Moore League Boys’ Soccer Preview
Historically the boys’ soccer scene in Long Beach has been a bit top heavy. In the last fourteen years only Millikan, Poly and Wilson have won the outright Moore League crown. But in 2009-10 it’s more wide open than ever. Every team seems to have a weakness. Every team seems to have a strength. Every team thinks they can be a playoff team. And no matter what the sport, that formula always produces an intriguing, competitive season. Here at LBPOSTsports.com we’ll have all the coverage this season with standings, interviews and videos.
Poly head coach Efren Garcia summed up the Moore League pre-season picture the best when he said, “it should be interesting, and every team with their own style… there will be a lot of close games.”
Coming off an amazingly successful campaign in 2008-09 (especially in the playoffs) there’s plenty to look forward to…
Millikan (1-0)
In the Rams’ opening league game against Jordan, they showcased their biggest strength this season: defense. Millikan picked up a 3-0 win, their tenth shutout of the season (they’ve allowed just 11 goals over their first 18 games)—senior keeper Jorge Becerra is likely to be the class of the league, but Millikan’s defenders are so good he might get bored tending the twine this season. Thanks to the sturdy play of senior Jesse Hernandez, Grant Sanders, Ismael Ayala, and Julio Ramirez, Becerra didn’t record a single save in the shutout of the Panthers.
Millikan is 14-2-2 so far, and coach Rod Petkovic says it’s a simple enough formula. “When you graduate 17 seniors [as the Rams did from last year’s CIF runner-up team], you have to build from the defense up—and that’s what we’ve done.” That’s apparent just from the roster, where two of the teams three listed captains are defenders, and there are 10 athletes listed as defenders, to four listed as forwards.
If those forwards—especially senior Luis Garcia and junior Andres Montes—can have success on the front line (they’ll be aided by senior midfielder Juan Ortiz and the rest of the Ram’s excellent middles), it’s unlikely anyone will be able to play from behind against Millikan this year, at least in the Moore League.
Cabrillo (1-0)
After the Jaguars shared a league crown with Poly in 03-04, they have been flirting with the elite in the Moore League with three second-place finishes in the last six years. Coach Pat Noyes has been building a program based on fitness and depth. This year it could all be coming together as they are outscoring their opponents 38-to-16.
Last week in a consolation game of a holiday tournament, they only had eight players on the field for the opening whistle. “Most of the players weren’t normal starters,” says Noyes. “But they came out and played well. We ended up winning 4-1. It was nice to see them step up, so I just started them this week… I’m still juggling lineups, and we can.”
Even in yesterday’s win over Lakewood the liberal substituting did not drop the level of play on the field, and at the end of the 80 minutes the Jaguars looked ready to play another 80. Players like Wilfredo Mejia, Oscar Enriquez and Jose Vaca have motors that just don’t quit. That has a lot to do with the rigorous training schedule that Noyes has his team on, which includes runs from the campus to the Queen Mary.
On defense the Jags are lucky to have two good keepers in junior Jesus Rodriguez and senior Edgar Martinez, but the defensive key will be seniors Gabriel Borja and Armando Padilla. The two captains can push up well and when they stay involved and rove the field the Jaguars are their most effective. They hope to get that Wednesday against Millikan.
Wilson (1-0)
Last season, a veteran Bruins squad and a new coach made a run into the playoffs that caught a lot of attention. They ended up falling to Servite on penalty kicks for the right to play in the quarterfinals, but as far as Wilson is concerned, that success has set a precedent for a program on the rise. The Bruins are a big reason this season is considered to be so wide open, and they are a team that’s full of questions marks.
“No doubt we have talent,” says Wilson head coach Mark Hervin. “Last year was a massive success and we know we’re good enough to win… and this team is getting to where they know what [the coaches] want, and they work. They are not individuals… we need to keep improving and stay consistent. We can’t have one good showing then a letdown.”
That’s exactly what the message was after yesterday’s 6-0 win over Compton. The team is young everywhere, but especially on defense, and Hervin said it was the best performance of the year so far by the back line. Offensively, the Bruins will need big years from seniors Tony Gonzalez and Alexis Marin. They both came off the bench and started at different times throughout the 08-09 campaign— leaning how to fill different roles in Hervin’s organized system. This season they will need to do that and learn to be leaders on a team that lost more than half the starting lineup from a year ago.
Jordan (0-1)
There are few things harder in high school sports than trying to change a culture—coach Juan Rodriguez at Jordan took a big first step last year for the Panthers by guiding his team to the most important part of that change: wins. Jordan went three rounds deep in the CIF playoffs for the first time ever, with all three games going into extra periods, in a historic season Jordan fans aren’t likely to forget for a while.
But this year, the team does have to forget, because the players that keyed that run are almost all gone—Jordan had seven All-Moore League players last season. All seven graduated last Spring. They do have one of the most natural scorers in the League in Rafael Haros, a sophomore JV player last year who was elevated to Varsity for the playoffs…all he did after that was score the game-winning goal in Jordan’s first two games, and nearly win their quarterfinal match up against St. Francis as well.
If Haros can regain the heat, and Jordan’s young players can live up to the (recent) history of the program, they could contend against this year—they’re 8-4 to start the season with quality wins over San Clemente, Westminster, and Ocean View.
Lakewood (0-1)
When the Lancers are playing their game, they could hang with any team in the Moore League. But to be playing their game, they need everyone healthy and ready to go. In their league opening loss to Cabrillo they were missing three senior starters, and by the end of the game guys were limping of the field with exhaustion.
That’s a testament to how hard they played against the Jags, but it’s also a glaring weakness to not have a reliable bench.
“We’re a rhythm, passing team,” says coach James Cross. “We were a step behind [Cabrillo] but there is plenty of time to fix that. There’s a lot of soccer left.”
The hard nose mentality that the Lancers showed will keep them in games this year if they can find a rhythm in the midfield. The more the Lancers possess the ball, the more dangerous they become. If there is a true darkhorse to make a run at a playoff spot, a healthy Lakewood team is it.
Poly (0-0)
The Jackrabbits would like to forget last season after a seventh place finish, but the returning players aren’t going to let that happen. Talented juniors Robert Dominguez and Christopher Viray have been playing at the varsity level since they were underclassman, and now it’s time for them to step up if Poly is going to do the same in the standings.
Dominguez is in his second year on the varsity back line and the coaching staff sees him leading more by example with his constant hustle and strong tackling. Viray has been on varsity since he was a freshman, and coming off injury he will be fresh and ready to go for the Jackrabbits opener at Jordan on Wednesday. Viray and the other mid fielders will be looking for Jonathan Gonzalez to set up the plays up front, even though he’s not the easiest to find at 5’4”. The diminutive senior captain is the most explosive option on offense, and he leads the team in assists.
Also, keep an eye on the maturation of sophomore goalkeeper Luis Chavez, who already has three shutouts and a two penalty kick stops.
Compton (0-1)
The Tarbabes did not get off to a good start with a 6-0 loss to the Wilson Bruins on the road yesterday afternoon. Compton will be at home to try and get right against Lakewood on Wednesday.