Camas boys soccer team wanted to prove something Thursday.
It was not just a game against rival Union. There was not just a league title on the line. It was not just the last game for eight Camas seniors.
No, Camas’ 6-0 trouncing of Union on the Titans’ turf to win the 4A/3A Greater St. Helens League title was to prove to everyone — and perhaps themselves too — that this year’s squad was a state championship contender in a normal year.
“I think we showed tonight … that we definitely would have made a run,” senior Noah Frazier said.
The Papermakers have won three state championships, the last one coming in 2011. This year’s squad felt it had the talent to add another star to the jersey.
That talent shone bright Thursday. Noah Frazier and Hayden Rouse both scored twice and Jeremy Mohn and Ethan Jud added goals in the dominant performance.
It was an efficient and deadly attack from the Papermakers, who nearly conceded in the opening minute but Jake Bilsborough made the first of his five saves.
On a pair of counter attacks, Camas took a 2-0 lead just 15 minutes into the game despite Union (9-2-1) controlling the early flow. From there, the Papermakers controlled the rest of the way.
“We just really emphasized in training throughout the week … to move the ball quick,” Jud said. “It was just good preparation.”
Jud remembers his freshman year as a swing player who bounced between junior-varsity and varsity. That was a blast, he said. But nothing compared to this unusual year, in which Camas went 11-0-1 and outscored opponents 69-4.
“The most memorable moment has to be the hat trick against Union at Doc Harris,” Judd said of the 5-0 win Camas had in May. “That was just one of the greatest feelings.”
For Jud and his fellow seniors, they didn’t get the chance to show everything they could give to the Papermaker program. While they admit it was frustrating to lose a junior season and have a senior year end at league play, it doesn’t take away from what they gained by going through it together.
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing soccer in my life,” Frazier said. “I’ll never forget the memories I made with these guys.”
