3C2A Men’s Soccer: ELCO trips Cuyamaca
- Updated: December 4, 2023
2023 COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEN’S SOCCER
3C2A State Championships – Final
El Camino 4, Cuyamaca 0
Courtesy, 3C2A media relations
WALNUT – When Mike Jacobsen took over as the head coach of the El Camino College men’s soccer team, he had a five-year plan that he wanted to implement to put the Warriors back among the top teams in the state.
Sunday, five years later, the plan reached its goal.
The Warriors (24-1) won the 3C2A Men’s Soccer Championship with a 4-0 victory over Cuyamaca College at Mt. San Antonio College.
It was the culmination of a 22-game winning streak for the Warriors, who outscored opponents 28-0 over their final seven games.
“When I got hired, we put a little bit of a plan together that by year five that we could do something great,” Jacobsen said. “And actually, this is year five. We got here two years ago, and that honestly was a little bit ahead of schedule. But we’ve had some really good teams here. This team is special. This team is probably one of the best out of the El Camino program.”
The Warriors took the lead in the 15th minute off a free kick from about 21 yards out. Charlie Cazares stepped up and put the ball in the upper corner giving El Camino an early lead.
El Camino kept the pressure on and continued to work to control the pace of play, considering that Cuyamaca had conceded the first goal in every playoff game before rallying to advance.
The Warriors doubled their lead in the 23rd minute, building up from the right-hand side. The ball was crossed toward the center of the Cuyamaca penalty area, where Diego Garcia headed the ball to Shingo Nakano, who volleyed the ball into the net.
“We like to think that we can control the game and control the tempo with our possession and positioning,” Jacobsen said. “And once we can clamp on to teams, we feel like our football is better than everyone else.”
El Camino widened its lead early in the second half after Cuyamaca was whistled for a penalty in the 50th minute. Franco De Luna fired the ball home from the spot to make it 3-0. They closed the scoring in the 78th minute as Cazares scored on another free kick, this time from about 30 yards out from the left side of the field.
The victory is the fifth state championship for El Camino, which outshot Cuyamaca 16-7 in the game. Forward Marvin Danez, who had a hat trick in Friday’s semifinal win over Evergreen Valley College, was named the tournament’s MVP.
