Benefield: Montgomery heads tight field in NBL boys soccer

“We are a young old team,” Jon Schwan told me of his Montgomery Vikings boys soccer team.

I was a little confused, so Schwan elaborated.

“We are still pretty young but we have a lot of experience,” he said.

The Vikings, 7-2-3 and 2-0 in league after Friday night’s road win at Maria Carrillo, return 11 players from a talented team that last year finished third in the North Bay League and made it to the quarterfinals of the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs.

They have experience and an abundance of talent, which makes the Vikings the likely frontrunners in a stacked NBL where multiple teams have the potential to play spoiler.

“It’s the deepest team I’ve had,” Schwan said. And we haven’t yet seen the Vikings at full strength.

Not once this year have all of Schwan’s presumed starters suited up together. Club commitments, injuries and other factors have kept his starting 11 from getting a ton of time together. That thought likely strikes fear in the hearts of every other team in the league - that this squad hasn’t yet gelled.

The Vikings return All-Empire second-team defender Ben Cawood, who is just a junior. They also have one of the more dynamic players in the league in junior Bryan Rosales. Both players played for the first time all season in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Casa Grande because Cawood had club soccer commitments and Rosales was recovering from foot surgery, Schwan said.

Add to that talented junior midfielder junior Carson Wyatt, along with sophomores Alan Soto and Calvin Perkins, and the Vikings boast a core that is the envy of the league.

“Montgomery is so dynamic,” Casa Grande coach Chris Rodd said. “Their backs are overlapping - you don’t see that in high school. They just wear you down.”

More frightening still? The Vikings have only six seniors.

“That’s the scary part,” Rodd said. “They could be better next year.”

But this year is the focus now, with NBL play underway and perhaps the biggest game of the young season scheduled for Monday when Rancho Cotate hosts the Vikings.

That game “is going to tell us everything,” Rancho coach Eamon Kelly said. “I have a very strong team.”

No one should doubt that.

Rancho is one of only two teams in the league to return two All-Empire selections in senior striker Mario Enrike “Kiki” Gomez and junior Adrian Fontanelli.

Rancho has put together a 5-2 overall record and 1-0 league record, and Gomez has accounted for 12 of the Cougars’ 30 goals. With Fontanelli running the show from the center midfield position, the Cougars’ offense has the potential to be lethal.

“I think they are going to be really tough to handle,” Santa Rosa coach Antonio Garcia said. “I think those two are probably the players to watch.”

Schwan doesn’t disagree.

“Rancho can score in bunches,” he said. “Their attack is scary.”

He will get a chance to see how scary, as well as how the Vikings’ vaunted defense will be able to hold up under that kind of pressure.

“It’s going to be a battle,” Schwan said of league play from here on out. “I don’t think there are any easy wins in this league. There are quality players on every team, quality coaches. I think it’s going to be a long time before anyone runs the table in this league. There is just too much quality.”

Windsor has already proved it belongs in the conversation about contenders after the Jaguars dispatched reigning champs Santa Rosa 2-0 on Dec. 16 in the league opener for both squads.

“I think Windsor is definitely going to be competing,” Windsor coach Andres Flores said. “We have 16 seniors on the varsity roster. That’s a huge advantage. It’s probably one of the biggest advantages for any team.”

Windsor was 6-2-1 overall and 3-0 in league with wins over Santa Rosa and Maria Carrillo as well as Friday night’s victory against Ukiah.

Santa Rosa, winner of league last year and owner of the No. 1 seed in Division 1 of NCS before falling in a semifinal, is a different squad than last year, but some names will be familiar to soccer-watchers.

The Panthers, who are 6-3-1 overall and 1-1 in league, have Brian Sanchez, an All-Empire first-team pick when he was just a sophomore. Also returning? The All-Empire Player of the Year, junior Anthony Lopez. Anyone who overlooks the Panthers because of the talent they graduated last year does so at their peril.

“Santa Rosa? I will never doubt them,” Schwan said.

Add to the mix a talented Casa Grande team under Rodd, as well as Maria Carrillo and Ukiah, and the North Bay League has the makings of a race until the final game. Just as it should be.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes and SoundCloud “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”