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En Route: Dons' Dream Season
Santa Barbara High looks to build on their amazing run.
Mar 9, 2010 7:58:00 PM
By J.R. Eskilson
On Friday night, over 8,000 fans packed into UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium. They were there to witness the CIF Southern Section Division II Championship. The soccer-crazed Santa Barbara locals, who are eagerly anticipating the NCAA College Cup in December, came out in droves for a high school game. Santa Barbara High head coach Todd Heil said, “They were expecting 3,000-4,000 fans, but to see over 8,000 for a high school soccer game was amazing.”
Santa Barbara High boy’s soccer team, ranked by NSCAA as top in the nation for the winter season, defeated cross-town rival, Dos Pueblos Chargers, 3-0 in the final. Santa Barbara enters the CIF Regional Division II Championships this week with a 29-0-1 record. The lone draw came at Dos Pueblos during league play. Santa Barbara’s astonishing record includes a staggering 113 goals for and only 12 against.
The Dons are led by senior captain Jesse Gonzalez. The center midfielder has been the maestro of this incredible offensive powerhouse, he has 20 goals and 14 assists, but he isn’t the only one to break the 20 goal tally on the season. Fellow senior Christian Pardo also broke the mark. It is a veteran laden squad with eleven seniors on the roster including goalie Justo Alvardo and defensive stalwart Marcos Lopez.
The combination of Gonzalez and Pardo has had this prolific offense lighting up scoreboards all across Southern California since October. As coach Heil said when asked about their style of play, “We love to attack.” In front of the thousands of paying customers, the Dons’ offense did just that on Friday. Within five minutes of the opening whistle, Gonzalez hit a 25 yard screamer that swerved and dipped but was unlucky to rattle off the crossbar. It wasn’t long before Dons found the back of the net. In a ten minute spell, the score went from level to an insurmountable three goal lead with strikes from Brian Joseph, Spencer Pritchard, and Fernando Alvarado.
It is the Dons' dominance and skillfulness that has left opponents searching for answers in their wake all season long. The speed of play is incredible for a high school team. Heil added, “We are a possession oriented team. We like to have the ball at our feet. The wide field at Harder Stadium really suited our style with the flat surface.” Imagine a team with Latin flair, but one that plays with the directness of English soccer; that is roughly what the Dons’ opponents have to plan for every week. A task that has seen only one opponent take the lead against them during play, a CIF quarterfinal game in which they came back to win.
Heil has been in charge at Santa Barbara High since 1999. This is his second CIF title, his first came in 2001. Coach Heil said, “this team is up there with the’01 team. You might have to give them (’10 team) the edge because of the undefeated record.” Also, Heil coaches the UCSB Women’s Club soccer team leading them to three National Titles (2007, 2008, 2009). He also serves as an assistant coach for the UCSB Women’s Soccer team.
The Dons continue their season in the newly formed regional playoffs. In an attempt to crown a true Southern California Champion, the Dons will face off with winners from Los Angeles, San Diego, Central Valley, and other Southern Section division champions this week.
“It is a new thing for us, we are playing teams that we don’t normally get to face which is great. And we are doing something no other Santa Barbara High team has done.” Dos Pueblos was given a wild card birth into the Division I Championships. The quarterfinals begin on Tuesday with the finals being held in Downey, California on Saturday.
Youth Round-Up:
* U.S. U-20 defender, Gale Agbossoumonde, made the bench for Portugal top flight club, Braga, over the weekend.
* U.S. U-17 and Philadelphia Union forward Jack McInerney scored a goal, and added an assist against University of Guadalajara last week.
* Houston Dynamo signed academy product Francisco Navas to a contract this week. Born in Houston, but raised in Cali, Colombia. He just returned to Texas five months ago.
* Dallas Cup welcomes women’s soccer back to the competition this year with a charity game between the U.S. U-17’s and Brazil’s U-17’s. The game is benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
J.R. Eskilson is the youth soccer editor at Goal.com. Follow him at twitter.com/NCAAsoccer
Get all the latest in Youth Soccer from Goal.com's dedicated page.
Santa Barbara High boy’s soccer team, ranked by NSCAA as top in the nation for the winter season, defeated cross-town rival, Dos Pueblos Chargers, 3-0 in the final. Santa Barbara enters the CIF Regional Division II Championships this week with a 29-0-1 record. The lone draw came at Dos Pueblos during league play. Santa Barbara’s astonishing record includes a staggering 113 goals for and only 12 against.
The Dons are led by senior captain Jesse Gonzalez. The center midfielder has been the maestro of this incredible offensive powerhouse, he has 20 goals and 14 assists, but he isn’t the only one to break the 20 goal tally on the season. Fellow senior Christian Pardo also broke the mark. It is a veteran laden squad with eleven seniors on the roster including goalie Justo Alvardo and defensive stalwart Marcos Lopez.
The combination of Gonzalez and Pardo has had this prolific offense lighting up scoreboards all across Southern California since October. As coach Heil said when asked about their style of play, “We love to attack.” In front of the thousands of paying customers, the Dons’ offense did just that on Friday. Within five minutes of the opening whistle, Gonzalez hit a 25 yard screamer that swerved and dipped but was unlucky to rattle off the crossbar. It wasn’t long before Dons found the back of the net. In a ten minute spell, the score went from level to an insurmountable three goal lead with strikes from Brian Joseph, Spencer Pritchard, and Fernando Alvarado.
It is the Dons' dominance and skillfulness that has left opponents searching for answers in their wake all season long. The speed of play is incredible for a high school team. Heil added, “We are a possession oriented team. We like to have the ball at our feet. The wide field at Harder Stadium really suited our style with the flat surface.” Imagine a team with Latin flair, but one that plays with the directness of English soccer; that is roughly what the Dons’ opponents have to plan for every week. A task that has seen only one opponent take the lead against them during play, a CIF quarterfinal game in which they came back to win.
Heil has been in charge at Santa Barbara High since 1999. This is his second CIF title, his first came in 2001. Coach Heil said, “this team is up there with the’01 team. You might have to give them (’10 team) the edge because of the undefeated record.” Also, Heil coaches the UCSB Women’s Club soccer team leading them to three National Titles (2007, 2008, 2009). He also serves as an assistant coach for the UCSB Women’s Soccer team.
The Dons continue their season in the newly formed regional playoffs. In an attempt to crown a true Southern California Champion, the Dons will face off with winners from Los Angeles, San Diego, Central Valley, and other Southern Section division champions this week.
“It is a new thing for us, we are playing teams that we don’t normally get to face which is great. And we are doing something no other Santa Barbara High team has done.” Dos Pueblos was given a wild card birth into the Division I Championships. The quarterfinals begin on Tuesday with the finals being held in Downey, California on Saturday.
Youth Round-Up:
* U.S. U-20 defender, Gale Agbossoumonde, made the bench for Portugal top flight club, Braga, over the weekend.
* U.S. U-17 and Philadelphia Union forward Jack McInerney scored a goal, and added an assist against University of Guadalajara last week.
* Houston Dynamo signed academy product Francisco Navas to a contract this week. Born in Houston, but raised in Cali, Colombia. He just returned to Texas five months ago.
* Dallas Cup welcomes women’s soccer back to the competition this year with a charity game between the U.S. U-17’s and Brazil’s U-17’s. The game is benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
J.R. Eskilson is the youth soccer editor at Goal.com. Follow him at twitter.com/NCAAsoccer
Get all the latest in Youth Soccer from Goal.com's dedicated page.
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