The Bad News Bearcats started out their 14U boys soccer season in the worst way possible: with a 1-5 start, leaving fifth-year head coach Derek Burger to question if they would rebound.
But the Bearcats mounted a comeback season for the ages.
The team, which has both Chehalis and Centralia middle school players, hadn’t played together in over a year since their season was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
But after their 1-5 start, they began to find their groove, beating all five teams they had previously lost to in league play and advanced to the district playoffs. The Bearcats then went up against the South Mason County Wolverines, a team that had ousted them in the postseason two years ago.
But the Bearcats, who had already beaten the Wolverines this season in league play, fell in the district title match and thought their season was over.
But eight teams across seven regions advance to the state recreational tournament: seven regional champions and one wildcard team. As fate would have it, the Bearcats were selected as the one wildcard team. Their season was still alive.
The Bearcats cruised through the tournament, winning 5-1 in the quarterfinals, 2-0 in the semifinals before setting up a state Rec Cup showdown with Washington United from Puyallup.
The Bearcats dominated the match, outshooting their opponents 20-0, culminating in Gage Grisham’s penalty-shot goal that ultimately gave them a 1-0 victory and a state championship.
“I thought it was going to be a horrible season,” Burger said. “But they came back and beat everyone and won a state title. It was a big deal for these boys. We worked really hard. It was neat to watch them progress.”
