ALL-CENTRAL COAST SECTION
Player of the Year
LIAM JOHNSON, SACRED HEART PREP
It’s not too unusual for a top club player to man a different position in high school play, but it still is not too often that one does it as successfully as Liam Johnson did this year for Sacred Heart Prep.
At the club level, Johnson often takes over at right back, the position he will likely play next season for Santa Clara University. And he did start his four-year career for the Gators on the defensive end of the pitch, at the center back position. From there, he slowly moved forward, transitioning into a defensive mid during his sophomore year, an attacking mid as a junior, and finally into the featured offensive role of a striker as a senior. To say it all paid off for Johnson and Sacred Heart Prep might be an understatement.
For the second straight season, the Gators went unbeaten through the regular season, but this time took their game to another level in the post-season, after falling in the CCS Division 1 quarterfinals during Johnson’s junior year. After being placed in the Open Division this time around, SHP dominated Mountain View and Menlo-Atherton, much like they had to opponents throughout the year, finishing the season with a goal differential of 110-14. Johnson had a goal and an assist during the 4-0 semifinal win over M-A.
“This past season was truly monumental for the Sacred Heart program and for myself,” Johnson said. “After having such a fantastic season my junior year, people were wondering if we could replicate that success again. Being able to go even further was historic for our program.”
The Gators fell just short of capturing the Open Division title, falling to defending champion Bellarmine 1-0 in the title game, but broke through at the NorCal level in the CIF regional championships, defeating Central-Fresno, 2-1, as Johnson scored his 24th goal of the season, to go with 20 assists. When Sacred Heart Prep took the lead in stoppage time, Johnson then returned to his roots, dropping into the back line to preserve the lead.
“Liam was like having a player-coach out there on the pitch. He would coach his teammates on the pitch with our guidance, and he would work with the coaching staff in the moment at all times,” said SHP coach Armando del Rio. “He was the one player on our team who could make the difference in his technical ability to go left or right, finish left or right, by finishing passing combinations or creating something out of nothing on spectacular solo plays.”
Aside from being a leader on the pitch, the Santa Clara-bound Johnson was the ultimate chameleon for the Gators, placing pressure on the opposition from a multitude of approaches.
“He was a nightmare for opposing defenses, given his ability to play as a true striker, on the front line getting in behind, or playing as a false nine, where he would drop deep to receive the ball,” del Rio added. “In other words, defenses did not know how to mark him, and for the most part, they didn't or couldn't.”
Much like the 1-0 loss to Bellarmine in the CCS title game, the Gators’ season ended with a heart-breaking loss to an elite opponent, falling 2-1 to Jesuit-Carmichael in the CIF NorCal Division 1 semifinals. The two losses at the highest levels of play, however, did little to diminish the successes of the overall season.
“The entire team was so devoted to success, it made for a winning atmosphere. Each player was focused day in and day out on how we could improve as a team,” Johnson added. “I was lucky enough to be surrounded by top players who helped put me in positions to score. Unfortunately, we didn’t win CCS, but this season was so memorable. Everything clicked together.”
For his efforts this season, we are pleased to recognize Sacred Heart Prep’s Liam Johnson as the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Player of the Year.
Other players considered include Gunn’s James Hahn, Mt. Pleasant’s Ricardo Tovar Herrera, Bellarmine’s Tate Hackett and Watsonville’s Alex Lazo.
Coach of the Year
VAVA MARQUES, GUNN
Gunn's Vava Marques is the Prep2Prep CCS boys soccer coach of the year.
After a first-round loss to Harker in the 2019 CCS Division 4 playoffs, few people expected much out of Gunn entering the 2020 boys soccer season. But under the guidance of new head coach Vava Marques, and some outstanding play down the stretch, the Titans stunned the section by becoming the first team from a ‘B’ league to win the CCS Division 1 title.
The season didn’t necessarily start off looking like the Titans would be title-bound. Gunn tied Aragon in its season-opener and lost to Homestead eight days later to even its record at 1-1-1. The Titans, however, would not taste defeat again for three months.
“Coach pushed us to the limits every practice and motivated us to keep pushing ourselves,” said senior striker James Hahn, who led the Titans with 26 goals scored. “After everyone put in so much work, it felt really good to reach our key goals for the year, because it made all that hard work worth it.”
After the loss to Homestead, the Titans enjoyed a run of success on the same field, dominating three straight opponents to win the Homestead Cup tournament, one of the early-season goals for the team. Gunn closed the tourney run with a 6-0 win over Carmel and a 3-0 win over Lynbrook, victories which set the stage for a successful run through the SCVAL-El Camino. Those wins also brought the team together, as they embraced the hard-working nature of Marques.
“Our chemistry was unbelievable for high school soccer,” Hahn added. “Even though we only play together over winter, we all connected really well and understood each other’s playing styles. The coaches had a lot to do with that.”
As the regular season culminated with a 2-0 win over Lynbrook, it became clear that the Titans would get their shot at some of the section’s heavyweights, earning a berth in the Division 1 playoff bracket. Gunn opened at home against another ‘B’ league champion, San Mateo, who went undefeated in the PAL-Ocean. The Titans dispatched the Bearcats, 3-1, setting up a semifinal showdown with top seed Salinas, who had won the PCAL-Mission, another ‘B’ league.
Gunn displayed its tenacity in the semifinal win over the Cowboys, surviving a late goal in regulation to win on penalty kicks and reach the title game against WCAL perennial power Archbishop Mitty. In the title game, the Titans could have folded when the Monarchs took an early lead, but instead tied the game minutes later and then found the game-winner in the second half for a hard-earned 2-1 victory, the program’s first section title since 2003, in addition to the unprecedented achievement of becoming the ‘B’ league team to win the Division 1 crown.
The Titans added to their list of achievements in the CIF NorCal Division 2 regional playoffs, stunning top-seeded Watsonville in the quarterfinals, taking down an ‘A’ league champion in the process. And though the journey ended two days later with a loss to Redwood-Larkspur from the NCS, the story of the Titans had been written.
For his efforts this season, we are pleased to recognize Gunn’s Vava Marques as the Central Coast Section Coach of the Year.
Other coaches considered for this award include Sacred Heart Prep’s Armando del Rio and Guillermo Talancon, Bellarmine’s Conor Salcido and Harker’s Jeff Baicher.
FIRST TEAM ALL-CCS
Jeal Leal, Watsonville
Position: Forward
Year: Junior
The first-team PCAL-Gabilan selection led the Wildcatz in scoring with 16 goals and eight assists, as they went unbeaten in league play and then beat St. Ignatius behind a brace from Leal to reach the CCS Open Division semifinals.
Liam Johnson, Sacred Heart Prep
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
The WBAL Forward of the Year, Johnson led the Gators to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, recording 24 goals and 20 assists in his senior campaign. The four-year standout transitioned from the back line to being a top striker during his career, which will continue at Santa Clara University.
Noah Robertson, Mitty
Position: Forward
Year: Junior
Robertson was named the Forward of the Year in the WCAL, leading the Monarchs’ attack with his nine goals and seven assists. That included a key late second-half goal to beat Alvarez in the CCS Division 1 semifinals, and the only Mitty goal in the section title match.
James Hahn, Gunn
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
The MVP of the SCVAL-El Camino, Hahn came through in all the biggest moments for the Titans, enabling them to become the first-ever team from a ‘B’ division to win a CCS Division 1 title. He scored twice in the championship against Mitty, for the 2-1 victory, and then added another brace in a 2-0 upset win over Watsonville in the CIF NorCal quarterfinals. He finished the year with 26 goals scored.
Andy Cheplyansky, Harker
Position: Midfielder
Year: Senior
Cheplyansky was named Midfielder of the Year in the WBAL after a historic season for Harker. He was key in the post-season for the Eagles, scoring the team’s lone goal during regulation in eventual victories over Sequoia and Galt, while successfully converting penalty kicks in each playoff victory, including the CCS title game against Saint Francis. He also had an earlier brace in a key draw with Sacred Heart Prep.
Ellis Brenneman, Sacred Heart Cathedral
Position: Midefielder
Year: Senior
After moving from the midfield to forward as a junior, Brenneman dropped back again and once again earned first-team all-WCAL honors as SHC was able to dominate the middle of the field during its league championship run. His penalty kick in overtime against Menlo-Atherton sent the game to a shootout.
Tate Hackett, Bellarmine
Position: Defender
Year: Junior
Hackett was named the Defender of the Year in the WCAL, patrolling a back line for the Bells which allowed just 18 goals in 25 matches, including a pair of shutouts in the CCS Open Division playoffs and another in the CIF NorCal quarterfinals.
Kevin Box, Sacred Heart Prep
Position: Defender
Year: Senior
Box was the top defender in the WBAL, and a major reason why the Gators allowed just 14 goals all season while reaching the CCS Open Division title game. The four-year starter and dual-sport standout also created on the offensive end, including a brace in the league-title clinching win over Harker and the game-winner during stoppage time against Central-Fresno in the CIF NorCal quarterfinals.
Alex Lazo, Watsonville
Position: Defender
Year: Senior
In his only year of high school soccer – Lazo played for the Santa Cruz Breakers Academy the previous five season – he earned MVP honors in the PCAL-Gabilan, helping lead the Wildcatz to a league title and the semifinals of the CCS Open Division, anchoring a defense which posted nine shutouts and allowed just 18 goals all season.
SECOND TEAM ALL-CCS
Pedro Ontiveras, Summit Prep
Position: Forward
Year: Junior
Ontiveras had 31 goals and five assists to lead the Huskies to an unbeaten regular season and then the CCS Division 4 title. He shined in the post-season as well as the regular season, scoring two goals each in playoff wins over Yerba Buena and King City.
Emael Talavera, Wilcox
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
Talavera was named Offensive MVP of the SCVAL-El Camino after again leading the Chargers to a successful season, finishing one game behind Gunn in the league standings before reaching the CCS Division 2 semifinals. Both losses during the season came to eventual section champions.
Jack Chmyz, Los Altos
Position: Defender
Year: Senior
Chmyz was named co-Defensive Player of the Year in the SCVAL-De Anza, leading a defensive-minded Eagles’ team that allowed just 13 goals all season en route to a third-place finish in league play. He also scored a pair of goals.
Paxton Hall, Bellarmine
Position: Defender
Year: Junior
Part of an elite defensive unit, Hall came up with one of the biggest defensive plays of the season for the Bells, saving a potential goal during an Open Division semifinal win over Watsonville, and he was also able to start the attack when necessary.
THIRD TEAM ALL-CCS
Position: Forwards
Daniel Cardenas (San Lorenzo Valley), Jacob Burrill (Sequoia), Colin Fan (Homestead), Seiji Matsuda (Bellarmine), Rory Folan (Saint Francis), Alexis Ortiz (Soledad), Jesus Zavala (Greenfield), Alexi Stavropoulos (Sacred Heart Prep), Leonardo Alvarez (Evergreen Valley)
Position: Midfielders
Edward Aparicio (Gilroy), Giovanni Verar (Scotts Valley), Alex Bonville (Sacred Heart Cathedral), Fabian Garfias (Summit Prep), David Ruiz (Woodside), Uriel Morales (Bellarmine), Braden Eberle (Leland)
Position: Defenders
Quinn Sprague (Soquel), Eric Yin (Serra), Declan Patankar (St. Ignatius), Luka Mandic (Lynbrook), Cole Trigg (Menlo-Atherton)
Position: Goalkeepers
Alessandro Compoginis (Soquel), Thomas Moore-Rios (Saint Francis), Laszlo Bollyky (Harker)
HONORABLE MENTION:
ACE Charter:
Adrian Valencia
ALISAL:
Alan Cardenas, Yoni Avelar
ALVAREZ:
Ricardo Hinojosa, Abraham Garcia
ANN SOBRATO:
Dylan Gallipeo
APTOS:
Nate Dow, Gilbert Vasquez
ARAGON:
Roman Misner
ARCHBISHOP MITTY:
Tyler Stevenson, Timothy Rast
ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN:
Roberto Alas
BELLARMINE COLLEGE PREP:
Myles Thomas, Ben Galdes, Nicholas Csuback
BRANHAM:
Carter Thompson, Chris Sahagon
BURLINGAME:
Liam Griffin
CAPUCHINO:
Fernando Nungaray
CARLMONT:
Patrik Dufault-Geleziunas, Fletcher Smith
CARMEL:
Nico Staehle, Nate Miglaw
CEIBA PREP:
David Romo
CHRISTOPHER:
Alberto Arellano, Caden Booth
CRISTO REY:
Jarette Barajas
CRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS:
Max Zieger
CUPERTINO:
Austin Diaz
DEL MAR:
Arturo Hernandez, Gabriel Manriquez
DESIGN TECH:
Brenon Kirkes
EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREP:
Marvin Linares
EL CAMINO:
Alexis Diaz
EVERGREEN VALLEY:
Daniel Patino, Jose Velasquez
FREMONT:
Alexander Valdovinos, Michael Wen
GILROY:
Davi Prado
GONZALES:
Alex Ramirez
GREENFIELD:
Jose Hernandez, Juan Sanchez
GUNDERSON:
Richie Salazar
GUNN:
Dayan Tagihizadeh, Alexis Bromberg
HARBOR:
Carlos Zuniga, Erick Rosales
HARKER:
Ishaan Mantripragada, Sasvath Ramachandran
HOMESTEAD:
Sean Kim, Yoshia Okamoto
INDEPENDENCE:
Alexis Ramirez
JAMES LICK:
Noel Guzman, Alex Lomeli
JEFFERSON:
Jonathan Dubon
KING CITY:
Jonathan Mosqueda, Francisco Zavala
KING'S ACADEMY:
Cooper Allen, Sam Wang
LATINO PREP:
Julian Orozco
LEADERSHIP ACADEMY:
Sergio Pinal
LEIGH:
Federico Barbieri
LELAND:
Zakk Teixeira, Santiago Gonzalez
LINCOLN:
Bryan Quintano, Robert Araujo
LIVE OAK:
Caleb Ojeda, Andres Rosales
LOS ALTOS:
Jimmy Dessouski, Ethan Apfelberg
LOS GATOS:
Connor Faries, Dori Hjalmarson
LYNBROOK:
Andy Li
MARINA:
Norberto Tolentino, Edgar Zelaya
MENLO:
Adam Kasser, Christian Corcoran
MENLO-ATHERTON:
Will Demirkol
MILLS:
Justin Lauer
MILPITAS:
Pavel Dimitrov, Jaz Reyes
MONTA VISTA:
Guy Lavi, Miles Pereira
MONTE VISTA CHRISTIAN:
Logan Pluckhan, Austin Kilinski
MONTEREY:
Jose Rios Lara, Aldair Vivanco
MOUNTAIN VIEW:
James Vadasz, Ilan Karchmer, Ben Smith
MT. PLEASANT:
Adrian Fimbres, Eric Enow
NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY:
Eduardo Hernandez
NORTH SALINAS:
Edgar Oviedo, Ezequiel Hernandez
OAK GROVE:
Cristian Gutierrez
OAKWOOD:
Blake Mercurio
OVERFELT:
Hugh Blanco, Omar Lopez
PACIFIC COLLEGIATE:
Bailey Prochaska, Colin Bayless
PACIFIC GROVE:
Robertson Rice, Sergi Rojas Mendoza
PAJARO VALLEY:
Luis Velazquez, Kevin Rincon
PALMA:
Dominic Nale, Gabriel Nale
PALO ALTO:
Jackson Druker, Marcus Ama
PIONEER:
Ken Isaka
PROSPECT:
Josh Frahm
RANCHO SAN JUAN:
Byron Duenas
SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL:
Kian Jones, Devin Pittler-McNamara
SACRED HEART PREP:
Alex Moretti, Kyle Nilsson
SALINAS:
Felipe Torres, Fermin Moreno
SAN BENITO:
Adrian Maldonado
SAN JOSE:
Alexis Ortega
SAN LORENZO VALLEY:
Alex Castro
SAN MATEO:
Jacob Necick
SANTA CLARA:
Jason Teixeira, Zaid Ansari
SANTA CRUZ:
Judah Maxwell
SANTA TERESA:
Miguel Moreno
SARATOGA:
Etienne Casanova
SCOTTS VALLEY:
Brody Affolter
SEASIDE:
Jeffry Reyes, Jorge Gutierrez
SEQUOIA:
Lucas MacFarlane Glasks
SERRA:
Sandro Campos, Shane Ivich
SILVER CREEK:
Lucio Alcala
SOLEDAD:
Michael Martinez
SOQUEL:
Adam Foa, Christian Gonzalez
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO:
Diego Arellano
ST. FRANCIS:
Abraham Ramirez
ST. FRANCIS SCP:
Sean Farley
ST. IGNATIUS:
Luca Ornstil, Joe Patino
STEVENSON:
Nathaniel Hahn, Rolando Ortiz
SUMMIT PREP:
Bryant Tovar
TERRA NOVA:
Tyler Rasmussen
TRINITY CHRISTIAN:
Alex Gonzalez
VALLEY CHRISTIAN:
Kristian Yun, Cole Pond
WATSONVILLE:
Danny Medina
WESTMONT:
Aidan Weiss, Javier Corona
WILCOX:
Bryan Meza, Samuel Lopez
WILLOW GLEN:
Eli Basiteau, Miguel Medina
WOODSIDE:
Grant Boyd
WOODSIDE PRIORY:
Ben Veghte
YERBA BUENA:
Denis Flores, Bryan Villa
YORK:
Justin Vu
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