Columbia boys soccer program finishes official first week of play with one win, one loss, one tie

The Bruins lost their opener, 2-1, at home to Hockinson on March 12, followed that three days later with a 2-1 win at Centralia, and then ended their three-match-in-six-days swing with a 2-2 tie at La Center on March 17.

The lone constant may have been the toughness of the Columbia opposition, as Coach Daniel Mangum shuffled his lineup around to see how the team’s pieces might fit together.

“We had two physically demanding games against Hockinson and Centralia that were great games to wake the team up to the level of play they need to get used to,” Mangum said.

Luke Miller led the offense against Centralia with two goals. “He was a constant presence,” Mangum said. “Ulices Huerta continues to find his groove at outside mid and had an excellent assist against Centralia and a goal against La Center.

“We’ve been experimenting a bit with guys in different positions this last week so I know the guys are looking forward to buckling down with a consistent lineup as we get into conference play this upcoming week.

Columbia’s deep team was scheduled to open conference competition with a 5 p.m. match March 21 at Gorge rival Stevenson.