Valley’s rise is a poorly kept secret
Vikings enter state as No. 7 seed, but have played with (and beaten) each of the top 3
The results leap off the page. Any page.
Here is the Valley High School boys soccer team, a program that’s been middle of the pack for so long that the Vikings practically pay rent to live there.
But this doesn’t project to anyone, least of all Valley, as just any regular, regular season.
And how could it be labeled as such? Has anyone else in the Class 6A division beaten the top three seeds in this year’s state tournament? That, of course, is rhetorical. Nobody has. Except Valley, the No. 7 seed this weekend for the first round.
The next natural thing is to want to inquire with the Vikings just how they’ve managed all this. The response? Don’t ask. Like, seriously, don’t ask. They won’t tell you.
“We’re very unique, in my opinion,” said junior center-back Ben Girlamo. “The style we play is just surprising to people, because it’s not like how Valley has played before.”
Which is how, exactly? Girlamo smiled and refused to answer. Trademark secret.
So while “CSI: Valley Boys Soccer” is dispatched to examine the forensics, the Vikings forge ahead with a seriously good chance to get to the second week of state, which would be rare.
“I think we just have a lot of different components,” said sophomore forward Johnny Baros, who leads Valley in scoring with 19 goals and 42 points. “And when we play together, we can be one of the best teams.”
The Vikings (12-5-1) play No. 10 seed Cibola at 11 a.m. Saturday at the APS Complex in the first round. The winner gets No. 2 Albuquerque High in next Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Valley typically starts no more than a couple of seniors, and the Vikes might even send 11 underclassmen out onto the pitch Saturday morning to start the game.
But this youth has been served, starting with a season-opening win over La Cueva in the metro tournament.
“This group, like any team, has had growing pains,” said secondyear head coach Tyler Linn. “And a lot of teams this time of year, they’re done (emotionally). They start to get on each other’s nerves.”
But, Linn quickly added, not this Valley team. He came aboard to build this program in every way, to invest in these North Valley kids and they in him.
“They love playing, and the thing is for me, I’m trying to cultivate at Valley a program that has more discipline, more accountability,” Linn said.
Already, Linn’s energies have allowed this tree to bear some fruit. In his first year, the school — 6A’s smallest — struggled to field a JV team. There was no such issue this year.
Winning, Baros added, should help lure incoming freshman into a program that this batch of Vikings believes is on the rise.
“I feel like we have a long way to go,” Baros said, “but we keep getting better.”
Then, of course, there is that mysterious Valley playing style. Girlamo said it is an asset, but when asked if by this point of the season it could still legitimately be considered a surprise, he had a quick response.
“Cibola hasn’t seen us this year,” he said.
Valley will not enter the playoffs entirely at full strength. Senior back Diego Tena picked up his third red card of the season last Friday against Highland, and that third red makes him ineligible to compete the rest of the year.
The Vikings already have depth issues, at least in relation to top seeds like No. 1 La Cueva, No. 2 AHS and No. 3 Volcano Vista. But Linn said he has had a little time to adjust his back line, and feels it will be ready for a playoff push in front of Tena’s brother, goalkeeper Daniel Tena.
Ambition in these playoffs won’t be a hindrance, even with a solid, 12-win season.
“We lost five games,” Linn countered. “And tied a game. They want to win every game.”
In the North Valley, where Viking athletes are generally treated like family in their neighborhoods, this is no small thing — particularly as it pertains to soccer, a sport in which Valley hasn’t made many, if any, inroads.
“I’m starting to install a culture of pride,” Linn said, “of being a Valley Viking.”
The first-round games are Friday and Saturday. The top four seeds in Class 6A, 5A and 1A-4A have byes into the quarterfinal round. That begins a week from today at the soccer complex on the Santa Ana Pueblo, which is hosting the second week of state for the firest time in many years.