Roundup: California NorCal, SoCal boys State title winners

The California high school soccer season culminated in the usual way, with teams winning their Regional State title. Five division winners were crowned champions in Northern California and Southern California, both on the boys and the girls side. Starting with the boys, here are roundups for your five division champions from each end of the State.   NORTHERN CALIFORINA   Division I   Davis 1, Clovis North 0   So long as there was a winner in regular time or overtime, someone from this matchup was going to end the season without a loss. Davis entered with a record of 21-0-2 and Clovis North entered with a 26-0-1 record and clearly the two teams were two of the top in the entire State of California.   The No. 1 Blue Devils ended up claiming the NorCal title, scoring a second half goal thanks to [player_tooltip player_id='8674' first='Simon' last='Vaca-Lorenzi'], who scored what ended up being the match winner.   "The boys felt it coming, they knew a goal was coming," Davis coach Alex Park said. "The team believed and I believed in them because the players kept telling me to have confidence in them all season long. The pressure was definitely off when we scored."   Davis entered this match coming off a close win against Monte Vista, and were feeling good and feeling confident.   "The boys were hyped," Park said. "They were confident, they had momentum and the biggest thing was they had heart that carried them."   Every aspect of the team helped Davis to the best season in school history. The Blue Devils are known for their attacking prowess this year, but the defense stepped up, the central midfield played a huge role and unsung heroes like [player_tooltip player_id='8839' first='Zayn' last='Dmeiri'] made huge plays. Dmieri cleared a ball off the line against Monte Vista that went a long way in preserving the win.   Keeper Declan Fee had a great season, and a great playoff run, making tremendous saves. Captains [player_tooltip player_id='7213' first='Caleb' last='Yoon'], Nick Montano and [player_tooltip player_id='7704' first='Holt' last='Klineberg'] ran the team and led them through the last two matches.   Clovis North should hold its head up high after this season. The Broncos were league and Central Section champs, and won 26 matches in what was a historic season.   "It was an incredible and historic run," Clovis North coach Cameron Shahrokhi said. "We were confident in our ability and felt we played well enough to win that final. Ultimately, things didn't go our way and we fell short."   Led by 12 seniors, this was a very special group for Clovis North   "This team was more than a team," Shahrokhi said. "I have never seen a group of young men come together like this. The dedication and sacrifice of each individual was admirable."   Division II   Bellarmine 1, Rio Americano 1 (Bellarmine wins 4-1 on PK's)   When the 2022/2023 season began, Bellarmine College Prep was expected to be one of the top teams in California. And the same can be said about the Bells being expected to be one of the best when the season ended. However, the in between part was not what was expected.   However, after beating Rio Americano in penalty kicks for the Division II NorCal title, Bellarmine finished the season strongly. After five losses in its first 12 matches, the Bells finally got healthy, got everyone on the pitch at the same time and did not lose in their final 14 matches. They won the Central Coast Section's Division I title before winning the NorCal State title.   The Bells weren't exactly rewarded by CIF, given the No. 7 seed, causing them to travel 900 miles during this State playoff run, but they wore their seeding like a badge of honor.   "I am extremely proud of them and our 14-game unbeaten streak to end the season was honestly what I always thought they could achieve with a fully healthy roster," Bellarmine coach Conor Salcido said. "With our fully healthy squad, this is what we always thought we could achieve."   [player_tooltip player_id='8052' first='Keagan' last='Rhodes'] was the goal-scorer in the win, and when it came down to penalty kicks, UC San Diego commit Nic Thiele came up huge, stopping the first and third penalties and then Ian Pearce stepped up for the team's fourth try and buried it to give them the title.   A similar thing happened in a CCS semifinal game, which was the dividing line for Bellarmine, making it believe it could win the section and the State. Down 2-1 and a man down against St. Ignatius, the Bells tied the match and had the same exact scenario unfold in penalties, with Thiele saving the first and third and Pearce burying the team's fourth for the win.   Division III   Terra Linda 2, McLane 0   The Terra Linda Trojans went on quite a run to end the season and put three trophies in their trophy case. They won the Marin County Athletic League playoff title, they won the North Coast Section by topping Marin Academy in penalties in the Division III title match and then won the Division III NorCal state title with a 2-0 win over McLane of Fresno.   Terra Linda had to go on two very long road trips in the semifinals and finals, covering a wide swath of California, to win it all. It went to Chico to beat Pleasant Valley before going to Fresno.   There were two pivotal moments in the first half that went a long way in deciding the championship match. Francisco Calvi scored a goal off of a set piece to put the Trojans up 1-0, and then freshman keeper Jesse Rodriguez made a save on a penalty kick just before the half to protect the lead.   Kleber Maldonado erased any doubt in the second half, converting a penalty to make it 2-0 and the Trojans defended well and stayed organized to keep the clean sheet and finish off the season on a dream run.   Division IV   Marin Academy 1, North Salinas 0   The Wildcats shook off their disappointment of the North Coast Section DIII title game loss to Terra Linda, and went and won their third State title, and their second in a row, this one coming in Division IV. Marin Academy is the only team in Northern California with three Northern California State titles.   Marin Academy had been scoring goals in bunches in the NorCal bracket, scoring a combined nine in the first two matches, but got only one in this match, and it was all it needed. Parker Mascott scored from the spot to give the Wildcats the deciding goal.   Division V   Leadership-Hayward 2, Gridley 0   After beating Skyline for the second time in three tries, and securing the Oakland Section title, Leadership went on a run to win the Division V NorCal title. The Royals beat Williams High, Thurgood Marshall and then beat another Northern Section team, Gridley, to win the crown.   The Royals controlled the match from the get go, nearly breaking the seal twice in the first three minutes, but the goals were ruled out for offside. The breakthrough came in minute 15 when Esteban Torres broke down three players from his left wing spot and was able to finish. Less than 10 minutes later his counterpart on the right side, Irvin Ramirez, controlled a long pass to his side and got past his defender, beat the keeper and doubled the lead.   Gridley threatened a couple of times in the second half, but Leadership was able to defend well and stay organized to clinch the title.   SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA   Division I   JSerra Catholic 3, Birmingham 0   This scoreline is impressive, because Birmingham is an excellent team. JSerra made its claim to PrepSoccer's No. 1 ranking in California with an emphatic win, clinching the Southern California State crown, 3-0.   "We had a really good game plan and the guys executed it well," JSerra coach Erik Kirsch said. "We changed it up and the tactics worked. I'm really proud of my guys for trusting the plan and working it to perfection."   Birmingham's strength is its explosive and talented midfield and the Lions decided to bypass it, playing more direct. They sent the ball long to forwards [player_tooltip player_id='41549' first='Reagan' last='Heslin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='33306' first='Gavin' last='Allegaert'] who played as target men in a 4-4-2 and it paid dividends immediately.   The hot start also came because the Lions started slowly against San Dieguito Academy in the semifinals, and couldn't afford to do that again.   Heslin scored two of the goals, the first two, giving him six in the State playoffs. The first was assisted by Nate Aquino while the second came off a free kick. Noah Pechuls scored the third.   The Lions finish the year 20-1-1, losing and drawing matches in the very tough Trinity League. They ended the year on a 17-match unbeaten streak and won 13 in a row to end the year.   After losing in the Southern Section title game to Servite last season, and getting bounced early in the State playoffs, JSerra played with a chip on their shoulder and with total buy in to what it would take to win both of those trophies.   "If you are bought in, culture will help you win," Kirsch said. "The kids completely bought into the culture. They worked hard, they played for each other and I am so happy that we get to honor these kids."   <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/03/Brando-Oros.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-107500" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Diego Macias</figcaption></figure>   Division II   San Pasqual 1, San Clemente 0   The sixth time was the charm for John Burson. The San Pasqual coach joked with the <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/high-school-preps/story/2023-03-04/san-pasqual-boys-top-san-clemente-earn-socal-crown">San Diego Union Tribune</a> after the match that he was a slow learner.   This was the sixth time his Golden Eagles had reached the State playoffs and the second time he had reached the final. And this time San Pasqual climbed that hill, topping a very talented San Clemente team 1-0.   "It really feels great," Burson said. "We put a lot of time and effort into every season and teams rarely get to finish the season with a win. To do that and go as far as we could and do it at home made ie even sweeter."   The San Pasqual goal came midway through the first half when Angel Ramirez played a ball back to Danny Barbosa. Barbosa played the ball into Chara Iniestra. The record-setting goal scorer, who had 34 goals this season for the Golden Eagles, could have tried to go for glory, but he let the ball run, unselfishly, to Ian Exline, who had space on the left side. Exline was able to side-foot the ball into the back of the net.   San Pasqual absorbed some pressure from that point, but were comfortable with it and looked to play on the counter attack.   "To play like that takes concentration and discipline," Burson said. "You can't switch off for even a second or a good team will make you pay."   The Golden Eagles got a top notch performances from defender Brando Oros. The big 6-4 defender was a leader and a ball-winner, while keeper Derek Reyna really stepped up. The keeper was making hist first start in four weeks as he just had his cast removed after suffering a broken finger. He got the start and he rewarded Burson's faith, coming up with tremendous saves.   Division III   Point Loma 3, El Dorado-Placentia 2   After upending top-seeded Quartz Hill 2-0 i the semifinals, No. 4 Point Loma finished the job with a 3-2 win over El Dorado of Placentia. The Pointers entered the San Diego Section Division I playoffs as the No. 5 seed with a record of 6-10-2, then won seven straight matches to end the season with a section and State title.   Marko Alonso had the goal that proved to be the match-winner, while Anderson Kelly and Leury Castaneda also scored for the Pointers.   Division IV   Orange Lutheran 2, Littlerock 0   To say that the Orange Lutheran soccer program has come a long way would be putting it lightly. Four years ago the Lancers were literally winless, slogging through an 0-18 season. And that was the follow up to a season with 23 losses. When head coach Mike Oseguera took the program over last season, the team went 5-14-4.   What a difference a year makes. From 14 losses a year ago. From 77 losses in the previous four seasons to Southern Section Division IV and CIF SoCal Division IV champions after a 2-0 win over Littlerock on Saturday.   "It was so awesome for the seniors, some of which were here when we literally went winless," Oseguera said. "Now they get to leave as champions and they get to know the role they played in turning the program around. We found the kids that bought into what we were trying to accomplish here and I am so glad that it worked out for them."   The Lancers controlled play early in this one, but didn't find the break through in the first half. The match started to even out in the second half, becoming more physical as well as Littlerock started pushing higher and higher.   "It was getting pretty tense. They were tired and we were tired," Oseguera said. "It was our 30th game of the year and we were starting to get some heavy legs."   Finally, the breakthrough came for the Lancers in the form of a penalty just 20 minutes from time and Jayden Jimenez buried it. Five minutes later Hayden Snyder buried a second penalty and Dylan Danks made two huge saves to clinch the title for Orange Lutheran.   Division V   San Gorgonio 2, Victor Valley 0   San Gorgonio won 29 matches this season, including a SoCal State title to go along with the Division VI title it won in the Southern Section. Damian Guzman had the first goal for the Spartans while Ezequiel Soto-Uriarte scored the second.

The California high school soccer season culminated in the usual way, with teams winning their Regional State title. Five division winners were crowned champions in Northern California and Southern California, both on the boys and the girls side. Starting with the boys, here are roundups for your five division champions from each end of the State.