The Monte Vista High School boys soccer team is no stranger to winning San Diego Section championships after claiming the 2024 Division III title in a kicks-from-the mark shootout against Olympian High School.
Monte Vista advanced to this season’s Division I semifinals in another bid to make history. It was a rough road moving up from the No. 9 seed.
But not unexplored territory.
The Monarchs’ 2025 season had ended with a kicks-from-the-mark tiebreaker loss to Helix in the semifinals. Monte Vista lost, 2-0, to Bishop’s in the semis in the 2023 playoffs.
“This was our fourth consecutive semifinal,” head coach Antonio Lavenant said.
The Monarchs faced No. 8 Oceanside in the opening round of the 12-team single-elimination tournament. The Monarchs won 3-2 in overtime on goals by sophomore Damian Guerrero and juniors Daniel Baca and Jayden Cleveland. Baca also recorded an assist while junior Axel Cortez was the winning goalkeeper while allowing two goals.
Monte Vista had the early lead at 1-0 before the Pirates responded to take a 2-1 lead. The Monarchs tied the game, 2-2, before netting the golden goal to advance.
“We managed to come through with late goals when we needed them,” Lavenant said.
Fueled with renewed confidence, Monte Vista showed it meant business by taking down the top-seeded Southwest Raiders in the next round. The Monarchs won by a commanding 5-1 score.
Junior Miguel Castillo led the way with three goals while Cleveland and junior Alex Sanchez each scored one goal. Sophomore Victor Bernal tacked on one assist.
Monte Vista led, 2-1, at halftime before pulling away with three second-half goals.
“It was obviously a big win for us, a confidence booster,” Lavenant said.
The Monarchs advanced to meet the fifth-seeded Hilltop Lancers in the division semifinals. The Lancers were on a roll of their own after upsetting No. 4 Westview, 3-2, in the preceding quarterfinals.
Hilltop led, 1-0, at halftime on a goal by senior Reyden Brenes and added a goal by Jorge Lopez Figueroa four minutes into the second half to go up 2-nil.
But Castillo scored midway into the second half to reduce the deficit to one goal with 28 minutes remaining in regulation play.
As time wound down, Monte Vista (8-13-3) began to push up players in the attack. But the Lancers intercepted a pass at midfield and senior Jair Mariscal found himself alone in the Monarchs’ defensive zone. He scored on a breakaway with two minutes to play (ala an empty net goal in hockey) to put the hosts up 3-1.
Hilltop junior Nolan Butcher made five saves to record the win in the Hilltop net.
Monte Vista finished 3-3-2 in Grossmont Hills League play, third behind league champion Helix (6-1-1 in league) and runner-up Santana (4-3-1 in league). Steele Canyon and Granite Hills finished at the bottom of the league standings with 2-5-1 records.
Castillo finished the season with 10 goals and four assists for 24 points while Cleveland notched six goals and one assist for 13 points. Bernal tallied four goals and one assist for nine points. Baca also had nine points on three goals and three assists.
Cortez allowed 18 goals in 11 games — 1.64 goals per game.
Lavenant noted the 2025-26 Monte Vista roster was virtually a new one from the 2024 CIF championship team. Three seniors were listed on this year’s roster, meaning the Monarchs will be returning a more experienced team for 2026-27.
Hilltop was not done and went on to defeat 10th-seeded Point Loma, 4-1, kicks-from-the-mark in the championship round following a 2-2 overtime tie between the teams. Brenes scored the decisive PK.
It was the first division title for the Lancers since 1993.
Hilltop, overcoming a 1-4-1 finish in league play, finished 8-12-7 following a 4-1 loss to Fontana in the first round of the regional playoffs.
