Camas boys soccer coming together like family

The early season for the Camas boys soccer team has produced results that aren’t very Camas like.

The Papermakers entered the start of 4A Greater St. Helens League play on Wednesday with a record of 2-4-2.

There are two contributing factors to that.

One is the Papermakers’ youthful roster that consists of five freshmen and four sophomores.

“We have a good, diverse group,” head coach Josh Stoller said. “A lot of age range, you know, freshmen all the way up to seniors. We have a talented bunch, but the year has just been working on playing together, using the talent that we have, playing with formations and seeing what works best for us.”

The other factor is Camas has played a challenge non-league schedule that included Chiawana and Puyallup, a pair of 4A state playoff teams from last year, as well as Silas and Heritage, 3A state playoff teams.

And the Papermakers are focusing more on the process than the results in the preseason, senior defender and team captain Mason Teeter said.

“I think we’ve learned a lot from the preseason,” Teeter said. “And we definitely know what we want going forward. And I think that the preseason just helped gel us together. A lot of unity, become more of a brotherhood.”

Sophomore midfielder Mark Koroteyev added: “Even though the results weren’t the best, in all those games, we were in the game. We fought every game.”

The Papermakers took the lessons from those early season losses and draw and turned it into a victory as Camas opened league play with a 2-0 win over Union on Wednesday night.

“I think our team this season has been all about unity, and I think we showed it today,” Koroteyev said. “The team was playing together, fighting for each other.”

Koroteyev scored both goals for the Papermakers on Wednesday, but the sophomore said he was just the beneficiary of good team play.

In the 10th minute, senior Greyson Becker worked the ball up the left side and sent a cross that was deflected by Union goalkeeper Jesus Gutierrez. Koroteyev was there to punch in the rebound.

“To be honest, I’d just say it was a good team goal,” Koroteyev said. “I was just in the right spot at the right time. The ball just came to my foot, and I just hit it.”

From there, the Camas backline shined, limiting Union to very few scoring chances. The Papermakers were able to maintain that 1-0 into the second half even after playing the last 30 minutes a man down.

“We’re very lucky with our back line,” Stoller said. “Having Luke Manandic and Mason Teeter be kind of the anchor points, and they’ve been that for four years now. So those two seniors leading us out of the back of the field is huge for us.”

Teeter said: “I think we have by far the best defense in the league. We’ve got a very good team, very cohesive. We all know what we want from each other. Yeah, lock it up.”

Stoller said Wednesday’s win was born out of the 1-0 loss to Chiawana last Saturday, when the Papermakers capped spring break by taking a trip to the Tri-Cities to face the No. 2 team in RPI in the state.

And it wasn’t just a tough loss against a good opponent, Stoller said, but getting to spend several hours together on the bus.

“I think what the boys are doing is coming together,” Stoller said. “You know, every time we break it down, it’s family. That’s kind of our motto for this season. If we can’t act like a family, can’t treat each other like a family. It’s going to be a rough season for us.”

The Papermakers are determined not to let that happen.

“We’ve got a great band of brothers,” Teeter said. “Unfortunate red card (tonight), but we still stick together, play strong, finish out, get another goal. We’ve got a very passionate group and a lot of talent. And I’m very excited to see where we go this season.”