Though the Mount Miguel boys and girls soccer teams finished near the bottom of this year’s Grossmont Valley League standings, that did not prove to be an accurate gauge of just how special these teams were.
Unleashed in the self-leveling San Diego Section playoffs, the Lady Matadors kicked their way to the San Diego Section Division V championship while the Matadors boys team proved to be the bracket buster on the flip side with a runner-up finish.
It’s obvious that teams in both gender fields rarely represent their schools in the CIF championship game in the same season.
“This was a special group to begin with,” said Mount Miguel girls coach Ernie Reyes, whose team received the No. 1 seed in its playoff field. “The girls were dialed in and ready to go to work since the beginning. We started the season 8-0-1 before league started.”
Included in those early nine games were seven shutout wins to boost the team’s confidence level. Impact players included senior captain Juliana Laverdiere, goal-scoring forward Kenzie Reyna and midfielder Ysabell Hernandez, a transfer who, in Reyes’ words, “took our team to the next level with her assists and ability on the ball.”
Mount Miguel finished the regular season with a 10-6-1 record. The so-called “second season” proved to be a launching pad.
The Lady Matadors (13-6-1) blasted off with a 7-0 quarterfinal-round win over ninth-seeded El Cajon Valley (5-11-1) on Feb. 19 before scorching fourth-seeded Morse (13-7) with a 5-0 semifinal victory on Feb. 22. Mount Miguel made a triumphant landing with a 3-0 win over third-seeded Maranatha Christian (9-8-5) on Feb. 24.
“During the playoffs we knew it would be difficult, especially since our results in the previous years in the playoffs,” Reyes said. “We took each game as ‘another game’ and did not want to add any more stress. During the quarterfinal, our offense exploded and scored seven goals in the first game, five goals in the semis, and three goals in the final. Our defense and senior goalie Leanna Franklin also played fantastic defense, posing shutouts during the entire playoffs.”
Mount Miguel did not waste time in asserting itself in the championship game. Hernandez scored two goals in the opening 16 minutes of the contest, which was played at Rancho Bernardo High School.
In the final, we came out fast and high pressing as usual, and from there we created more and more opportunities,” Reyes said.
Reyna was then able to seal the game with a second-half goal for the 3-0 shutout win.
As a reward, the Lady Matadors received the No. 4 seed for this week’s Southern California Division V regional playoffs. Mount Miguel was scheduled to host fifth-seeded GALA (13-2-1) in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, with the winner advancing to Thursday’s semifinal.
Championship games are scheduled Saturday, March 5, at the site of the higher seed.
Boys bracket
Members of the Mount Miguel boys team had to do a double take after reaching the San Diego Section Division V championship game for the second consecutive year.
The Matadors placed runner-up to top-seeded Foothills Christian in a shootout tiebreaker last year. The Spring Valley team advanced to meet the fourth-seeded Imperial Tigers in this year’s bracket, recording another runner-up finish by virtue of a 1-0 shutout loss.
“Our boys had a solid run this year,” Mount Miguel coach Robert Rodrigues said. “We had a strong group of experienced, returners led by 12th grader Omar Aguilar and 11th grader Geovanni Rodriguez. We returned nine players who started our 2021 CIF final against Foothills Christian.
“This was Aguilar’s fourth varsity letter, and Rodriguez’s third. Both players are huge impact players and captains, and both were starters on our 2021 team that also made it to the CIF finals last year.”
As with the girls side, the Matadors boys team was tested in Grossmont Valley League games.
“All of our conference/league members are tough and most are in higher divisions than we are,” Rodrigues said. “We know that our non-league schedule has to be tough, too, so that it helps prepare us for a grueling league schedule and give us a shot at qualifying for the postseason.
“Our players know the teams we face in league will prepare us for the tough teams we will encounter during CIF play and they have the confidence in themselves to keep working hard even when things aren’t going our way.
“Our players have learned through the years what it means to compete and raise their level higher when we are competing for trophies.”
Despite finishing 1-7-2 in league play, there were strong hints greater things were destined for the team in postseason play.
“Our team this year made it to the Parker Cup semis, we tied High Tech San Diego and they advanced on penalty kicks to play in the final against Kearny (who we beat in group play at Kearny),” Rodrigues recounted. “Kearny ended up winning Parker Cup in penalties. We also made it to the finals of Grossmont tourney, and lost to a solid Crawford team. We beat Imperial in the semifinals of that tournament 1-0 at Mount Miguel.
“So, this team understands pressure; we just haven’t found a way to break through the glass ceiling and crash the trophy party!”
The Matadors (14-11-6) did prove to be this year’s bracket buster with upset wins over two higher-seeded teams to advance to the championship game.
Sixth-seeded Mount Miguel kicked off the playoffs with a 5-0 win over 11th-seeded West Shores on Feb. 15, then upset third-seeded El Capitan, 1-0, in the quarterfinals on Feb. 18. It took a shootout tiebreaker in the semifinals to get past second-seeded Ramona following a 1-1 overtime draw
Saul Gonzalez scored the only goal in the 63rd minute in the championship game to lift the Tigers to their first division title.
Hear them roar
Tenth-seeded Monte Vista (12-11-1) proved to be the bracket buster in the Division III girls playoffs with upset wins over seventh-seeded La Jolla (2-1 in the opening round), second-seeded University City (4-3 in overtime in the quarterfinals) and sixth-seeded Classical Academy (2-0 in the semifinals.
But the Lady Monarchs’ playoff run ended with a runner-up finish to fourth-seeded San Pasqual (14-4-3) with a 1-0 loss in the championship game.
