It’s still early, but Pioneer Valley High School’s boys’ soccer team is already setting some lofty goals: an undefeated season, a league championship, and a berth in the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.
So far, so good.
“Our expectation is to win the league,” third-year head coach Humberto Robles said through an inter-preter. “I think that we have about an 80 percent chance to win it again. It will be hard. Righetti, Paso Robles, and Arroyo Grande are going to have really good teams this year.”
The Panthers, looking to rebound from last season’s disappointing 3-6 league mark, began the winter by blanking Cabrillo High 1-0. Next, they dominated Lompoc 4-1 behind senior midfielder Juan Rubio, who scored two goals and assisted on two others.
“We just focus on trying to score as fast as we can and have a lead,” Rubio said.
The fast start has the Panthers looking to return to the pinnacle of the Pac-7. In 2008, in just their second season
of play, they became the first league champs from the school in any sport. They went 10-2, winning all their league games by a single goal.
Humberto’s son Carlos, head coach of the school’s junior varsity team, still remembers the instant respect the success commanded.
“When he was coaching JV, nobody feared playing [against] here,” Carlos said of his father. “[Scores] would be 4-0, 5-0. So it was a huge change for him when they were league champs. Everybody thought they were going to be the same. By the end of the second year, everybody was scared to play [against] here.”
Their dream season ended with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to El Segundo in the first round of the CIF Southern Sectional playoffs.
“It was a really young team that won the league,” Robles said. “We only had three seniors at the time.”
Rubio was a member of the championship team as a sophomore. This season, he leads the team in scoring with three goals and two assists. He said he and the other seniors learned from the playoff loss what it takes to make it back.
“We’re confident that we’re going to go to CIF,” Rubio said. “We know what’s waiting for us if we make the playoffs this year.”
Another holdover from the championship club is senior midfielder Rafael Mora, who netted one goal and one assist through the team’s first two games this season.
“We’re looking to repeat that,” Mora said. “We’re looking at going undefeated this year, possibly. That’s the goal. So far we’re two for two.
“I think we just have to be on the same page and work hard,” he added.
Though Robles said the team lost three players he was counting on this year due to low grades, the Panthers’ roster is stocked with familiar faces. Seven key players are seniors, and many—including defender and goalkeeper Edgar Paniagua—compete regularly on summer club teams.
“We have a couple of years together, and you learn more and more as you play on,” Paniagua said. “Most of us started together on JV and then our sophomore and junior years, we played together. We’ve pretty much been on the same team all four years.”
“We already know what we’re going to do and what to expect from each other,” he said. “That helps us out.”
Senior forward Freddy Mendoza credited the Panthers’ early victories to the players taking the time to improve in practice and dedicating themselves to teamwork.
“We started off good touching the ball, getting everyone involved,” Mendoza said. “This team plays for the whole team instead of themselves.
“Whenever we get the ball in with the possibility to attack, we attack,” he added. “When we have to defend,
we defend.”
Robles, who has coached at the club level and the Santa Maria All-Star team, has had younger teams in the past. He said this year’s Panthers are more experienced and balanced on both sides of the ball.
“We have a good midfield, with good strikers. Right now we’re working on getting the defense we want,” Robles said.
As of press time, the Panthers were sweating it out on a rain-soaked field, practicing for a crucial non-league showdown against the 2-0 Santa Maria Saints.
The path back to prominence doesn’t get any easier heading into the winter break. The Panthers look to keep the ball rolling at home against St. Joseph on Dec. 10 and on the road against league rival San Luis Obispo on Dec. 15.
“It’s a good start. We hope to keep it that way throughout the whole season,” Paniagua said. “We just need to dedicate ourselves to showing up to practice and playing our heart out in the games.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas wants to know the difference between cougars and panthers. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 10-17, 2009.