El Camino, Santa Rosa look to add to 3C2A Men's Soccer Championship titles while Cuyamaca and Evergreen Valley looking for first

Tournament Fact Sheet l Bracket l Tournament Central (live stats, watch games, photos, etc.)

SAN BERNARDINO - When your team reaches the final four of any single-elimination, bracket-style tournament, teams will have had to put in a lot of hard work over the course of a season, execute well, and have a little bit of luck on their side.

The four teams gathering at Mt. San Antonio College this weekend for the California Community College Athletic Association men’s soccer championships hope that all of those traits will pay off for two more victories and a title.

Breaking down the four teams in Friday’s semifinals – the south’s El Camino and Cuyamaca and the north’s Santa Rosa and Evergreen Valley – you’ll find that it was more than good fortune that got them here. Three of them (El Camino, Cuyamaca, and Santa Rosa) were conference champions. Three of them were in the top four in the final CCCSIA Poll released this season (No. 2 El Camino, No. 3 Evergreen Valley, No. 4 Santa Rosa).

But all that goes out the window at 7 p.m. Friday.

Of all the teams, El Camino has been a juggernaut this season. The Warriors are 22-1 on the season, their only loss coming to Norco in early September. Since then, they have won 20 in a row, outscoring opponents 103-13 on the season.

The Warriors have four players who have scored double-digit goals, led by the No. 3 scorer in the state, Marvin Gamez. The freshman forward has 25 goals and 10 assists on the season. Another freshman, Shingo Nakano, is next with 12 goals and six assists, while sophomore Emiliano Amaro has 11 scores and one helper. A third freshman, Diego Garcia, added 10 goals and three assists, while sophomore Jovanna Mejia added another eight goals and led the team with 13 assists.

Defensively, the Warriors are backstopped by sophomore goalkeeper Donovan Palomares. He has started every game, and factored into every decision, posting a goals-against average of 0.49 with 15 clean sheets. Opponents have had a hard time even getting through to Palomares, with El Camino only surrendering 79 shots on goal this season.

Looking to stop top-seeded El Camino will be Evergreen Valley. The Hawks have been survivors in this playoff run, having played the most minutes of any of the remaining teams. The No. 4 seed from the north, Evergreen Valley advanced after beating DeAnza and Merced in penalties to get here.

Much of the Hawks’ offensive success this season has run through the scoring abilities of freshman Sergio Pinal. He has tallied a goal in 14 of the team’s 23 games, scoring 23 times and adding 12 assists. He has had help, as fellow freshman Kevin Flores has nine tallies, while sophomore Christian de la Cruz added eight goals. The attack is fed through center midfielder Pablo Almontes, who has 14 assists on the season.

The Hawks have a trio of freshmen handling goalkeeping duties, with Sammy Molina being the clear No. 1. He has started 16 games, posting a record of 11-2-3, while being part of a crew that posted nine clean sheets on the season.

The North’s top seed, Santa Rosa, also needed penalties to get to Mt. SAC, getting past West Valley 5-4 in penalties after a 1-1 draw. But the Bear Cubs have been a force for most of the season, with their only nonconference loss coming to the South’s original No. 2 seed, Fullerton.

Santa Rosa sports a potent one-two punch of scorers for opponents to stop. Sophomores Victor Vargas (13 goals, seven assists) and Sam Nolan (12 goals, eight assists) have accounted for 40 percent of the team’s 61 goals scored. A third sophomore, Alex Climaco, is third on the team with seven goals, to go with four assists.

Defensively, the Bear Cubs have only allowed 16 goals on the season. Freshman goalkeeper Abel Calvillo has carried the load in net, posting a record of 14-3-1 with a goals-against average of 0.77.

Awaiting the Bear Cubs are the tournament’s other No. 2 seed, Cuyamaca. The Coyotes were seeded 10th in Southern California, and upset San Bernardino Valley 2-1 in the opening round despite playing the last 30 minutes down a man due to a red card. They have since beaten Santa Barbara City and Long Beach City – both also with 2-1 finals - to earn their spot in the final four.

The Coyotes, who won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, have scratched out their victories this season, only outscoring opponents 56-32 this season. Three freshmen share the team lead with six goals on the season – Austin Barba, Ian Garcia, and Marco Santillan, while two others (Enrique Rodriguez and Diego Garcia) have five tallies apiece.

In the back, freshmen goalkeepers Isaias Reyes and Pablo Torres have split the bulk of the work, with Reyes posting six wins and Torres five.

Like Evergreen Valley, Cuyamaca is looking to ring the 3C2A championship bell for the first time in program history.

(Bill Norris, CCCSIA)