INLAND FIELDHOUSE

I’m covering the Riverside Arlington-Riverside King boys varsity soccer game today for The Press-Enterprise. The best part of this assignment will be judging early-season results for two of Riverside’s better programs.

THE LOW DOWN:
The Lions (9-3-2 Inland Valley, 16-4-4 overall in 2010) return just eight players from a last year’s team, which made a CIF-Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinal appearance. Among those is junior Ivan Hernandez, one of the best goalkeepers in the Inland Area. Also returning is spark plug midfielder Cesar Sanchez-Diaz, and target foward Jason Canahai, who was second on the team with six goals last season. It remains to be seen if young coach Kevin Watson returns for a second season. His spirit and enthusiasm carried this team through several rough patches last year.

The Wolves (8-3-3 Big VIII, 17-6-6 overall in 2010) are reloading rather than rebuilding one of the Inland Area’s best starting XIs. And even though guys like Garrett Lomanto and Brad Doman have graduated, they’ll still play an aggressive style so long as Justyn Peeples is creating havoc in front of goal and Josue Soto putting the ball into the back of the net. Coach Todd Mapes is back for his sixth season at the helm, with last season being his most successful to date. The Wolves, the Big VIII League runner-up a season ago, advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 semifinals, where the lost to eventual champion Claremont.

KEY PLAYERS:
Riverside Arlington — GK: Ivan Hernandez, Jr.; D: Weston Meckes, Sr.; Julian Martinez-Hernandez, Jr.; MF: Cesar Sanchez-Diaz, Sr.; Mauricio Espinoza, Jr.; Edgar Villagomez, Soph.; F: Jason Canahai, Jr.; Tony Ruiz, Jr.

Riverside King — GK: n/a; D: Ricardo Mendez; MF: Ian DeSilva; Wade Jambretz; Christian Buysse; Cobi Hopkins; F: Justyn Peeples; Josue Soto; Ricardo Mendez.

THE DIFFERENCE:
A lot has changed since Arlington defeated King 1-0 on Feb. 6, 2008 in the last game between the two programs, former members of the now defunct Ivy League. The Lions are struggling to keep pace in the Inland Valley League, while the Wolves are the team to beat this season in the Big VIII. Depth and level-of-talent should prevail here.
PREDICTION: King 2, Arlington 0.