Expectations raised for Wildcat boys

CLOVIS — It was certainly a memorable 2018 season for Clovis High’s boys soccer team, which posted an 18-3-1 record while reaching the state 5A semifinals.

But with that season, the bar crept a bit higher.

“Oh yeah, that’s what we’ve been wanting to do,” Clovis’ 12th-year head coach Greg Trujillo said. “We were one of the top 10 teams in the state for a while, but when we were in that Albuquerque district we got knocked around. And it made us really step up our game.”

The Wildcats stepped it up big time last year, and their program made quite a postseason impact as 5A’s fifth seed, including a 1-0 overtime quarterfinal win over fourth-seeded Albuquerque before a 4-2 semifinal loss to top-seeded Cleveland.

The ’Cats are preparing to take another crack at it, with the season opener against Sandia Prep just over a week away. But they’ll enter the 2019 campaign having lost much of last year’s offensive pop.

“We had a lot of those guys that could put it in the back of the net,” Trujillo said of the graduated players.

Among them was Jose Valladares, who scored the state quarterfinal game-winner last year. Kade Jones, Richard Masterson, Elias Ortega, Jonathan Puga, Kevin Fowler, Carlos Munoz and Julio Cesar Rosales have also moved on.

Trujillo, though, does return a lot of talent. His challenge this offseason has been finding exactly where it fits, who gives his team the best chance of moving up front to jumpstart the offense.

He hopes he’s found the right mix.

Carlos Valdivia, a reserve goalie last year, will play midfielder this season. Lupe Meza was an outside defender last season, but will be a striker this year. Alberto DeLeon was a 2018 midfielder, but will be a 2019 striker.

“So we’ll see how that works out. It’s been a work in progress,” Trujillo said. “We might be in a lot of close matches this year, because we don’t have that firepower up top. Then again, some of these guys might step up.”

Trujillo says his team is sound defensively, with quality players in front of returning goalie Bruno Armendariz. So the offense probably won’t have to be that prolific, just consistent.

“If we get three good scoring opportunities and convert on two of those, we have a great chance of coming out on top,” Trujillo said.

Senior Jose Mendoza is expected to play midfielder and striker, but Trujillo considers him an all-purpose player. “I can use him anywhere,” the coach said. “He’s got a lot of speed ... so he’ll be a scoring threat.”

Jorge Barraza is only a sophomore, but is already expected to be one of the Wildcats’ integral players this season, described by Trujillo as a playmaker. Barraza was on varsity last year, but his field time was limited to roughly one half per game. “He’s gotten a lot stronger, a lot smarter, a lot quicker,” Trujillo said. “So he’s going to be playing, distributing the ball throughout.”

Some offensive zip may also come from junior midfielder Mateo Galindo and junior striker Diego Perez, each of whom alternated between jayvee and varsity last year.

Daniel Hernandez, up from junior varsity, is following in the path of his two older brothers, both of whom have played on past Trujillo teams. The next Hernandez in line might be an important part of keeping the offense humming.

“He’s a good, good midfielder,” Trujillo said, “and he can handle the ball really well. So maybe he can fill in the gap and play some midfield with Jorge, get some chemistry going in the middle.”

Seniors Cody Little and Antonio Estrada Ramos could supply some offensive energy in the middle, too. Little will be playing right midfielder, Estrada Ramos midfielder and striker, according to Trujillo. The latter player may turn out to be one of Clovis’ most intriguing offseason additions.

“It depends on how he meshes with the team,” Trujillo said. “He’s been around; he finally decided to commit and play organized soccer. So we’ll see how he does.”

Another interesting addition is Connor Lawson, a transfer from Oklahoma. “He’s only a sophomore, but he’s a big kid,” Trujillo said. “He’s just got to play our style of soccer and he’ll be a good athlete for the program.”

Returning senior Reiney Houfek could help the defense and help out in the middle. “I could use him a couple of places,” Trujillo said. “He’s very strong on the ball.”

At 6’2”, junior forward Grant Palla is a player Trujillo hopes can use his size to an advantage. “He’ll give us some presence in the air,” Trujillo said, “so maybe we can win some in the air on corner kicks.”

On the subject of height, there’s 6’4” Salvador Arrellano. “He’s going to help us out defensively,” Trujillo said, “and in the midfield as well.”

Another key defender will be returning senior Jesse Roybal. “He’ll be able to chase down strikers on any counterattack situation,” Trujillo said.

Returning senior Kunal Puppala is yet another important cog for the Wildcats, playing centerback.

The defense has talent and experience. The offense has promise. It will be tough to follow a state semifinal team, but this year’s ’Cats might just be able to do it without much dropoff.

“If we can put the ball in, find somebody that steps up and puts the ball behind the net, then we can probably build on that,” Trujillo said. “It’ll be an interesting season. You always set your goals high, and we’re going to set ’em real high this year and see how far we go.”