Kanyon Anderson admits there are some mixed emotions for himself and the staff as he takes the helm of Peninsula College’s men’s soccer squad.
A four-year coaching vet of the women’s team and assistant with the men’s club, he now fills the coaching cleats of longtime coach Andrew Chapman, who is taking a year off from coaching for a job with a recruiting company in Kentucky.
“I was bummed — that was more of a personal reaction,” Anderson says. “I didn’t want the program to backslide. You miss one recruiting cycle, you’re done. I didn’t want to ruin the work we’d done.”
With his hand in some the 2014 recruiting class, help from key assistants Tim Tucker and Omar Anderson and plenty of experience working with the men’s team since being hired on in 2005, Anderson says the Pirate men have a good shot at claiming their fourth NWAC title in five years.
“If you can go into the season with a legitimate possibility of a championship, you are pretty lucky,” Anderson says. “We should be really hard to beat (and) as talented as anyone in the league.”
That, despite losing Alex Martinez, a two-time NWAC tournament MVP and co-holder of the school’s scoring record, and Ash Apollon, the school’s co-leader in all-time assists, who announced this summer he’d forgo his sophomore season at P.C. to play in the Thailand Premier League.
“Last year we had a handful of really strong egos that didn’t always mesh,” Anderson says. “On the field, it was good.”
No kidding. The Pirates went 21-0-2 (best in the school’s history), earned a No. 7 national ranking and swept through the conference playoffs, though the postseason had its challenges: Peninsula was down 1-0 to Edmonds in the quarterfinals before escaping with a 2-1 win.
Anderson says he’s looking to a more balanced approach with the Pirates this fall.
“Teams knew exactly what was coming (last year, but) they just couldn’t stop it,” he says. “We may be more dangerous (now).”
Back from a one-year absence from the Pirate roster is Brodi Keefe, a player Anderson says should be an on-the-field leader along with sophomores Caio Maciel and Kassio Monteiro of Brazil.
Included in the new faces of another strong recruiting class are Trevan Estrellado and Micah Weller of Cheney and Chris Chertude of Beaverton, Ore.
Anderson says he likes the freshmen’s collective soccer IQ.
“They know the game and know what Peninsula College is,” Anderson says.
Peninsula will be young at the forward position in 2014, with freshmen Weller, Sam McEntire (Reno, Nev.), Keo Ponce (Kapolei, Hawaii) and redshirt freshman Daniel Moss (Perth, Australia) all vying for playing time up front.
The Pirates look strong in the midfield, with sophomores Maciel (Salvador, Brazil) and Monteiro (Sao Paulo) joining Chris Galea (Melbourne, Australia), Steven Rodriguez (Keizer, Ore.), Victor Sanchez (Portland, Ore.) and Keevan Webb (Victoria, B.C.), along with freshmen Chertude, Estrellado, Eddie Benito (Vista, Calif.) and Hector Jimenez Delgado (Portland, Ore.).
Defending for Peninsula will be sophomores Keefe (Victoria, B.C.), Dylan Clark (Gladstone, Australia), Samuel Gaisford (London, England), Hugo Marques (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Julio Soto (Reno, NV), as well as freshmen Ricardo Comacho-Villa (Sun Valley, Nev.), Jacob Hogluin (Henderson, Nev.), and Emmanuel Medina (Sparks, Nev.).
The Pirates are beat up in goal with sophomore keeper Aaron Zavolokin (Central Coast, Australia) recovering from surgery and freshman keeper Nick Johnson (Hillsboro, Ore.) out with a concussion. That leaves freshman Oscar Torres (Portland, Ore.) to learn the system and help defend Peninsula’s title.
Will a third consecutive championship be in the proverbial cards for Peninsula?
“(We have) no sort of expectation that it’s our for the taking,” Anderson says, but the Pirate coach admits that’s exactly what they are training for.
Peninsula College men’s soccer
Head coach: Kanyon Anderson (first year)
2013 record: 12-0-1 in West division; 21-0-2 overall, 3-0 in playoffs, NWAACC champions
Key returning players: Caio Maciel, Brodi Keefe, Kassio Monteiro
Top match-ups: Aug. 27 vs. Spokane, Sept. 20 at Skagit Valley, Sept. 24 vs. Edmonds, Oct. 22 vs. Highline
