Finishing off the season with a loss to Wilsonville in the playoffs, the Warriors are looking back on the success found during the season and are all smiles. A flawless PIL record, and outstanding senior leadership, as well as exceptional play by underclassmen all highlight this year’s magnificent season.

It was a cold, wet and soggy first round playoff game at Warrior Stadium.The field was coated with a sheet of mud, and the Warriors were to battle the Wilsonville Wildcats. It was a tie game for most of the game, as the Warriors’ lone goal came from senior Will Reese, and Wilsonville quickly responded with an equalizer goal.

Despite dominating the possession game and making numerous attacks and shots on goal, the score remained tied until a foul in the box resulted in a penalty kick for Wilsonville with under five minutes to play. The goal gave unranked Wilsonville the margin it needed to close out the game.

Coach Gene Solomon believes that the game could easily have gone the other way. “We didn’t capitalize on our scoring opportunities,” he said.

In the newly classified 5A PIL, the Warriors went 8-0, and had an overall record of 11-2-1. “5A is good because it allows us to play each team twice,” said Solomon on the new league. “It gives teams a chance to make the playoffs they might not have had before.”

The Warriors, who were a playoff team before the split, hope to stay competitive not only in league, but hope to continue to be a competitive team at state year after year.

Led by senior captains Anthony Gronwoldt, Akira Yamizaki, Easia Gastellum and Ngan Phan, Cleveland never lacked in strong leadership.

“We practiced hard during the summer and really came together during the season,” said Gastellum.

Senior David Toledo, who led the team with 16 goals and 13 assists, was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Fellow senior David Morales, and juniors Alex Annand, Brad Eckerson and sophomore Patrick DeYoung were named to the first team all league. Solomon was named Coach of the Year.

The future looks bright for the Warriors next season. Returning eight players, including sophomore standouts DeYoung and Evan Keny-Guyer, as well as first team goalkeeper Eckerson, coach Solomon believes that next year’s team could be as good, if not better than this year’s squad.