Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.
In Southern Nevada, all conversations about boys' soccer eventually turn to Mike Zaher.
"Mike Zaher at Gorman is a name that haunts me," Centennial coach Rick Kazee said. "I don't want to say he single-handedly beat us in the state final last year, but he sure picked his game up and did some damage."
"He's fast, he's strong, and he has great vision," Green Valley coach Billy Naftaly said. "He's dangerous from 30 yards out. It's hard to keep just one guy on him."
Most coaches agree that the only thing holding back Bishop Gorman this season is that Zaher, the Gaels' senior midfielder, starts the year on the sideline with a leg injury. Gorman struggled in preseason scrimmages, but, as Chaparral coach Dan Schell puts it, "you can never count a team out that has a Zaher on board."
Gorman defeated Centennial for the 4A state championship in 2002. Centennial, Green Valley, Vo-Tech and Coronado look to be the teams most likely to unseat the Gaels as state champions in 2003.
Most Southern Nevada soccer coaches downplayed their teams' chances for success this year. As Foothill's Paul Ruth put it, "Everybody seems to be crying tales of woe out there."
Centennial faces a major hurdle in repeating its strong 2002 run because of the split of its zone. Shadow Ridge was carved out of Centennial's eastern area.
Kazee, however, said his team held up pretty well after the split.
"Maybe three or four who would have been on varsity are over at Shadow Ridge. We returned eight people who were starters or played quite a bit."
In the Sunrise region, several Green Valley veterans propel the Gators to the top of preseason favorites.
Naftaly said that Jair Sanchez, Scott Shue and Andrew Chesser are his top returners this season.
"(Jair's) got great vision and great control," Naftaly said. "He's a good player who distributes the ball well. He's unselfish, and he gets his teammates involved."
"Green Valley's always going to have a solid team," Schell, whose Chaparral team is traditionally strong, said. "The kids who are at that school always seem to produce well. In some of their scrimmage games so far, they've been holding their own quite well."
The surprise of the year could be Coronado. The Cougars also suffered from a zone split by the opening of Liberty High, but the young school is still one of the best in the Southeast.
Vo-Tech coach Josh Jones said that the Roadrunners' match with Coronado is the date circled on his calendar.
"Coronado's the last division team we play," he said. "Everything goes as we have planned, that could be a game that moves us up the standings. They're going to be pretty strong teams."
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