P2P CCS Boys Soccer Honors
Senior forward and captain Dylan Penn led St. Ignatius to the first-ever outright CCS Open Division championship. (SI Athletics)

ALL-CENTRAL COAST SECTION

Player of the Year
DYLAN PENN, ST. IGNATIUS


By NATE SMITH
Prep2Prep

The top goal scorer for all four of his varsity soccer seasons at St. Ignatius High School, Dylan Penn led the Wildcats to the pinnacle of Central Coast Section achievements in the 2017 season. With a 5-2 victory over Carlmont in the CCS Open Division title game, Penn’s illustrious career ended with a championship, and fittingly so.

“He’s a great kid, and someone who has a great spirit,” said St. Ignatius coach Alan Downey. “You could see the tears streaming down his face after winning the section title.”

Penn, who will continue his soccer career next season at UC Berkeley, led SI with 18 goals scored this season, as part of an offense that spread the wealth and had multiple players tally double-digit goal totals this year. He is also a skilled passer who repeatedly assisted his teammates for key goals, finishing with seven assists.

“He has all the tools you look for in a leader and a top player,” Downey said. “He’s a great practice player, super skilled but also humble. After the season, we gave him our award for the player who best represented our program.”

Penn also displayed the ability to come through in clutch moments. In the CCS final, he registered a goal and two assists, as the Wildcats turned the tables on a Carlmont team which had beaten them early in the regular season. St. Ignatius also broke the West Catholic Athletic League record for most goals scored during league play, and it was Penn who put the ball in the net to break the record in a season-ending win over Valley Christian.

His two assists in the championship game might have best exemplified his talent level, and ability to see the field. On both occasions, in the 21st and 61st minutes, Penn executed beautiful passes on sliding crosses, allowing fellow senior Dominic Galletti to tap in a pair of goals. Both passes came off quick runs by Penn, displaying hard to match speed on the field, and his ability to find voids in the defense.

“Having a player like Dylan, it made it possible for us to game plan a certain way for the championship game,” Downey said. “We were able to exploit their high line of defense, and he was able to get into those voids in their back line.”

For an amazing career, and especially a memorable senior season, Dylan Penn is our 2017 Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Player of the Year.


Coach of the Year
ALAN DOWNEY, ST. IGNATIUS

Alan Downey led St. Ignatius to an undefeated WCAL league title and CCS Open Division championship.

By NATE SMITH
Prep2Prep

Having just completed his fourth season at the helm of the St. Ignatius boys’ soccer program, Alan Downey has witnessed the growth of his first graduating class, the first class of seniors which played in his program for four seasons. The growth could not have been more evident, as the Wildcats raced to the WCAL championship and CCS Open Division title in the 2017 season.

The Wildcats were not even a playoff team in Downey’s first season as head coach, but improved after that, falling in the quarterfinals of the Division II bracket in each of the next two seasons. Still, it is a big jump to go from Division II quarterfinalist to Open Division champion.

The 2016-2017 season did not start off looking like St. Ignatius would be a title contender. In fact, after a pair of non-league wins to open the year, the Wildcats four straight and five of six games. Losses to Napa and Menlo-Atherton were followed by a stunning defeat to Marin Academy, and then another setback against Carlmont. After a win over Fresno-area power Bullard, SI dropped one final contest, this time to perennial NCS contender Richmond.

“We were missing a couple guys early in the season, but really we just weren’t together as a team early in the year,” Downey said. “We also lost our starting goalkeeper to a broken leg, and that took time to adjust.”

Despite knowing his team was going through an adjustment period, and struggling to mesh on the field, Downey expressed his concerns during a key team meeting following the loss to Marin Academy.

“We had a key moment after that (Marin Academy) loss, where we challenged everyone to start playing together in order to reach our goals for the year,” Downey said. “We started to turn the corner during the Carlmont game, even though we did not win. Our practices also got a lot sharper, and once we started winning, we never looked back.”

The Wildcats conducted some team bonding activities during the Christmas break, and starting focusing on creating success during 2017. Team captain Dominic Galletti made a promise to Downey, stating that the team “would not lose a game during 2017.” He was right.

St. Ignatius opened the new year with a January 4 victory over Riordan, and continued its success from there. The Wildcats finished the WCAL schedule with a 13-0-1 in league play, the only blemish being a tie with Serra. Along the way, they broke the league record for goals scored in a single season.

“We knew we could score a ton of goals going into this year,” Downey said. “It was a big achievement to get that record, though.”

The Wildcats had the opportunity to get the record in their final league game, facing Valley Christian on Senior Day. That meant a large number of players who did not usually see significant minutes would do so in that match, even with the record at stake. As it turned out, three players who had not scored all season contributed four of the team’s eight goals in the win, including a hat trick from Downey’s son, Aodhan. The team needed six goals for the record, and surpassed that total, with senior Dylan Penn providing the record-breaking shot.

That explosive offense came in handy during the post-season, as the Wildcats trailed early in the semifinal and championship games. That included an early 2-0 deficit to Pioneer in the semifinals, before SI reeled off four straight goals, and an early one-goal deficit to Carlmont in the 5-2 title game victory.

“We never panicked, and had a lot of belief in our ability to come back in both of those situations,” Downey explained. “We knew we could score goals. We had proven that to ourselves all season long.”

For instilling that belief in his team, going unbeaten in their final 17 matches of the season, and capturing the school’s first boys soccer title since the 2009 Division II championship, Alan Downey is the 2017 Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Coach of the Year.

Other coaches considered for this award: Pioneer’s Nick Hoffman, Monterey’s Josimar Herrera, and Branham’s Danny Kadah.



FIRST TEAM ALL-CCS

Dylan Penn, St. Ignatius
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

Despite missing x games because of a preseason suspension, Penn finished with 18 goals and 7 assists to lead St. Ignatius to an undefeated mark in the WCAL and the first-ever CCS outright Open Division championship.


Dominic Galletti, St. Ignatius
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

Whereas Penn did much of his damage in the center, Galletti was a terror down the left wing throughout his St. Ignatius career, forming a spectacular attack that accounted for a stunning 58 goals and 13-0-1 mark in the WCAL, one of the toughest leagues in the Bay Area. Galletti, who had the game-winning assist in the semifinal win over Pioneer, finished with 16 goals and 8 assists.


Andrew Kettle, Pioneer
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

The speedster led Pioneer to a nearly perfect season, as the Mustangs (18-1-3) suffered their only defeat of the season in the CCS Open Division semifinals to eventual champ St. Ignatius. Kettle finished with 20 goals and 10 assists as Pioneer dominated the BVAL-Santa Teresa Division to the tune of a 44-4 goal differential and 13-0-1 record.


Ty Shikashio, Branham
Position: Midfielder
Year: Senior

The BVAL-Mount Hamilton Player of the Year led Branham to its first-ever "A" Division championship, as the Bruins went undefeated in league play until the final week of the regular season. A highly technical center midfielder, Shikashio served as the fulcrum of the team's attack and defense and also contributed 11 assists, including several from his spectacular long throw-ins.


Louis Sanchez, Monterey
Position: Midfielder
Year: Senior

The Monterey Bay League-Pacific Division co-Player of the Year, Sanchez racked up 10 goals and 14 assists for a Monterey team that had a spectacular season. The Toreadores finished the league season undefeated and stunned nationally ranked Alisal in the first round of the CCS Open Division playoffs before falling to Carlmont in penalty kicks in the semifinals. In all, Monterey finished the season 15-1-3 with Sanchez leading the way.


Connor Brady, Bellarmine College Prep
Position: Midfielder
Year: Senior

The two-time first-team all-WCAL midfielder helped Bellarmine to a second-place finish in the WCAL as the Bells finished 14-6-1 overall (10-4 WCAL). Brady was last season's Prep2Prep CCS Junior of the Year.


Eduardo Miranda, Alisal
Position: Midfielder/Defender
Year: Senior

The MBL-Gabilan Player of the Year, Miranda played both in a holding midfield role and in the backline as needed as the Trojans finished the league season with a perfect 12-0 mark and were nationally ranked by most ranking services throughout the year. Alisal conceded just four goals all season in league play thanks in large part to Miranda's organizational, positional and defending qualities, as the Trojans were odds-on favorites to capture the Open Division title before being stunned by Monterey in the first round.


Michael Bertiglia, St. Ignatius
Position: Defender
Year: Senior

The rock at the center of the St. Ignatius defense, Bertiglia combined aerial strength with poise on the ball to lead the Wildcats to a historic season. After going through the preseason 1-5, St. Ignatius rolled through the WCAL with a 13-0-1 mark, allowing just 16 goals against some of the toughest competition in the Bay Area.

The Wildcats continued their run through the Open Division playoffs with Bertiglia serving as the stabilizing force in a defensive system designed to complement a wide-open attack.


Brian Ocampo, Lincoln
Position: Defender
Year: Senior

The cool, solid defender was a mainstay on two Central Coast Section Division I championship teams the past two years. Ocampo, the BVAL-Mount Hamilton Senior of the Year, helped the Lions concede just 18 goals all season in 24 matches as Lincoln finished tied for second in the BVAL-MH and swept through the playoffs allowing just one goal during the postseason.


Brando Yanez, Homestead
Position: Defender
Year: Senior

Along with Alisal, Homestead is the only team to appear in the first two CCS Open Division playoffs and much of that is attributable to the play of Yanez, a first-team all-SCVAL defender. The Mustangs finished the league season undefeated and conceded just six goals in 12 matches.


Jesus Parra, Alisal
Position: Goalkeeper
Year: Senior

The first-team all-MBL selection was instrumental in an extremely stingy Alisal defense that allowed just 13 goals in 21 total matches and only four in 12 matches against rugged Monterey Bay League-Gabilan Division competition.



SECOND TEAM ALL-CCS

Ramon Inda Felix
Position: Forward
Year: Junior

Inda Felix helped Lincoln to its second straight CCS Division I championship, scoring timely goals during the postseason after an effective regular season that saw him earn BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division Junior of the Year honors.


Makenna Pendleton, Archbishop Mitty
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

Pendleton netted 15 goals and added 10 assists to help Mitty continue its streak of CCS playoff appearances.


Leo McBride, Carlmont
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

The co-Forward of the Year in the Peninsula Athletic League-Bay Division, McBride led Carlmont to a league title and trip to the CCS Open Division playoffs, where the Scots put a scare into eventual champs St. Ignatius in the first round. A tall, rangy athletic striker, McBride led Carlmont with 12 goals and eight assists.


Josh Robertson, Archbishop Mitty
Position: Midfielder
Year: Junior

A first-team all-WCAL selection, Robertson is a defensive midfielder who was usually tasked with taking away the opposing team's path of attack. An excellent ball-winner who covers a lot of ground, Robertson helped Mitty finish in a tie for third in the loaded WCAL.


Adam Joss, Serra
Position: Midfielder
Year: Junior

The WCAL Midfielder of the Year led the Padres to the CCS Division II championship with wins over Soquel, Gonzales, Hillsdale and El Camino. With Joss pulling the strings, the high-scoring Padres finished the season with 62 goals, including an impressive 29 in 10 matches against non-WCAL competition, 14 of which came during the playoff run.


Rohan Sarathy, Mountain View
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Year: Senior

The speedy and talented winger led Mountain View to another successful season as the Spartans finished 2nd in the SCVAL-De Anza Division and reached the CCS Division I semis with wins over Woodside and Mitty (in penalty kicks). Sarathy led the team with 12 goals and nine assists.


Ricardo Soza, Alvarez
Position: Midfielder
Year: Senior

Soza, an attacking midfielder and first-team all-MBL-Gabilan selection, led Alvarez to a third-place finish in one of the most competitive leagues in the Bay Area and an upset of top-seeded Bellarmine in the first round of the CCS Division I playoffs.


Francisco Rivas, Pioneer
Position: Defender
Year: Senior

The speedy center back roamed like a center fielder as the final man in the Pioneer defense, helping the Mustangs to a record-setting season which saw them register 13 shutouts and concede just 15 goals all season - including just four in 14 league games.


Jake Serpa, Archbishop Mitty
Position: Defender
Year: Junior

Depending on his team's needs, Serpa could be called upon to anchor the Mitty back line or serve as a target forward. Dangerous as a target on set pieces, Serpa accounted for 12 goals despite seeing limited action up front.


Noe Robledo, Watsonville
Position: Defender
Year: Senior

The first-team all-MBL-Gabilan selection helped Watsonville turn its season around after a slow start. The Wildcatz won their final five league games - conceding just two goals over that span - and carried that momentum into the playoffs, where they reached the CCS Division I championship match, losing 1-0 in overtime to Lincoln.


Jeremy Zielinski, Homestead
Position: Goalkeeper
Year: Senior

Zielinski was a large part of a Homestead defense that allowed just six goals to go undefeated in SCVAL-De Anza Division play.



THIRD TEAM ALL-CCS

Matthew Keeth, St. Francis
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

The powerful, athletic senior was named WCAL Striker of the Year for his efforts, as Keeth scored 17 goals and notched eight assists in just 20 matches. He registered hat tricks in wins over Valley Christian and Archbishop Riordan and had a goal and an assist in a key non-league win over Prospect early in the season.


Ronald Vargas, Del Mar
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

The powerful striker led Del Mar to the BVAL-West Valley championship and into the second round of the CCS Division II playoffs. Vargas scored 15 goals and added 10 assists for the Dons, who went undefeated in league and finished 14-2-6 overall.


Brian Field, The King's Academy
Position: Forward
Year: Senior

Last year's reigning Prep2Prep CCS Player of the Year, Field had another outstanding season tallying 27 goals and 15 assists for the Knights, who fell just short of the CCS playoffs.


Joey Kettle, Pioneer
Position: Midfielder
Year: Sophomore

Joey formed a dynamic duo with brother Andrew, scoring 12 goals to go along with 15 assists during Pioneer's epic season. Kettle, a tall, athletic attacking midfielder, will be called upon to take on even more of the attacking load with the graduation of his brother as Pioneer moves into the BVAL-Mount Hamilton "A" Division next year.


Jota Yamaguchi, Archbishop Mitty
Position: Midfielder
Year: Junior

A highly skilled and technical attacking midfielder, Yamaguchi earned first-team all-WCAL honors with nine goals and seven assists.


Grant King, Branham
Position: Midfielder
Year: Junior

The first-team all-BVAL Mount Hamilton midfielder displayed a knack for scoring goals at key times and was particularly dangerous converting set pieces. Despite playing primarily as a holding midfielder, King finished with seven goals to help Branham to its first-ever BVAL-Mount Hamilton title.


Bob Hahn, Gunn
Position: Midfielder
Year: Sophomore

The talented midfielder was named MVP of the SCVAL-El Camino Division as a sophomore. He led Gunn to a third-place finish and a trip to the CCS Division I playoffs.


Tyler Khan, Branham
Position: Defender
Year: Junior

Typically called upon to match up with the opposing team's top striker, Khan was also a dangerous presence on set pieces, scoring four goals and contributing two goals to help Branham to a BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division title.


Diego Marquez, Alisal
Position: Defender
Year: Senior

Marquez helped the stingy Alisal defense allow just four goals during league play as the Trojans went through the difficult MBL-Gabilan Division with a perfect 12-0-0 mark.


Francisco Gonzalez, Watsonville
Position: Defender
Year: Senior

Gonzalez helped Watsonville turn its season around after a slow start as the 'Catz went on a five-game winning streak at the end of the regular season to keep its streak of CCS playoff appearances alive.


Bryan Diangson, Pioneer
Position: Goalkeeper
Year: Senior

Diangson registered 13 shutouts and allowed just nine goals in 20 regular-season matches to help Pioneer finish the regular season unbeaten.




HONORABLE MENTION:

ALISAL: Alfonso Hernandez
ALVAREZ: Carlos Vargas
ANDREW HILL: Carlos Pimienta
ARAGON: Ricky Diaz, Nathan Machak
ARCHBISHOP MITTY: Jay Houston
BELLARMINE COLLEGE PREP: Brian Hayes
BRANHAM: Sammy Nichols
BURLINGAME: Gabe Hyman
CAPUCHINO: Ruben Romero
CARLMONT: Paul Bastaki, Brett Fitzpatrick
CARMEL: Leo Gonzales-Smith, Morgan Goldschmidt, Ben Webber
CHRISTOPHER: Isaiah Rugerio
CRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS: Deji Agunbiade, Alex Berman
CUPERTINO: Christopher Ortiz
DEL MAR: Marco Medina, Luis Langarica
EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREP: Alejandro Causor
EL CAMINO: Shayan Charalaghi, Ivan Stus, Nate Deinla
EVERGREEN VALLEY: Fernando Biorato
FREMONT: Joseph Salazar, Jonathan Valdovinos, Rolando Mendes, Jose Chavez
GILROY: Jeremy Mendoza, Ellias Diaz
GONZALES: Edwin Arias, Javier Martinez
GREENFIELD: Juan Jaimes
GUNDERSON: Juan Jimenez, Carlos Lopez
HALF MOON BAY: Oscar Garcia
HARBOR: Misa Acosta, Luis Escalante, Angel Salgado
HARKER: Sparsh Chauhan, Rohit Shah
HILLSDALE: Oisin Dougherty Fagan, Damon Prasad
HOMESTEAD: Stefano Rupp
KING CITY: Anthony Rangel
LEIGH: Jeron Rojas
LELAND: Sam Morris
LINCOLN: Michael Robles, Guillermo Hernandez
LIVE OAK: Jarod Puthoff
LOS ALTOS: Albin Moellerstad, Victor Yu, Coby Zorn
LOS GATOS: Tommy Kharisov, Vihan Gunaratna
MENLO: David Quezada, Daniel Hausen, Alistair Shaw, Ben Lasky
MENLO-ATHERTON: Nicolas Jandeleit, Carlos Mangandi
MILLS: Luke Yee, Toshi Hensley
MONTA VISTA: Alex Dunn
MONTE VISTA CHRISTIAN: Nick Sando
MONTEREY: Isaac Lomeli, Jonathan Cortes, Fernando Cardenas
MOUNTAIN VIEW: Cam Martin, Gerson Perez
NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY: Raul Magos
NORTH SALINAS: Ronaldo Aguilera, Tony Ruiz, Jorge Tellez
OAKWOOD: Jaypreet Dhanota
OVERFELT: Adrian Luera, Paulino Lazaro, Eddy Juarez
PAJARO VALLEY: Alexis Rincon, Jairo Membreno
PALMA: Branden Werner, Francisco Arevallo
PALO ALTO: Neil Verwillow, Thomas Crouch, Derek Schoenberger
PIONEER: Adan Avila, Jashua Ortiz
PROSPECT: Alexis Barajas, Greg Escola
SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL: Herminio Umanzor, Ian Eadie
SACRED HEART PREP: Zach Haire, Liam Johnson, Peter Love, Juan Rascon
SALINAS: Luis Alvarez, Danny Salinas
SAN BENITO: Manuel Ceja, Gerardo Ramirez
SAN LORENZO VALLEY: Blake Kuehl, Max Stein
SAN MATEO: Aaron Baca
SANTA CLARA: Matthew Smith, Jamal Adam
SANTA CRUZ: Eder Montesino, Nick Courtright
SARATOGA: Kevin Yu
SCOTTS VALLEY: Kyle Raymond, Brendan Magee
SEASIDE: Franco Contreras, Irving Rodriguez
SEQUOIA: Jared Mejia
SERRA: Colin O'Donoghue
SOBRATO: Sam Ludley, Max Brown
SOLEDAD: Alexis Sanchez, Omar Gallegos
SOQUEL: Ryan Jordan, Jalen Graves
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO: Alejandro Perez
ST. FRANCIS: Cory Hill
ST. IGNATIUS: Jonathan Bow
STEVENSON: Pedro Marquard
TERRA NOVA: Jacob Micheletti
THE KING'S ACADEMY: Luis Flores
VALLEY CHRISTIAN: Eric Waltz
WATSONVILLE: Augustin Sorroza
WESTMONT: Ethan Nelson, Franklin Jurasek, Troy Rotler
WESTMOOR: Anderson Nascimento
WOODSIDE: Victor Aguila, Alex Caceres
YERBA BUENA: Jose Gonzalez