SALINAS VALLEY — All eight South Monterey County boys’ and girls’ soccer teams are ready for the preseason to start this upcoming week, with games either at home or on the road.
BOYS’ SOCCER
Last year the King City High School boys’ team finished the season winning the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Mission Division; the Central Coast Section Division IV championship; and topping that with the Northern California Division IV title after a victory over Archie Moore High School of San Anselmo.
Mustangs head coach Jaime Cortes lost many players from last year’s title-winning team and must work hard to keep his team relevant in the Mission Division.
“We have just four returning starters,” Cortes said. “Last year was a great year, but it will be a rebuilding year this season.”
While King City does not return any All-League players, Cortes does have Deon Rodriguez, Angel Moreno, Israel Saldana and Victor Medina, who have played significant minutes for the Mustangs.
King City hosted the Atascadero Greyhounds on Tuesday, and will host Greenfield on Dec. 4 and Gonzales on Dec. 9.
At Greenfield High, the Bruin boys will depend on Gabilan Division Offensive Player of the Year Hector Garcia to move up the division standing after finishing fifth in the strongest division in the PCAL. Greenfield was the Mission Division championship team in the 2022-23 season.
“We will be playing a lot of the teams from our area,” said Bruins head coach Manny Barron. “I have many seniors this year and I feel we can return this season and be a strong team.”
Greenfield will play at Righetti High School on Dec. 2 and then King City on Dec. 4 in a non-league contest at War Memorial Stadium. Afterward, the Bruins will host the Robert Louis Stevenson Pirates on Dec. 9.
Gonzales High School boys’ soccer program finished third in the Cypress Division last year, and many players from that team have returned. Spartans head coach Miguel Vidauri is optimistic about this year’s soccer program.
“I feel we are going to have a great season this year as we have a lot of returners coming back,” Viduari said. “We just have to fill in some role players for the players who left us due to graduation. Also, we have four freshmen on varsity this year. If injuries don’t hurt us, we should be good this season.”
Jorge Uribe, the Offensive Player of the Year in the Cypress Division, has returned, along with Omar Gonzales, who is back from an injury that took him out all last year. Jose Camacho could lead the offensive attack, and first-team All-League player Edgar Santiago will provide scoring after finishing in the top 10 in Monterey County in scoring.
Gonzales competed Monday at Pacific Grove and will play at Carmel on Dec. 3. The Spartans will play all their games on the road as work continues at Dick Force Stadium.
Soledad High School boys’ team will be out to improve from a 1-7-4 record in the Mission Division in 2023, as they move to the Cypress this year. The Aztecs lost seven of their last 10 games and had seven ties in that span.
Aztecs head coach Genaro Espinoza begins his fifth year running the varsity boys’ program and is excited to be playing the Cypress Division with long-time rival Gonzales.
“It will be good to have the rival games with Gonzales, although we know they have a good core of players,” Espinoza said. “Carmel is also in our division, along with North Monterey County.”
Soledad will begin play on Dec. 3 against the visiting Monterey High Toreadores. On Dec. 9, the Aztecs will play the Alisal Trojans in Salinas.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
Last season the Soledad High School girls’ soccer team survived the early departure of Monterey County scoring record holder Sophia Martel and won the PCAL Mission Division. The Aztecs’ 16-4-3 overall record and a nice run in the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs moved the Aztecs to the Gabilan Division this season.
After winning the Mission Division, Soledad beat Silver Creek in penalties to decide the 2-2 deadlock. In the semifinals with Willow Glen, Giselle Zepeda’s goal earned the Aztecs a trip to the Division IV finals, where they were beaten 4-1 by the Everett Alvarez Eagles.
“Our team and myself are feeling really good and positive about the season, even though we have a long season ahead of us and we still have a lot to accomplish,” said Soledad head coach Victor Garcia. “I feel we got what it takes to compete in the Gabilan Division, as these ladies work really hard and earned their way up to play at the top level. We are ready to open up our preseason at Mission Prep; I have 11 returning players and good young talent in our JV program.”
All-League returning players include Tejeda, Belen Diaz and Mariana Leon. Soledad will host Pajaro Valley on Dec. 4 and then King City on Dec. 9.
At Gonzales High, the Spartan girls were 14-2-2 overall last season and finished in second place in the Santa Lucia Division, just one game behind division champion Robert Louis Stevenson. Gonzales and Stevenson were moved up to the Cypress Division for this season.
“We will start our preseason at the Firebird Classic Tournament in the San Jose area,” said Spartans head coach Jose Tejeda. “We’ve had a couple of scrimmages, but this year we really wanted to have a stronger preseason since we were one point away from making the CCS playoffs last year. We lost to Rancho San Juan in one scrimmage and beat North Salinas in the other scrimmage. We looked good, but we were missing some key players that will make our team stronger.”
The Spartans will begin on Dec. 16 at Everett Alvarez, and then play at Soledad on Dec. 19. Just like the boys’ team, the Spartan girls will be on the road all year.
King City High School girls’ soccer team finished the Cypress Division with a 6-6 division mark and were 8-12 overall to place fourth in the division last year.
The Lady Mustangs will be busy the first week of December, with a home game against Templeton on Dec. 3, followed by road games against North Salinas on Dec. 5 in Salinas and against Soledad on Dec. 9.
At Greenfield High, the Lady Bruins moved up to the Cypress Division after finishing in third place in the Santa Lucia Division last year behind Stevenson and Gonzales. Greenfield had a 9-6-2 overall mark and was 7-3-1 in the Santa Lucia games.
The Bruins will be led by All-League player Aundrea Sanchez this year.
Greenfield scrimmaged St. Francis last week and will host the York School on Dec. 2.
