One year ago Tim Muravez was entering his senior year at Corvallis High School. As part of the "golden generation" he helped his team reach the Oregon State 4A playoffs. Along the way he would be named to the All-Valley League first team and the All-State third team. As a hard tackling, coachable left sided defender, Tim's prospects looked good for playing NCAA soccer. Corvallis and OSU fans were looking forward to seeing Tim put on the Beaver orange alongside his longtime teammate Justin Woodward.

But the Beavers would be returning a freshman left back that had serviced well in his first year and didn't see a place for Tim Muravez on the squad. Tim accepted an offer to play with Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference (hey, that campus must be fun come March huh?).

Fast foward to this past Saturday. Tim is the starting left back for Gonzaga and has already scored a goal for his team. The Gonzaga Bulldogs will face the Oregon State Beavers in the Stephen Hensor/Joe Zaher Classic. This annual tournament is named in honor of those two team members who have passed away. The winner of this match will also be the tournament winner. What an opportunity for Tim Muravez to demonstrate what the Beavers could have had.

To make this story particularly bitter is that sometime after the Beaver's 2005 season their freshman left back forgot where all of his classes were being held. He was subsequently not on the OSU roster for the start of the 2006 season. Do you begin to see where this is going?

The poetic ending of this story is predictable. Tim Muravez played ninety minutes, courageously holding down his wing and playing with composure with the ball a his feet in front of many of his family and friends in Corvallis. The Bulldogs defeated the Beavers 4-1.

How sweet this must have tasted for Tim. As a Beaver and Corvallis soccer fan this stung. I would have loved to see a local kid playing for the Beavers. If Dana is not regretting his decision to pass on Tim Muravez he is crazy. But I have a feeling the burn of that decision has not passed Dana by. So good for you Tim Muravez. You earned yourself a nice little chuckle on the bus ride back to Spokane.