SoCal College Showcase wraps up in style

It is very easy to get hyperbolic when you get swept up into something, because as human beings we make things we care about more than they are sometimes. However, setting aside all embellishment, the SoCal College Showcase was a truly excellent event. The event featured three days of excellent play, individual moments of brilliance and spotlighted the beautiful game in a fitting way.   The event wrapped up with four more excellent games and sent fans, players and coaches home knowing they were part of something special.   ORANGE LUTHERAN 2-0 BELLARMINE COLLEGE PREP   Match Highlights   Despite the scoreline indication, it was a very even match, very back and forth. The difference for the Lancers is that they caught the Bells in transition twice, once in the 20th minute to score a goal from the run of play and once again in the 79th minute to earn a penalty.   Hayden Snyder set up Jimu Lee for the first goal in transition, and then Gavin Shin drew a penalty and converted it himself to punctuate the 2-0 win.   "To get two wins in a Showcase like this, where the level is really high, is amazing," Orange Lutheran coach Mike Oseguera said. "We are a Division IV team and to compete with bigger schools is nice and to get two wins is monumental for the program. This was such a good opportunity for us to get ready for the gauntlet that is the Trinity League."   Ayden Santana stood tall in between the posts as Bellarmine had plenty of opportunities. Santana made some great saves, had six in total and kept a clean sheet.   Players That Stood Out   For Bellarmine, Kasdan Blattman was a real standout. He was a handful in the midfield, creating chances, finding openings and pushing forward. Kavi Krishnan was also a threat as he worked hard, working both outside forward positions and challenging the defense. Rafa Romo showed selflessness once again, moving from his striker position to center back as an injury replacement. Nathan Johnston did good work in the midfield as well.   And for the Lancers, George Cora and Shin were outstanding as outside backs. Krishnan was moving around to either side and they kept pestering him and standing him up. Gabriel Reyes was standout in the holding midfield spot. Not only did he have to deal with Blattman, but he dictated the flow of the match, won a bunch of balls back and found outlets to alleviate pressure.   DE LA SALLE 1-2 CATHEDRAL   Match Highlights   The Phantoms scored twice early, which caused De La Salle to have to adjust, but the two early goals were enough in a 2-1 Cathedral win.   The first goal came off a deflection, which looked like keeper Diego Heredia had covered. Giovanni Moreno played a ball to [player_tooltip player_id='58111' first='Alexander' last='Bastidas'], who fired a shot, forcing a dive to Heredia's left, but the shot deflected off a defender and in to the net in the eighth minute.   At that point, the Phantoms had their tails up and scored three minutes later. [player_tooltip player_id='63536' first='Christopher' last='Salas'] did a great job of maintaining his balance after a challenge and played a ball into the area for Matthew Murillo, who made a nice turn and fired off a brilliant shot to the far post.   After that point, and for the remainder of the first half, Cathedral controlled the ball in the midfield and stayed very organized in the back. They continued to possess and defend well in the second half.   "I definitely felt like our possession allowed us to manage this game early on," Cathedral coach Art Lopez said. "De La Salle made a nice adjustment in the second half to create some problems for us on the counter."   The Spartans made some adjustments in the locker room and came to life in the second half.   "We switched to a 3-5-2 at halftime which I think worked well," De La Salle coach Derricke Brown said. "But you can't spot them two. They have too much depth and quality."   De La Salle finally got on the board in the 76th minute when a ball was sent into the box, it bounced around and was not cleared before Nick DeMartini hit it and scored. DeMartini almost came up with the equalizer literally at the death as Marcus Monaldo played a cross but DeMartini couldn't quite hit it square enough to put it on frame.   Players That Stood Out   For the Spartans, Leo Bravo was a force in the midfield, especially in the second half. He really moved the ball quickly when the Spartans looked to build up an attack, and he was everywhere in the midfield helping defend the entire match. [player_tooltip player_id='75411' first='Jamison' last='Clarke'] stood out in the back, doing very solid work as a defender, making good reads and quelling a dangerous Cathedral attack.   The Phantoms were led by the fantastic play of [player_tooltip player_id='63530' first='Christopher' last='Martinez'] once again, the captain and leader of the defense who kept the team calm, organized and was very strong when making a challenge. Bastidas showed leadership and quality in the midfield while Moreno was dynamic in an attacking role.   BROPHY PREP 2-1 ST. AUGUSTINE   Match Highlights   The Broncos entered this match as the staunch defense that hadn't allowed a goal in the Showcase. In fact, they had not allowed a goal on the season.   The downside is they hadn't scored a goal in the Showcase entering the match with St. Augustine, but the seal was broken, two goals poured in and Brophy Prep left town with a 2-1 win over the Saints.   "It was a very good team performance," Brophy Prep coach Marc Kelly said. "Our strikers are capable of doing so much more, but I'll take our performance overall. We improved from game-to-game and it set us up for our main season in January."   At first, it seemed like the soccer gods were cursing the Broncos, because when they finally put one in the back of the net, it was ruled out for offside. Peter Calihan had a perfectly placed free kick into the area and Tobi Babarinde finished for what appeared to be a first half goal, before it was ruled out.   The breakthrough came in the second half, just two minutes after the break as Mason Snailum drew defenders to him in the middle, poked the ball out wide to Ian Hagen who pushed up from his outside back position, and he played a cross perfectly for Attila Toth who drove it home.   The second goal was just six minutes later, in the 48th minute, when Babarinde finally got his goal, scoring off a Snailum corner.   The Saints made it interesting, scoring in the 54th minute. Alonso Somohano did really well to get into the area, making defenders miss and he drew a penalty that Dylan Kelly was able to put away.   St. Augustine nearly saw an equalizer with just seconds to play when [player_tooltip player_id='7711' first='Iain' last='Wagner'] delivered a corner for Sal Brunnetto to head, but Hagen was in the right place and cleared the ball off the line to preserve the win.   Players That Stood Out   The attacking players stood out for Brophy today, after it was the defenders getting the accolades during the first two matches. Babarinde and Toth earned All-Showcase honors, and were both very active and hungry for the ball in this one. Both wreaked havoc on the Saints defenders.   For the Saints, Somohano was excellent in the midfield. He produced excellent passes, picked them out well, he found pockets of space to move into and was generally all over the pitch.   LOYOLA 0-1 SERVITE   Match Highlights   The Friars closed out 2022 in style. They started the new season well, they went undefeated in a Showcase that featured the best in the Western United States, and, for good measure, finished the calendar year of 2022 unbeaten.   Servite has not lost in 30 straight matches, counting 29 straight in the year 2022. Its last loss came in this Showcase, over a year ago.   Servite came out swinging, looking like a team that wanted to keep that streak alive, controlling the early part of the match, moving the ball well, exploring space well and broke through in the 21st minute.   The Friars had good opportunities in the first 20 minutes, and earned a corner that Jahir Gonzales-Sandoval delivered perfectly and Elgin Nualart was there to finish it off for a goal.   "I felt like in the first half we were dominant and finding ways to get into space, but they are so organized and hard to break down that they closed things down very quickly," Servite coach Eddie Garcia said. "Once put Sam (Sanchez) into the midfield mix we got better at going forward. Overall it was a tough week, we had three tough games, and for us to get a shutout in all three games says a lot about our defense."   Loyola, to its credit, did not quit. The Cubs worked very hard, never gave up and continued pushing to get an equalizer and nearly did in the 72nd minute. Peter Borges played a ball down the right side for Chase Jones, and the big striker found himself in on goal in a 1v1 situation. Servite keeper David Lim came out, closed the angle and was able to make a big save to preserve the Friars lead.   Players That Stood Out   The Servite attacking players got a lot of attention at the Showcase, but the Friars defense which did not allow a goal deserves a ton of credit. Especially when you consider that none of them were starters last year. Seniors Nualart and [player_tooltip player_id='8611' first='Rylan' last='Firouznam'] were stalwarts and the latter earned All-Showcase. Junior Michael McClure was excellent in his first varsity action and sophomore Rocky Mendoza looked like he belonged. Senior Donny Sandoval played a vital role in the back as well, remaining calm and organized while sophomore Michael Coury did not look uncomfortable or out of place.   [player_tooltip player_id='169780' first='Aidan' last='Nixon'] was a stalwart in the back line for the Cubs, as he was just so solid all week long. He is very poised, he's hard to break down and is strong when the ball is in the air and knows when to step.   SOCAL COLLEGE SHOWCASE BEST XI   As voted by college and university coaches in attendance.    ALL-SHOWCASE SELECTIONS   As voted by high school coaches in attendance.   Nic Thiele, Bellarmine Prep; Toby Babarinde, Brophy Prep; [player_tooltip player_id='58111' first='Alexander' last='Bastidas'], Cathedral; Cooper Kennedy, De La Salle; Chase Younger, Loyola; Jordi Pineda, Orange Lutheran; Sam Sanchez, Servite; Tanner Wick, St. Augustine.

It is very easy to get hyperbolic when you get swept up into something, because as human beings we make things we care about more than they are sometimes. However, setting aside all embellishment, the SoCal College Showcase was a truly excellent event. The event featured three days of excellent play, individual moments of brilliance and spotlighted the beautiful game in a fitting way.