PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College men’s soccer coach Cale Rodriguez strenuously objected to what he witnessed during a recent training session at Wally Sigmar Field.
One of Peninsula’s players received a pass while facing his own goal in the defensive third of the field.
The player then had to make a complete turn toward his goal before trying to find a teammate for an outlet pass. This slowed the pace of a potential offensive push down field, allowed the opposition to squeeze in and cut off prospective passing lanes.
Correcting that small problem with positioning is reflective of what Rodriguez has attempted to teach his team in preseason training.
“I believe the details are the things that win the game,” Rodriguez said.
“Trying to get young players to understand that the littlest things can make the biggest difference — whether it’s how they receive the ball, how they turn with the ball, how they move off the ball, and trying to get those things right.
“And it’s a process and sometimes I have to take a step back and realize that I’m coaching 18- and 19-year-old young men who may have not been coached or taught.
“So, it’s understanding that, but at the same time I’m still going to demand a lot from them and going to push them and challenge them.
“I’m not going to let them off the hook and accept mediocrity. We are trying to train and play to a high standard every single day.”
Sophomore captain Eddie Benito, the team’s leading returning goal scorer with seven, understands where his new coach is coming from.
“I’m excited to play for him,” Benito said.
“He has a lot to teach us and all we can do is learn.
“He pays attention to all the little details. Some of the players need to grasp that coming in from high school, where the competition was probably easier and they could get by with less form.
“But it’s the little turns, the seconds you take to shoot the ball, it’s the little details that can win and lose you games.”
Rodriguez is focusing on having his players learn through recurring action.
“For me, it’s all about repetition of tactics, repetition of technique,” Rodriguez said.
“There’s not going to be a big book of training sessions. We’ll improvise and change it slightly, but a lot of what we are going to do is the same thing and hammering home the same concepts so you can perfect them to the best of your ability.”
Benito said much of the early attention in practice has been on the defensive side of the game.
“Our defensive skills are what coach Rodriguez wants us to focus on, and I feel like we are going to keep practicing that throughout the season and we will become the best defensive team in the NWAC,” Benito said.
“The best defense is the best offense, right?”
Benito and fellow captain sophomore Micah Weller will headline the most talented part of the team, its midfielders.
“I think our midfield group is one of our deepest groups, if not our deepest group,” Rodriguez said.
“Trevan Estrellado, Vitor Maia, Micah Weller, Johnny Vasquez and Eddie Benito are kind of the main guys in terms of starting.
“Other guys will come off the bench, and that’s kind of where the battle is because I don’t think those [starting] guys will be able to play, nor do I expect them to play, a full 90 minutes.”
Freshman midfielder Jonathan Vazquez is likely to be in the mix as well. Rodriguez described Vasquez as “a special talent.”
Benito has liked what he’s seen of Vasquez so far.
“He plays simple,” Benito said.
“When he needs to he can take a player on. He’s just so simple and he makes good decisions on and off the ball. His defensive shape is good, and everything else, he just knows how to play the game.”
Benito will be tasked with increasing his offensive production.
“He is a special player and this year we are asking him to do a lot,” Rodriguez said.
“The demands are high for him, especially as a captain and as one of the better players, and he has to make the players around him better.
“We’re going to ask him to score and we need him to score.”
Goalkeeper Nick Johnson received a medical redshirt last season, and is leading the competition for a starting spot over newcomer Josh Heckenlively.
“We’re looking for Johnson to be solid in our back, organize the back line and play to his strengths,” Rodriguez.
Sophomore Santi Sierra and freshman Jose Soto are likely to start at center back.
“Jose and Santi in the back will complement each other nicely,” Weller said.
Freshman Jared Ortiz is expected to start at left back, with sophomore Manny Medina and freshman Demar Stewart playing at right back.
“I’m comfortable putting either one of them out there, and that’s a good place to be for a coach,” Rodriguez said of Medina and Stewart.
Forwards include Jonathan Martinez, a freshman from Las Vegas who Rodriguez expects “to make some big contributions,” and fellow freshman C.J. Harvey and sophomore Keo Ponce.
“Ponce is a returner who has shown pretty well and is getting better and better day in and day out,” Rodriguez said.
The team will attempt to emulate a style that first became famous for one of the greatest club teams of the modern era, Barcelona FC.
“We like to possess the ball, keep the ball,” Weller said.
“In Spain they call it Tiki-Taca. We like to keep it in the midfield, and keep it moving, play it out wide and switch the field.”
This system of intricate, one-touch and rapid passing has pushed Barcelona to countless titles and the Spanish national team to a World Cup win in 2010.
Weller believes the team will become known this season for its hard work.
“We want to be known as a blue-collar team that outworks everybody, and when other teams step on the field they are intimidated to come and play us because of how hard we work,” Weller said.
Rodriguez will try to keep his team focused on daily improvement.
“Our motto, our M.O. this year is to strive for excellence,” Rodriguez said.
“For me, it’s not about winning an NWAC championship, it’s every single day trying to play to that high standard, and if we do that, we will have some success.”
But for a team with Peninsula’s pedigree — three men’s NWAC championships sit in the school’s trophy case — the goal remains the same.
“I feel like we can win the NWAC. That’s my point of view, but we need to just take it game by game and see how it goes,” Benito said.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.