Media typically favors the offense in sporting events. Football passes, catches and runs and double figures -scoring, thunder-dunking hoopsters fill TV highlight reels. Baseball sabermetrics tell you anything you want to know about a hitter.

Why then would Central Valley High School senior McKenna Stocker choose the seemingly unglamorous role of soccer defender when she could bask in the glory of scoring goals?

Because, as sports aficionados can tell you, defense wins games. And if any sport revels in the value of defense, it's soccer. Central Valley won the State 4A championship last year and would like to repeat.

McKenna, a Liberty Lake resident , is smack in the middle of it as a returning All-Greater Spokane League defender and second team All-State performer.

"We put a lot of effort and time on defense," Coach Andres Monrroy said. "Many teams don't score on us because we're so solid. McKenna is our best defender."

Last year the Bears shut out 10 foes and allowed just 15 goals during an 18-1 season. Monrroy has said this year's defense could be better as a group than last year's. The Bears are on pace, having allowed seven goals during their 10-1 start.

The attack usually begins with defenders. Playing the middle defender, McKenna, 18, is CV's vocal leader, directing traffic and providing moral encouragement to her teammates.

"I think when we're able to stop a play by another team, win the ball back and start our attack from back there, it's kind of rewarding," she said.

Athletics is in her genes. Everyone in the family from parents, uncles, aunts and brothers played or plays sports. Her father, Kevin, is an ex-Major League shortstop. But, she says she was never forced to compete. "My parents have always been supportive of us being active. I honestly don't remember a day when I didn't play a sport. I couldn't imagine my life without it," she said.

Like most youngsters, McKenna dabbled in a variety of youth sports and even throws javelin during spring track and field "for fun." She became one of the GSL's best and is still considering whether to throw on the side in college. But soccer always drew her back because, as Kevin said, "I think she was just bored with the other(s)."

She explained that she likes the team concept and "I love the action. You're very involved all the time and it's fast-paced. It keeps you on your toes."

Initially, McKenna played up front. She was fast, said her dad, who coached her until she was 10 when, "at that point it was beyond me."

She played midfield as a freshman at CV, but preferred passing to scoring and the next year switched positions. "I figured why not? I'll try out for defense this year," she said.

Monrroy figures it was because she could get more varsity playing time. 

"I didn't ask her to. She pretty much switched (on her own) and became a starter," he said.  Now, Monrroy says, she's welcome to join the attack and has scored two goals this year.

McKenna was looking at Ivy League schools Princeton University and Dartmouth College before deciding she wanted to continue playing soccer beyond high school. She's decided on Concordia in Portland, Ore., that last year won the NAIA national title and this year moves up to NCAA Division II in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Reminiscing about last year's dream season, she called it a crazy weekend in which the team won state.

"The team chemistry we had was amazing," she said. "Everyone was so supportive and loving of each other. I think that's ultimately why we were able to win. We depended on each other, trusted each other and worked together all the way to the end."

As for being named All-State, her first reaction was "Are you sure? I was taken aback."

This is a new season, but CV's goal is the same step-by-step process that includes winning league and district titles, then a run deep into the post-season - with McKenna helping hold the fort.