (first team all-Skyline) and Gavin Knutson (second team all-Skyline).
“Last year we had some very exciting seniors that made an impact…I think this year, the boys have taken that and they want to leave their mark also,” Gonzales said.
A state championship would certainly accomplish that. It would also deliver seemingly the only thing missing from one of Oregon’s greatest coaching careers. As a player, Gonzales helped Henley reach the title game in 1989 and 1990, only to have to share the crown when both matchups ended in a tie. As a coach, he guided the Henley girls to the state final in 1996 and did the same with the Henley boys in 2013 but came home with a second-place trophy both times.
“I’ve taken the girls team as a coach and the boys team as a coach, but I haven’t won it yet,” Gonzales said. “It would be pretty special to do that.”
Henley opens the 2024 season at home against Ontario at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Klamath Union
At a glance
Head coach: Trevor Petersen (second season, 6-7-1 at Klamath Union)
League: 4A Skyline Conference
2023 results: 6-7-1 (3-4-1 Skyline), OSAA play-in round
Returning starters: 10
Players to watch: Caleb Morton, Jr., MF; Carlos Garcia, So., D; Jose Garcia, Sr., F; Bryce Petersen, Sr., MF
Season outlook
After many years coaching on the club circuit, Trevor Petersen took over a struggling Klamath Union program last season and pulled off a remarkable turnaround, guiding the Pelicans to their most wins since 2012 with a roster that featured just one senior. In the six seasons prior to Petersen’s arrival, the Pelicans won a total of nine games.
“I think a lot of the credit goes to some of the club coaches who’ve been training up some of the freshmen that entered our program,” Petersen said. “They brought a lot of energy and experience and skill.”
Petersen said that experience allowed the coaching staff to get a head start on developing tactics and strategy since they didn’t have to spend much time on fundamentals. He also credits his players with demonstrating “so much heart” despite being a “very small, very young team.”
“Just the heart and the effort elevated their overall performance beyond what their skill even was,” Petersen said. “We won games that we probably were not the more skilled team, but they played with more effort.”
Petersen said this year’s team has the skill to match its heart and boasts “so many dynamic players.” Among the biggest standouts is junior midfielder Caleb Morton, a first team all-Skyline selection who Petersen said excels at creating shots and is “amazing on his free kicks.” Also in the midfield will be Petersen’s son Bryce, a second team all-Skyline selection.
“He’s a senior, so I know he really wants it this year and he’ll be playing his heart out,” Petersen said.
Petersen is especially excited about the return of sophomore defender Carlos Garcia and senior forward Jose Garcia, who both began last season in the starting lineup but were lost to injuries early in the campaign. Carlos’ return in particular should help offset the loss of Jacob Federico (first team all-Skyline) to graduation.
“Carlos…can shoot from anywhere and can juke and outmaneuver almost anybody with tremendous speed,” Petersen said. “Jose…[is] great at turning with the ball, shooting, creating passes [and] finding runners.”
With more returning players than any other Skyline Conference team, Petersen, who also works as a professor of psychology at Oregon Tech, is highly optimistic that Klamath Union can build on last year’s foundation.
“I think we’ll be dangerous,” Petersen said. “I think we’ll surprise teams. We’re hoping to go deeper in the [playoffs].”
He also plans to expand the Pelicans’ playing style.
“Last season, we focused a lot on defense because we were young, but this year you’re going to see a ton more offense,” Petersen said.
Klamath Union opens the 2024 season at home against Baker/Powder Valley/Pine Eagle at 7 p.m. Friday.
Mazama
At a glance
Head coach: Arnie Gutierrez (second season, 0-11-1 at Mazama)
League: 4A Skyline Conference
2023 results: 0-11-1 (0-8-0 Skyline), did not make playoffs
Returning starters: 3
Players to watch: Jordan Beals, Jr., MF; Adrian Barbudo, Fr., F/MF/D; Joseph Jennings, Sr., D
Season outlook
Last year’s Mazama seniors graduated without ever having won a game at the varsity level.
The Vikings’ last win came on October 21, 2019, a 3-1 triumph over Hidden Valley. Since then, they’re 0-39-5 and have had four different head coaches. Arnie Gutierrez became the latest to assume the role last year and intends to bring much-needed stability to the program.
“Obviously that comes down to other decisions, but my plan is to be here at least five years,” Gutierrez said.
If Gutierrez does stay for five years, he would tie Arie DeGroot (1992-1996) for the longest tenure in program history. Heading into year two, he’ll have a squad of mostly freshmen and won’t field a JV team. Only three of last season’s starters return.
“It’s basically a blank sheet,” Gutierrez said. “It was almost like we went to the drawing board and just erased everything and restarted.”
The Vikings do bring back junior midfielder Jordan Beals, a second team all-Skyline selection, as well as senior defender Joseph Jennings, who Gutierrez believes can make a significant impact.
“If he trusts the process, I think he’ll develop into a really good player,” Gutierrez said.
Of the roughly a dozen freshmen joining the team, Adrian Barbudo has stood out as a “phenomenal all-around player” and “will be wearing many hats this year,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez, a Klamath Union alum who played semi-pro and indoor soccer in Colorado before moving back to Klamath Falls in 2021, said he knew rebuilding the Mazama program would be no easy task when he agreed to take his first head coaching job last year. With a deep core seemingly in place for the next four seasons, though, he sees a change in fortunes on the horizon.
“It does look like we should be righting the ship, and hopefully this is the first year that we do that,” Gutierrez said.
Mazama opens the 2024 season at 3A Rogue River at 6 p.m. Sept. 3.
Lost River/Bonanza
At a glance
Head coach: Luis Hernandez (first season)
League: 3A/2A/1A Special District 5
2023 results: 8-6-0 (8-6-0 SD5), did not make playoffs
Returning starters: 7
Players to watch: Alberto Hernandez, Sr., D; Osvaldo Banderas, Fr., MF
Season outlook
Like the Lost River/Bonanza girls, the Lost River/Bonanza boys are entering their third year as a program. A senior-heavy team went 10-4 and made the playoffs in 2022, but the Raiders took a step back last season with a much younger squad. This year, Lost River/Bonanza returns most of its starters and should have plenty of depth for Luis Hernandez to work with; only four seniors graduated.
Hernandez, who steps into a head coaching role for the first time after two years as an assistant with the Lost River/Bonanza girls, said the roster still skews very young but has strong chemistry.
“They all have played together for most of their lives,” Hernandez said. “They really enjoy playing together.”
Hernandez said he hasn’t had a chance to do in-depth evaluations of many of his players but identified senior defender Alberto Hernandez and freshman midfielder Osvaldo Banderas as early standouts.
“I think those two will be pretty exciting to watch,” Hernandez said.
While the Lost River/Bonanza co-op is open to players from both schools, this year’s boys team is made up almost entirely of players from Lost River. Similar to girls head coach Richard DeJong, Hernandez said the traditional rivalry between the two schools hasn’t created any division in the locker room.
“We have one Bonanza boy this year,” Hernandez said. “He gets along with the team very well…it’s just a friendship.”
Hernandez’s main focus this season is on improvement, but he hopes to take the Raiders back to the playoffs.
“I want to see how far we can make it with this young team,” Hernandez said.
Lost River/Bonanza opens the 2024 season at Rogue Valley Adventist Academy at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 3.
Tulelake
At a glance
Head coach: Miguel Navarro (third season, 31-4-0 at Tulelake)
League: NSCIF Shasta Cascade League
2023 results: 26-1-0 (14-0-0 SCL), NSCIF champions
Returning starters: 4
Players to watch: Anthony Loza, Sr., F; Alex Garcia, Fr., F; Izmael Perez, Fr., MF; Anthony Alcala, Jr., MF; Melvyn Flores, Sr., MF
Season outlook
Tulelake’s boys team isn’t strictly a boys team–the Honkers play in the CIF Northern Section, which contains some of California’s smallest schools, so they and many of their opponents field a coed team. In the Shasta Cascade League, one of the NSCIF’s two fall soccer conferences, teams are required to have at least two girls on the field at all times (if a girl sustains an injury and no others are available to replace her, the team must continue the game down a player). Miguel Navarro said the girls on his team have meshed well with the boys.
“Our boys trust them enough to share the ball with them and they truly are a unit,” Navarro said. “They indeed empower one another.”
While Oregon teams start their seasons this week, Tulelake got its 2024 campaign underway on August 16 at the Quincy Fall Fest tournament. With a lineup featuring seven new starters, the Honkers had a somewhat rocky outing at the two-day event. They beat CORE Butte 4-0 in their opening game but lost their second game 3-2 after Modoc erased a 2-0 halftime deficit. Navarro said it was the first time the Braves have beaten Tulelake in 22 years.
“As you can imagine, they were ecstatic,” Navarro said.
The Honkers bounced back with a 7-0 win over Trinity in the tournament semifinals but lost the title game to Fall River in a penalty shootout after tying it 1-1 with three minutes left.
For some coaches, starting a season 2-2-0 after losing one game the entire previous season would be a bitter pill to swallow, but for Navarro–who became a head coach for the first time when he was elevated to the position during Tulelake’s 2022 playoff run–it’s simply part of the process with a young team.
“I have a lot of youngsters…it’s definitely going to be a learning experience for them,” Navarro said. “I think the most important thing right now is just the foundations. It’s instilling a culture and a philosophy and how we play.”
The learning seems to be happening quickly. Since the Quincy Fall Fest, Tulelake has beaten Fall River 3-2 and Trinity 6-1 in their first two SCL games. Senior forward Anthony Loza, who led the SCL with 40 goals last season and was named league MVP, has eight through his team’s first six games. Close behind him is freshman forward Alex Garcia, who has six.
“My goodness, he can do some damage at his young age,” Navarro said.
Other key returners for the Honkers include junior midfielder Anthony Alcala (all-SCL), who currently leads the team with 7 assists, and senior midfielder Melvyn Flores (SCL honorable mention), who recorded a league-high 34 assists last season. Further bolstering the Tulelake midfield is freshman Izmael Perez, who has 2 goals and 2 assists through his first six high school games.
As Navarro and the Honkers chase a fourth NSCIF championship in five seasons, they’re navigating a balancing act unique to Tulelake: About two-thirds of the soccer team also plays football. The high volume of players pulling double duty–made possible by extensive communication between the programs–is even more remarkable when taken into account that many of them have jobs as well, Navarro said.
“It’s a lot of pressure for them, but…these kids, they simply just never give up,” Navarro said. “They fight every day, and it’s incredible to see…they’ve got so much on their plate, but yet they find time to do the things that they enjoy.”
It’s clear that soccer is one of those things once they get to the field, Navarro said.
“If you ever show up to one of our games, you’ll see our pregame rituals,” Navarro said. “We’ll bring out the speakers, and the kids just have fun. [It] kind of reminds me of the Golden State Warriors’ prime, when everybody was just having fun.
“I think that’s the culture that we have here.”
Tulelake’s next game is at Modoc at 11 a.m. Saturday.
