Last year, the boys’ soccer team ended the overall season with a 7-6-7 record. They finished 3rd in the Gabilan and qualified for CCS, but lost in the first round to Aragon in penalties after a 0-0 tie.

Coach Mark Cisneros is in his 20th year as coach, which is a major milestone. “I’m having a lot of fun with the addition of four new assistant coaches, so we’ll see. It’s the most fun I’ve had in some time,” he said.

Despite losing seniors from last year, Cisneros knows they need to push forward. “We were hit probably the hardest we’ve been hit in a long time,” he said. “I lost 18 seniors from last year’s team, so it’s a rebuilding year for sure.” 

During his tenure, Cisneros has remained steady when it came to setting goals. “Our goals this year are basically the same goals that we have every season, which is to work hard, compete, display good character, and to do our best every single day,” he said. “We feel that those goals will lead to bigger goals of winning games, championships, or winning titles.” 

While the team remained in the Gabilan, changes to the league have occurred. Palma came in and Seaside moved to the Mission division. But with the loss of players comes a new batch to join the team and show what they’re made of. Welcoming 4 freshmen into varsity along with many sophomores is a first for Cisneros. “This is the youngest team I’ve ever had!…my job is to teach them as much as I can and get them as strong as I can for the season,” Cisneros said. “My main goal as a coach is to teach the team as much as I need to…so that they can improve on a daily basis, lead the team, talk to them, encourage them in and out of the classroom, and on the field.”

Despite their youth, the team does have 7 seniors – captains Diego Carbajal, Segio Venancio, defenders Jason Gutierrez, Bryan Mendoza, midfielders Francisco Flores, and forward Jose Coronado.

New to the team are the freshmen; Christian Ayon, Ricardo Miranda, Nathan Regalado, and Jairo Acosta sophomores; Erik Amador, Humberto Bravo, Gerardo Guzman, and Andres Medel; juniors Andrew Contreras, Miguel Mora, and Antonio Ramirez.

This year the team ended preseason with a 4-4 record. “[Preseason] went good, it tested us, we played some good teams and preseason was designed to help us prepare for the regular season,” Cisneros said. “We’ve had a little bit of some unlucky stuff happen, but we’ll be alright.”

Starting this year, Cisneros decided on a new tradition and gave out Man of the Match jerseys to those who the coaches thought played the best. “I’m looking for the best player on the field and they get awarded the jersey or the jacket at the end of the game,” said Cisneros. 

Amador is one of the few who rightfully earned his jersey when he played Salinas. “It feels amazing winning Man of the Match, especially since we won,” Amador said. “I feel like in the beginning I started off a little slow but towards the end I started doing a lot better.” 

Through five games, the team is 2-2-1. Nevertheless Cisneros has high hopes for the squad. “The season right now is going okay,” he said. “Not exactly where we wanna be but we will improve, we’re just making silly mistakes because we’re a young team.” 

The team also believes in themselves to improve and do great things this season. “The overall season is going pretty good. We’re playing a lot of good competition,” Ayon said. “I believe we’ll do pretty good this season. We just have to communicate better and play more.”