OMAHA — An experienced group of players and grueling schedule has Omaha Central ready for the 2016 NSAA State Soccer Tournament which begins today for the Class A boys field. It will be Central’s first game at state since 1997.
The Eagles relied on a veteran team — coach Peter Pham has 13 seniors on the squad — to post an 13-6 record in during the regular season mostly behind a cohesive defense and goalkeeper Cole Heimuli. Central will take on top-ranked Omaha Creighton Prep (18-1) in the 1:00 match.
“It’s an extremely exciting time for our players and our school community,” Pham said. “We have a great group of kids that have worked hard. We hadn’t won a district game since 2004, so we are ready to go and excited to keep playing.”
Heimuli, who Pham calls, “maybe the most underrated goalie in the state,” has given up just nine goals in 16 games. As a team, Central has allowed just 11 on the season and four of their six losses have been 1-0 setbacks to four teams that have qualified in the Class A field. Their sixth loss was a 2-0 defeat to Class B qualifier Columbus Scotus.
Also in the backfield for Pham are seniors Cole Horner, Vincente Oliver-Garrardo and Brian Dimayuga. Horner has been a four-year starter and was part of a team that went 4-13 his freshman season.
“It’s nice to have that experience back there,” Pham said. “Those guys have been pretty good all season. We are kind of a team that when we are on, we’re on and when we are off, we’re off. But, they’ve done a really job for us.”
Their scores indicate the same, with all of the losses being shutouts and the Eagles scoring more than one goal in 11 of their 13 victories. Offensively, juniors Steve Siy and Jackson Ferris have led the way with freshman Victor Hugo Cruz-Perez, who came to America just five month ago.
“He’s been a heck of an addition for us,” Pham said. “He came to an open gym and just fit in right away.”
Central heads into the match with Prep playing their best soccer of the year, Pham said. They have won three of four matches including a 1-0 shootout win over host North Platte in the district final on the Bulldogs home pitch.
“I think our schedule really led us up to being completely ready for districts,” Pham said. “We played a very tough metro schedule and that had us prepared.”
One of the teams they didn’t play, however, was their first round opponent. Pham said the Junior Jays will be a tough match for his team, but one they feel like can go any way especially if they play well on defense.
“This time of year, there aren’t any easy opponents,” Pham said. “I think you have to go out there and be tough-minded. We have a huge task in front of us.”
State Soccer Notes
Fellow Striv school Millard West will begin defense of their state title as the fifth seed with an 11-6 record. They take on Millard North in the game following Prep, Central. Earlier this season, we caught up with head coach Michael Doria.
On the girls side, Millard West began defense of their title with a 3-0 win over Papillion-LaVista on Wednesday. Nebraska recruit Brenna Ochoa scored early and the Wildcats outshot the Monarchs 21-0 for the match. The Cats coach, Jacque Tavis-Butler, was inside The Locker Room to preview the state tournament earlier this week.
