GILROY — Of all the games that turned King City's season around, head coach Jaime Cortez cited the on-field reunion game that changed the direction of the football team.
Cortez was looking for answers as he started an 0-5 start, juggled positions and lineups, and his team found a rhythm in a game where pride was the only thing that mattered.
“Honestly, that was the alumni game that motivated us,” Cortez said. “So we made some changes. We hadn't won an alumni game in three years. It was an older group of players. We clicked and beat the teams.”
Since that December afternoon, the Mustangs are 11-1-5, including a 5-2 decision over Monterey on Saturday for their second Central Coast Section Division IV title in the past three years. It is contained.
“When I was having that moment without a win, I told my kids that my family was in the stands cheering me on,” Cortez said. “I'm not wasting my time. I believe in this team. We'll get through this.”
The Mustangs had a monumental performance last time they appeared in the Northern California State Tournament, playing three games on the road and traveling more than 1,200 miles before taking home the title.
“I will never forget the support from the community,” Cortez said. “I remember there was a huge crowd on campus greeting us when we came back around midnight. There were still three players left from that team.”
The Mustangs, the Mission Division champions, boasted of supremacy, defeating Monterey in the regular season and holding it to a tie.
“It was intense the whole game,” Cortez said. “I was very nervous. The score doesn't justify what happened on the field. It was a 25-minute, one-goal game.”
King City took a 3-1 lead at halftime with the first of two goals from Israel Saldana, but Sekou Matthews kicked a goal with 20 minutes left in the game, allowing the Toledores to come back and take a lead. The difference was close to a point.
“It took us about 20 minutes to get into the game,” Monterey coach Christian Ramos said. “We had never been in this position before. We were nervous.”
Experience seemed to take control for King City, but Saldana and Esteban Acosta (a member of the 2022 title team) scored in the final 15 minutes to produce two goals.
“What we made was the mistake of leaving two big spaces on the left,” Ramos said. “We will use this game as a basis for the future. Our goal is to teach the boys the correct way to play soccer.”
The Toledores have an 8-0-1 record in their past nine games, including a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over top-seeded Del Mar in the semifinals, and will have eight starting pitchers returning next season.
Victor Medina and Damien Aguirre scored in the first half to give the Mustangs an early 2-0 lead. It was Medina's team-leading eighth goal.
“This has been a group effort all year long,” Cortez said. “There are no standout players on this team. We have 11 or 12 solid players. This is not like a team that won a state championship where one kid carried the offense. We are more balanced.”
It's just a matter of putting that talent in the right position, and Cortes did that well through an 0-5 start, including two one-point losses.
“We just had to move them,” Cortez said. “We moved six players to different positions. I told the kids, prove this is your position. Every preseason game served a purpose. We We experimented a lot early in the season.”
Edmar Coronel also scored for Monterey, which finished the season with a 16-6-2 record.
Division III
Alvarez 1, Christopher 0: The death of his sister in late January left Alvarez's head coach, Gabriel Campos, and his players searching for purpose.
“It took an emotional toll on all of us,” Campos said. “We were mentally exhausted. But we found the motivation and pulled through. We were able to regroup. We became a group, not individuals.”
Luis Macias' goal late in the first half held on as the Eagles defeated second-seeded and host Christopher to win the program's Section 1 CCS Division III soccer title.
As a result, the girls program defeated Soledad 4-1 in the Division IV final, making the Eagles the first school in county history to win boys and girls soccer titles in the same year.
“It's definitely been a crazy season with ups and downs,” Campos said. “We dedicate this cap to the teams around the league that help us compete every day. It feels like we've been playing a playoff game for two months.”
Alvarez (11-9-2) is seeded in the Northern California Division Tournament, which begins play at a yet-to-be-determined venue on Tuesday.
The Eagles, who finished fourth in the Gavilan District, are undefeated in their last five games and defeated two higher-seeded opponents in the Division III playoffs.
The goaltender was Oscar Mendez, who was brilliant between the pipes, earning his second consecutive shutout in the postseason and making over 100 saves for the year.
“He was great,” Campos said.
So did defenders Edson Gonzalez and Tadeo Isai-Jimenez, who limited Christopher's scoring chances and tamed an offense that outscored their opponents 6-1 in the first two games of the playoffs.
Division V
Stevenson 2, Kings Academy 0: Throughout the season, the Pirates relied on tenacious defense, shutting out 15 games, a historic run.
If setting a school record and winning the first league title weren't enough, Stephenson defeated Sunnyvale's Kings Academy at Del Mar High School to win the first CCS Division V boys soccer title.
“The celebration was lively,” Stevenson coach Toby Elmore said. “These kids are so excited to be able to do this for each other. Everything we've done has been done as a team. There's a lot of singing and bottles of cold water. It was thrown at me.”
Two banners will be hung in the gym's rafters, and the Pirates will chase a third on Tuesday when they take part in the Northern California Tournament, which has yet to be hosted.
Stevenson (15-3-5) was scoreless in three playoff games as goaltender Luke Brandler made eight saves for his 15th shutout of the season.
“He had a more aggressive game today,” Elmore said of the vaunted goaltender who held Gunderson and Milpitas scoreless in the Pirates' first two postseason wins.
Stephenson, the Cypress Division champion, needed Brandler's defense until the offense broke up a scoreless battle with goals from Spencer Stornetta and Alessandro Spada in the second half.
It was Spada's first goal of the season, assisted by Pedro Velasco.
“We knew the way to win,” Elmore said. “We knew where we needed to get the ball. We felt very confident at halftime. We've been a second-half team all season.”
Stephenson, who entered the title game with just three goals allowed in his past 15 games, relied on Zach da Silva and Jonas Averdiek-Bolwin to shut down the Kings Academy attack. Santiago Esquino-Espejo added the assist.
“We had some nervous moments in the first half,” Elmore said. “But we were a lot better in the second half. We settled into a bit of a bid. We've never been here before. We solidified our midfield even more.”
