YAKIMA – The Wenatchee High girls soccer team owns the past three CBBN district championships, and if everything goes according to plan, the Panthers expect to make it four in a row this fall.
Returning nine starters from a squad that went 12-0 in league play, head coach Ashton Kirkpatrick likes her team’s chances of repeating.
“We’ve looked good in our first couple of games, and my expectation is that we will stay at No. 1 throughout the season,” Kirkpatrick said. “I saw some of the other teams over the summer and I feel like we’re still the team to beat.”
The Panthers are 3-0-1 in the early going, with league wins over West Valley and Davis, and a shootout victory over Mead that officially counted as a tie. Those early results have given Kirkpatrick plenty of reason to be confident.
“We had a young group last year that performed really well,” she said. “We started four freshmen, and now they have a full year of varsity experience. I’d say we’re sitting pretty good right now.”
Kirkpatrick expects cross-town rival Eastmont to be the Panthers’ closest contender in the CBBN, but West Valley, Moses Lake and 2024 state qualifier Eisenhower will also be in the running.
First-year West Valley coach Cesar Farias returns eight starters and believes the Rams are worthy of a state berth this season.
“We’re definitely a team people should respect,” he said. “We don’t have that one key player who is going to score 20 goals, but we have a strong defense that is going to keep games close. We’re OK winning 1-0 or 2-1, and I think we have a balanced team that can do that.”
Farias knows the league will be hotly contested, but he is confident that his group understands what it takes to contend for a district title.
“Wenatchee is a really good team, but you have to believe you can beat them,” he said. “We just need to win the games we should win, and hopefully, we’ll be in a position at the end of the season to challenge them.”
The Class 2A CWAC appears to be more wide open, with last season’s top two teams, Ellensburg and Prosser, graduating a number of key pieces.
East Valley has been rolling over the first two weeks at 3-0-1, while Quincy is off to a surprising 4-0 start. District tournament semifinalist Selah has been holding its own against its big-school rivals, defeating Davis and dropping close decisions to Wenatchee and West Valley.
“We have all of the pieces to play some really quality soccer by the end of the season, which is our goal,” Selah coach Josh Koreski said. “We’re not worried about results right now; our main focus right now is figuring out who our top 11 girls are and the next five who can put us in the best position to win in league play. I’m pretty confident in this group.”
The Class 1A SCAC is equally balanced this fall, with 2024 district runner-up Cashmere setting the pace in the preseason at 4-0. Defending league and district champion Naches Valley returns a solid core of young players, while Royal, Zillah and Wahluke are showing signs of a playoff run.
“Cashmere is going to be really good again this year, and so is Royal,” Naches Valley coach Nate Wright said. “We lost six starters to graduation, but we still feel like we’re going to be right there.”
The Rangers are exceptionally young, with no seniors and just two juniors on the roster. That hasn’t dampened Wright’s optimism, however.
“We’re small in stature, but we’re really fast and skilled,” he said. “I feel like we have what it takes to get to state again. That’s always the goal.”
CONFERENCE OVERVIEWS
CBBN: WENATCHEE has won the past three district titles and, with nine returning starters, is the favorite to repeat this season. First-team all-leaguers Berkeley Boles (M) and (F) lead a strong core that also features second-team defender Madison Norton. … EASTMONT returns three first-team all-leaguers in Mik Chandler (F), Maddie Bonniwell (M) and Ashlynn McGinnis (D) and a second-teamer in Kyndal Reasor (M). … EISENHOWER, a 2024 state qualifier, brings back first-team all-league forward Vianey Esquivel and second-team defender Allison Villareal. … WEST VALLEY is led by first-team midfielder Avah Farias and second-team midfielder Alexi Jaramillo.
CWAC: EAST VALLEY features one of the best players in Central Washington in senior midfielder Ariana Lopez, who has scored 10 goals over the first four games. Sophomore winger Natalie Mendoza, a fellow first-teamer, adds offensive firepower … SELAH features five senior leaders, led by forwards Reese Robinson and Elayna Blodgett and defenders Sophie Blodgett and Braylee Pendleton. Sophomore winger Maddie Phinney provides a major spark up front. … Ellensburg, Quincy, Prosser and Toppenish are expected to battle for the third district seed.
SCAC: CASHMERE has gotten off to a strong start at 4-0 and hopes to return to the top of the league after falling to Naches Valley in the 2024 title game. First-team midfielder Gwen
Ledesma leads a strong core that also includes second-team selections Addison Talley (F) and Brynne Patrick (D) … ROYAL will be in the hunt for the district title with help from first-team
midfielder Maggie Frank and second-team picks Jill Allred and Sharon Arroyo … NACHES VALLEY returns 2024 Player of the Year Emmaria Mendoza, who scored 30 goals as a freshman. First-team defender Finley Hahn-Keenan is another difference-maker for the young Rangers.
2024 CONFERENCE STANDINGS
CBBN: Wenatchee 12-0, West Valley 8-4, Moses Lake 7-5, Eisenhower 5-7, Davis 5-7, Eastmont 5-7, Sunnyside 0-12.
CWAC: Prosser 7-1, Ellensburg 7-1, Selah 6-2, East Valley 5-3, Othello 3-5, Ephrata 3-5, Grandview 2-6, Quincy 2-6, Toppenish 1-7.
SCAC: Cashmere 15-1-0, Naches Valley 13-3-0, Royal 12-4-0, Kiona Benton 11-5-0, Wahluke 7-8-1, College Place 6-9-1, Connell 5-11-0, Zillah 2-14-0, Wapato 0-16-0.
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUERS
CBBN
First team: Mik Chandler, Eastmont, forward, jr.; Lindsey Davis, Moses Lake, forward, sr.; Logan Grosdidier, Wenatchee, forward, jr.; Maddie Bonniwell, Eastmont, midfielder, sr.; Vianey Esquivel, Eisenhower, midfielder, jr.; Kamery Char, Moses Lake, midfielder, sr.; Mayrin Dominguez, Sunnyside, midfielder, so.; Berkeley Boles, Wenatchee, midfielder, jr.; Avah Farias, West Valley, midfielder, sr.; Ashlynn McGinnis, Eastmont, defense jr.; Meadow Saenz, Moses
Lake, defense sr.
Second team: Mia Garcia, Sunnyside, forward, jr.; Patricia Delgado, Davis, midfielder, jr.; Kyndal Reasor, Eastmont, midfielder, sr.; Alexi Jaramillo, West Valley, midfielder, sr.; Allison Villarreal, Eisenhower, defender, jr.; Cayla Throneberry, Moses Lake, defender, 11; Madison Norton, Wenatchee, defender, sr.; goalkeeper,: Jayden Gaspar, Sunnyside , goalkeeper, jr.
Honorable mention: Amelia Stufflebeam, Eastmont, forward, sr.; Zyanna Hernandez, Sunnyside, midfielder, sr.; Ellison Eastman, Wenatchee, midfielder, so.; Kaitlyn West, Eastmontjr.; Emely ,
defender, Badillo, Eisenhower, defender, jr.; Elsie Hopkins, Eisenhower, defender, jr.; Miciah Higley, Moses Lake, defender, sr.; Vivan Navarro, Sunnyside, defender, jr.; Zair Huston, Wenatchee, defender, sr.; Joy Lally, West Valley, defender, sr.; Alyssa Farias Quintero, West Valley, defender, jr.; Jaylyn Calixtro, Davis , goalkeeper, so.
CWAC
First team: Ellie Markus, Ellensburg, defender, sr.; Lila Rainey, Ephrata, defender, sr.; Delanie Killinger, Ephrata, midfielder, sr.; Ariana Lopez, East Valley, midfielder, sr.; Natalie Mendoza,
East Valley, forward, so.
Second team: Kate Ketcham, East Valley, goalkeeper, sr.; Belen Jimenez, Toppenish, defender, sr.; Deidra Phillips, Prosser, defender, sr.; Rebecca Swearingen, East Valley, defender, jr.; Allison
Fries, East Valley, midfielder, jr.; KK Hector, Ephrata, forward, sr.; Brooklynn Sieverkropp,
Ephrata, forward, jr.
Honorable mention: Sophie Blodgett, Selah, defender, sr.; Haley Bostwick, Ellensburg, defender, so.; Braylee Pendleton, Selah, defender, sr.; Faith Rector, Ellensburg, midfielder, jr.; Reese Robinson, Selah, midfielder, sr.; Khloe Valdez, Othello, midfielder, so.; Giselle Acevedo, East Valley, forward, sr.; Lizbeth Diaz, Quincy, forward, so.; Sarai Perez, Grandview, forward, jr.
SCAC
First team: Gwen Ledesma, Cashmere, midfielder, jr.; Emmaria Mendoza, Naches Valley, forward, so.; Finley Hahn-Keenan, Naches Valley, defender, jr.; Maggie Frank, Royal, midfielder, jr.
Second team: Addison Talley, Cashmere, forward, jr.; Brynne Patrick, Cashmere, defender, jr.; Jill Allred, Royal, midfielder, sr.; Ashya Erazo, Wahluke, forward, jr.; Charley Amick, College Place, forward, sr.; Sharon Arroyo, Royal, defender, sr.; Addison Messner, Kiona Benton, forward, sr.
Honorable mention: Sydney McIver, Cashmere, midfielder, jr.; Alyssa Soria, Cashmere, defender, sr.; Miranda Chavez, Connell, midfielder, jr.; Addison Johnston, Zillah, forward, sr.; Shelby Messner, Kiona Benton, midfielder, so.; Morgan Harlow, Wahluke, midfielder, jr.;
Lorraine Badillo, Wahluke, defender, sr.; Annie Watson, College Place, midfielder, sr.; Alejandra
Orozco, Royal, midfielder, sr.
