BOYS SOCCER COACH OF THE YEAR
It was a reboot season.
Phoenix Washington’s title hopes during the 2018-19 season were dashed after discovering a player had played in a club tournament and had to forfeit 11 games.
The Rams lost 13 seniors to graduation. But they refueled and restocked and captured the 4A state titles this past season, dedicating it to the senior who lost out on playing in the postseason last year.
With coach Adam Roberts keeping everybody positive and on point, the returning players, he said, “knew they had unfinished business.”
Led by senior captains Sergio Pacheco and Daniel Valencia, this team went 22-4, capping it with a 2-1 win over Phoenix Arcadia for the school’s first state title since 1989.
“As any team does, we grew throughout the season,” Roberts said. “I feel that the Arizona Soccer Showcase was the key to us solidifying our team chemistry.
“We fell in our opening match to Flagstaff, as we struggled to deal with adversity and playing from behind. I saw the same issue when we had fallen to (Phoenix) Alhambra earlier in the semifinals of the Moon Valley Tournament. But this time we were able to learn from our mistakes and especially to trust and work with each other and earned a finals rematch in which we defeated Flagstaff in kicks to capture the silver elite division in the tournament.”
Roberts credits a coaching staff of former Washington players who were knocked out of state tournament in previous years. They include lead assistant Tafadzwa Semwayo, goalkeeper coach Tony Castro, Ben Villalobos, Landry Mayungu, Swa Ha and Luis Gurrola.
“Our ability to break down game film and make adjustments to meet the challenges of each opponent was key to our success, especially in the playoffs,” Roberts said.
Washington entered the state final against Arcadia having not been scored on in three previous matches.