Cabrillo High School’s soccer teams squared off against Lompoc’s last week, and the classic crosstown rivalry matchups didn’t disappoint.
Cabrillo boys’ soccer defeated Lompoc 3-2 in a double overtime while the girls’ team earned a 1-0 win over the Braves on Feb. 2.
James Baca, head coach of the Cabrillo boys’ team, might have summed up the intense rivalry games best.
“Whenever you put Lompoc and Cabrillo together—no matter what the records are—it’s going to be a battle,” he told the Sun.
Despite having the better season and more scoring opportunities, the Cabrillo boys struggled to fend off the pesky Braves. Fortunately for Cabrillo, the Los Padres League changed its rules recently to mandate two overtime periods if a league game ends in a tie. As it turned out, Cabrillo needed every last minute to score the game’s deciding goal in the second overtime.
“We missed a couple easy ones,” Baca said. “And Lompoc stayed in the game.”
With that win, and a 6-2 victory over Orcutt Academy on Feb. 4, Cabrillo is tied atop the Los Padres League standings with Santa Maria High School, both accumulating outstanding 10-2 records. Lompoc was hit with two losses last week, dropping to 5-7 in league and fifth place in the standings.
Cabrillo’s strong surge of play sets up a likely Feb. 11 showdown against Santa Maria for the league title. The game will be at Cabrillo and will kick off at 3:30 p.m.
Cabrillo’s team is anchored by arguably the best defensive unit in Los Padres. They’ve earned that label by allowing the fewest goals in the league. Baca credited senior Adonis Osua at defensive midfield and senior center fullbacks Lucas Thacker and Wyatt Flint for holding down the fort.
“That’s the triangle of death right there,” Baca said. “If you score two goals on us, you’ve accomplished something because they are very hard to score on. They’re tough to get by. They’re fast, physical, and great.”
On the offensive end, junior Juan Trejo leads the team with 11 goals in 12 league games to go along with seven assists playing forward.
If Cabrillo can win its next two games and capture the league championship, then Baca will have fulfilled a prediction he made to Cabrillo Athletic Director Daniel Troup back in November.
“When I came into the season, I told him that we were going to win the league title,” Baca said. “That’s the answer he wanted to hear, but I’d also missed the CIF playoffs for three years in a row. I knew this group had some great juniors coming in and had some very solid seniors coming back. And we possibly had some sophomores who could contribute. So far, that’s exactly how it’s been.”
Cabrillo girls’ soccer head coach Derrick Wong had two reasons to be proud after his team’s Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 victories over Lompoc and Orcutt Academy. Not only did the Cabrillo girls climb into position to claim the Los Padres League title, but last week Wong reached a significant personal milestone: 200 wins as head coach of the Cabrillo girls’ soccer team.
“I enjoy coaching the girls,” Wong, who has coached for 15 seasons, said. “I consider them all like my own daughters.”
Cabrillo squeaked out that victory for their coach against archrival Lompoc, 1-0.
“It’s always big to play and win the big game against Lompoc,” Wong said. “This year, it was even more special because our basketball teams were playing Lompoc on the same day, so the entire campus was pumped up for the rivalry games.”
With the Los Padres league season wrapping up on Feb. 11, Cabrillo has a realistic shot at leapfrogging Santa Ynez and Nipomo for the league championship. As of Feb. 7, Cabrillo stands at 9-12-2, but they are a strong 8-3-1 in league play—good for third place—and the team has won five games in a row.
“Our [overall] record doesn’t really reflect the quality of our team,” Wong said. “We played a brutal preseason schedule playing higher division teams. As a whole, the entire team has stepped up, but junior Mallory Townsend and senior Bella Sanchez have been key in this stretch of games.”
Cabrillo has a well-balanced team, comprised of six seniors, many more juniors, and a few integral underclassmen.
“We are junior heavy, but our leading scorer, Natalia Tulloch, is a sophomore, and our goalkeeper, Morgan Christen, is a freshman,” Wong said. “They are key starters for us.”
Wong praised the growth and maturation of Christen this season, who has only allowed one goal during Cabrillo’s recent five-game winning streak—a remarkable feat for any keeper, let alone a freshman.
“Christen has been playing with more and more confidence,” Wong said.
The future looks bright for the Cabrillo girls. Wong said he’s excited about some promising JV players who will be able to make contributions on varsity next year, along with returning varsity players who have already made their marks on this season.
But for now, the focus for both the girls’ and boys’ Cabrillo soccer teams is on the final games of the 2016 season. Both teams have all but guaranteed themselves playoff spots in the CIF Section playoffs, and look out for them to make a run once they get there. The last time the Cabrillo boys’ team advanced in CIF playoffs was in 2011, while the girls did it more recently in 2013 as championship runner-ups.
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Feb 11-18, 2016.
