{"id":37,"date":"2019-02-22T15:10:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T23:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999939769"},"modified":"2019-02-22T15:10:53","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T23:10:53","slug":"pat-noyes-guides-cabrillo-boys-soccer-to-success-and-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/pat-noyes-guides-cabrillo-boys-soccer-to-success-and-history","title":{"rendered":"Pat Noyes guides Cabrillo boys’ soccer to success and history"},"content":{"rendered":"

As long as there have been varsity sports at Cabrillo High School, there\u2019s been Pat Noyes.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been teaching at the school since a few years after its doors opened in 1995, and is the only boys\u2019 soccer coach the Jaguars have ever had\u2014he started the varsity team in 1999. Now, Noyes and his historic group of Jags are re-writing the record books on the Westside: this Saturday they\u2019ll play in the first CIF Southern Section championship game the school has ever been a part of, in any sport, when they face Arlington at Warren High at 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

When Noyes walked into Cabrillo in 1998, he thought he\u2019d reached the end of his coaching career. He\u2019d been coaching soccer teams at Whittier College and Whittier High\u00a0and was burned out. He viewed Cabrillo as a way just to teach physical education, health, driver\u2019s training and whatever the administration wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiterally my first day here, the athletic director heard I\u2019d been coaching and said, \u2018Oh, do you want to be the soccer coach?\u2019 I said, \u2018Not really,\u2019\u201d Noyes remembered with a laugh. \u201cBut I decided to go see how the kids played. They were really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next year, Noyes added a varsity team to the frosh\/soph and junior varsity soccer program. Their first year they went 6-6 in league and were just a single goal against Lakewood away from a 7-5 record that would have put them in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kid who just missed the game-winning goal just saw me, he asked if I\u2019d still be coaching when his son gets here,\u201d said Noyes. \u201cI did the math and I will be, how crazy is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is Noyes\u2019 20th year coaching the Jaguars and 50th season coaching high school or college soccer, a career that includes 10 years co-coaching the LBCC men\u2019s soccer team. In the last two decades, he\u2019s not only been the school\u2019s longest-tenured coach, he\u2019s also been its most successful.<\/p>\n

The Jaguars have claimed three Moore League championships across all sports\u2014two of them from Noyes\u2019 boys\u2019 soccer team, which has also won more games, made the playoffs more times and gotten further in the playoffs than any other program in school.<\/p>\n

Senior Leonardo Corona said that the program\u2019s success is pinned on Noyes\u2019 personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe makes sure everyone is okay,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s always texting us to make sure everything is going okay. With school and everything; soccer is not the only thing. He cares about us in school and checks on our grades. He\u2019s one of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s another father figure for all of us,\u201d said Johnny Riquer, one of the team\u2019s best defenders.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cabrillo High School Boys Soccer player dribbles the ball at a recent practice as Coach Pat Noyes prepare for the soccer playoffs. The 20-year coach and his squad take the schools team to the CIF Southern Section Boys Soccer Playoffs in Division 2 for the first time in schools history in Long Beach Wednesday, Feb.20, 2019. Photo by Thomas R Cordova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Noyes knew when this year started that this team had a chance to be special, and he was right.<\/p>\n

The Jaguars enter Saturday\u2019s championship game with a record of 25-2-4\u00a0and have already made history. Not only are they the first Cabrillo team to reach a CIF championship but, next week, they\u2019ll be the first Cabrillo team to ever participate in the state playoffs, having already clinched a berth.<\/p>\n

Whatever happens this weekend, they\u2019re bringing home a CIF plaque, the first to ever come to the Westside. All that remains to be determined is if it will be gold or silver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we lose, we\u2019ll be sad but we\u2019ll focus on state playoffs next week,\u201d said Noyes. \u201cI don\u2019t think a loss would diminish this season in any way. But we want to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noyes has had an annual tradition of taking his team to Catalina Island to play Avalon High as a way to bond his players together. This year, he added trips to Rim of the World in the mountains as well as Santa Barbara for a tournament. The idea is to not only win soccer but also give his kids a glimpse of the world outside of the Westside.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few years ago some of the guys were asking why we had to buy a $40 ticket on the boat to Catalina, why couldn\u2019t we just get some kayaks,\u201d said Noyes. \u201cThey thought Catalina was the oil islands. This year we went up to the mountains and they couldn\u2019t believe how clear the air was.\u201d<\/p>\n

After watching the school\u2019s water polo team reach the Southern Section semifinals in the Fall, Noyes said he was refocused on the goal of winning a championship. He\u2019s been preparing his team all week mentally, having guest speakers like Long Beach State coach Mauricio Ingrassia talk to his team.<\/p>\n

The team will rely on its intricate, possession-style approach to try and pull off an upset this Saturday against an Arlington team that\u2019s only lost two of its 30 games this season. It\u2019s a style that Noyes has drilled into his teams from their freshman seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all had our moments where we\u2019ve been mad at Noyes because we thought we were playing right,\u201d said Riquer. \u201cBut, he\u2019ll talk to us one-on-one and be like, ‘Look, this is why I tell you what I tell you because I want you to improve in this way. Because if you improve in this way, we can do this (as a team).’ Because of that, we\u2019ve gained trust in him, and now we just listen to whatever he has to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cabrillo High School Boys Soccer Coach Pat Noyes takes the schools team to the CIF Southern Section Boys Soccer Playoff s in Division 2 for the first time in schools history in Long Beach Wednesday, Feb.20, 2019. Photo by Thomas R Cordova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between his patience in developing talent and the care he takes in looking after the personal lives of his players, it\u2019s obvious that the team\u2019s affection for Noyes is part of what unites them. When he was being photographed for this feature, the team teased him throughout but then congratulated him after. After their historic semifinal win last year, mid-celebration, Corona sought out Noyes and put his arm around his coach.<\/p>\n

This week he posted a picture of that scene on Twitter with the caption, \u201cCoach Noyes deserves it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Coach Noyes deserves it all ! \ud83d\udc10\ud83d\udc8d\ud83d\ude4f pic.twitter.com\/dlqLvjWGQI<\/a><\/p>\n

— Leo \ud83e\udd82 (@Leo10corona) February 22, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n