EPHRATA — Boys soccer head coach Ivan Garay enters his 18th season at Ephrata High School with a group he believes has the experience to make some noise in the Central Washington Athletic Conference.

Garay took over as varsity coach 12 years ago, after six years leading the junior varsity program.

In 2025, his Tigers finished 3-12-1 overall and 2-6 in the always tough Central Washington Athletic Conference, placing eighth in the league standings. Ephrata's postseason run ended in the district play-in round with a 4-1 loss to Toppenish.

This pre-season, Garay has welcomed a large turnout of 60 athletes looking to compete for Ephrata.

The returnees include five seniors with significant varsity experience. Midfielder/forward Avian Soto and midfielder Junior Chavez each return for their fourth year on varsity. Both earned CWAC honorable-mention recognition a season ago. Forward Erick Perdomo is back for his third varsity campaign while Jason Aleman (forward) and Tony Hernandez (midfielder) are in their second year.

And their coach's expectations in 2026?

Garay wants his Tiger squad to play fast, but smart.

"We plan to be a well-conditioned team with good touch so we can play a fast style but also control possession," he said.

The experience on the roster fuels his confidence heading into the spring season.

"We feel that we bring a lot of experience with seniors and juniors that will make us very competitive," he said. "This year we feel that we can compete with every team in our league and should be able to reach the postseason."

The CWAC won't make that easy. Garay called it one of the stronger Class 2A leagues in the state. "Every team in the CWAC will be competitive," he predicted.

Beyond the standings, Garay said his players show him growth every day.

"We have a great group of boys in our program," he said. "Every day these boys show up to work as hard as they can to improve. Every day they try to make themselves better on and off the field to be the best young men that they can be."

Garay is assisted by Nate Jensen, now in his second year as junior varsity coach after serving in various roles with the program since Garay took over.

Ephrata opens at home against Soap Lake this Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m. at the EHS soccer complex.