Boys' soccer: Tigers loaded, but so is the rest of the Sierra

Any coach with nine returning starters and 14 returning lettermen from a team that advanced to the regional semifinals generally likes his chances heading into the year.

But what about when every other school in the league gets better as well?

"It'll be a tough season, no doubt," Douglas boys' soccer coach Milko Vasquez said. "Everyone has gotten better. Most teams had underclassmen last year, so it will be very difficult.

"There is so much parity now, and that is a good thing. It forces us to get better. Every game is going to be crucial and fortunately the guys are heading into the year with that kind of mentality, rather than figure it out halfway through."

The Tigers are losing their two top goal scorers from 2006 (Mike Gransbery, who scored 29 goals and broke the school record for goals in a career with 60, and Michael Barnes, 16 goals and 10 assists) but are returning a starter at nearly every other spot on the field.

"Last year we had a lot of injuries toward the end of the year," Vasquez said. "We played some critical games with a makeshift lineup, but they recovered and we ended up getting a lot of experience out of that."

First-team All-Sierra League honorees Eddie Vega and Oscar Gonzalez are among the teams top returners with second-teamers Edgar Arceo and Ross Gardner.

Vega will serve as an attacking midfielder up top, joining Arceo and Ray Kaffer.

"Eddie is a natural leader on the field and Ray is kind of that emotional leader," Vasquez said. "Eddie loves distributing the ball (he led the team with 13 assists last season), and Edgar really developed as last year went on (nine goals and seven assists as a freshman).

"Ray was more of a defensive guy for us last year, but all three of those guys are going to be pretty good attackers."

Leading a strong core of returners at midfield will be Gonzalez, Gardner, Brian Jaggard and Andrew Andraski. Junior varsity callup Christian Salazar will bolster the middle.

On defense, Vasquez has a pool of solid players to choose from, starting with Kyle Gardner, foreign exchange student Antoine Vandenbalke, and junior varsity callup Brian Randall.

"Kyle will be our strong force back there," Vasquez said. "He is kind of a quite leader, but he is just solid out there.

"Brian had a very good offseason."

Dustin Goldade, Austin Shick and Geoff Rahe will compete for time at fullback.

"We're hoping Geoff's knee holds up, because he is one of our better defenders," Vasquez said.

Jose Alcaraz Meza will get the majority of the starts in net for the Tigers after an All-Sierra League honorable mention season last year.

Robbie Forest, Ben Wood and Jeff Crozier are also right in the mix at a number of positions, giving Vasquez a depth he hasn't had in a number of years.

"I can move some people around when I have too," Vasquez said. "We don't change our game plan much when we start rotating."

Douglas will play its three big rivalry games (Reno, Carson and South Tahoe) on the new football field under the lights this season.

"All those games will be crucial," Vasquez said. "We'll hopefully get some bigger crowds, and the environment will be great."

n Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.