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Sports

Murrieta Valley Boys Soccer Heads to Playoffs; Season Winds Down for Vista, Mesa

Mesa builds its team; Vista celebrates a win over league champion Great Oak; and Murrieta Valley joins Great Oak and Chaparral in playoffs.

Every time Murrieta high school boys soccer teams compete, you can expect intensity.

With matches played Saturday, regular-season play has now concluded. CIF-Southern Section playoff action begins this coming week. While only one team is moving on to playoffs, each of the teams had their triumphs. Here is a roundup of their seasons.



Even though they stood in fourth place at the halfway point of league play, it was Vista Murrieta that produced league champion Great Oak's only league loss 1-0 on  Jan. 19.

The wind was taken out of the Broncos’ sails their next game against Murrieta Valley in a 4-0 heartbreaking loss on the Nighthawks' home pitch.

The competitive Broncos, with longtime head coach John Hanson at the helm, then proceeded to string together three consecutive wins against Murrieta Mesa, Chaparral, and Temecula Valley to rise to second in league standings on Feb. 2.

That's as far as the Vista Murrieta boys could sustain it though. They went down in defeat to Great Oak 5-1 and Murrieta Valley 2-0 in consecutive losses, followed by a 5-0 victory over Murrieta Mesa on Feb. 11 to finish up their year.

Much of the team’s success had to do with team captain Cory Vanderpool, according to teammates Tucker Beauchamp, junior defender, and Aaron Ruth, freshman midfielder.

"He's one of our best players and is always motivating the team during practice and games," said Tucker of senior defender Cory.

Aaron included the team's other captain, senior keeper Nick Espinoza, in his praise.

"They always tend to work hard in practice and lead by example," Aaron said.

The stats reported through Feb. 9 at Maxpreps.com back up the claim. It was Cory that led his team in three key areas: assists with 4, shots with 40, and steals at 110. Senior defender Jared Balady lead his team with 7 goals.  Nick Espinoza had 121 saves and 6 shutouts in the cage.

Tucker and Aaron both independently pointed to junior midfielder Phillip Coyle as the spark plug of the team.

"He always has a positive attitude and gets the whole team pumped up during our warm-ups," Tucker said. "Even when we lose it doesn't change his attitude. He's always looking forward to the next game."

"He is always encouraging everyone to go harder," Aaron said.

Reflecting on the season, Aaron spoke specifically to the win against Great Oak as a highlight.

"We were the underdogs going into it--and we knew it. But we worked hard all week and stayed focused and pulled out a win," Aaron said.

Tucker said the Bronco program has improved. His measured that by their performance against Chaparral, the 2009-2010 league champion at 7-1-2 and 22-3-3 overall.

In the first league game on Jan. 12, the teams played to a 1-1 tie. But it was the 1-0 win against the Pumas on Jan. 28 that made the Broncos proud.

"It was the first time in Vista soccer history that we had beaten them," Tucker said.

The Broncos finished fourth in league this year at 5-4-1, an improvement over their 4-6-1 campaign the year previous.

It is a year of firsts everywhere on campus for this second-year school. It is the Rams’ first year to show the varsity competition in the valley what they're made of.

Head coach Justin Nitti fielded a team of 14 young men, including three juniors and eleven sophomores.

Considering the youthfulness of their program, much of the action on the field is near the Rams’ own cage. In their Feb. 9, 5-0 loss to Temecula Valley, keeper Michael Zakhar recorded 18 saves.

A Jan. 19 match saw the Rams compete in their least margin of defeat 2-0 to Murrieta Valley, during this inaugural league campaign.

Sophomore Teion Turner, Ram defender/midfielder, pointed to that match as his favorite.

"It was the highlight for the season...because it was our best game," Teion said.

For leadership, Teion said he looks to Zach Brian and Jordan Fox.

"They try to keep us all on the right track," Teion said.

He said he also uses pre-game hype from family, friends and the opposing team to his benefit.

"It is what pumps me up for a match," Teion said.

Murrieta Mesa finished league action with an 0-10-0 record for their first varsity year.



With a 5-3-1 record and a third-place finish in league, the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks are the lone boys soccer team in the City to advance to the CIF playoffs.

Last year Murrieta Valley was 6-3-1 and in second place, falling to Redlands 1-3 in the opening round of CIF.

The Nighthawks have considerable depth with different players leading in the various key categories.

With available stats--not including the Feb. 11 3-3 tie against Chaparral--it was senior forward Chris Sanders leading with 14 goals; senior midfielder Dale Howard with 9 assists; senior defender Kyle Haecker with 66 shots; and sophomore keeper Alex Montion with 79 saves and 9 shutouts.

Matt Stratton is in his third year as head coach for the Nighthawks. This season, Stratton selected a team of one sophomore, six juniors, and 14 seniors.

Senior midfielder Michael Torres considers Dale and Kyle the team's leaders.

"They are always giving their best efforts," Michael said.

Senior midfielder Austin Ledbetter and Alex Montion added an additional "Kyle" to their answer--senior defender Kyle Genevay.

"Kyle G's...got a good head on his shoulders and is an outstanding soccer player. Also Dale Howard--he's a hard worker and somebody any sophomore would look up to be, on and off the pitch,” Alex said.

Reflecting on what might have been for the Nighthawks, keeper Alex spoke of the excitement that came from making it to the championship matches in both the Oak Hills and Riverside Poly tournaments, only to lose.

"We made our mistakes and it bit us...[that] we couldn't bring home the championship," Alex said. "That's what makes soccer an amazing sport cause every second counts.”

Carter High School of Rialto won the Oak Hills championship 3-1, scoring all three times in the first frame over the Nighthawks on Dec. 4.

King High School won the Poly championship on Dec. 23, coming from behind to win 2-1 over the Nighthawks.

Senior Scott Singleton proved his worth to the team as a keeper in one of the pre-season tournaments. While making back-to-back saves on two shots on goal, he ended up getting a broken nose and swollen face.

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"It was worth it and I will proudly do it again," Scott said.

One significant highlight from the Poly tournament was when Murrieta Valley came up the victor in convincing fashion over that same Carter team they faced three weeks earlier, this time a 5-0 triumph for the Nighthawks.

Junior midfielder Chris Esteves had a rare hat trick in that game, scoring three times for Murrieta Valley.

Alex came up big in both Vista Murrieta games with saves to help the seniors go 7-0-1 against their cross-town rivals during the last four years--a feat the Broncos are sure to remember next season.

The Nighthawks have held Vista scoreless since Jan. 28, 2009. The combined goal tally over those four years shows Murrieta Valley 20 and Vista Murrieta 3.

According to senior midfielder Austin Ledbetter, "Our goal as a team is to create not just a winning squad but a legacy that will be remembered."

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Those memories will continue at least a while longer as the Nighthawks join Great Oak and Chaparral in CIF playoff competition this week. First-round playoff time, date, location and pairings will be announced mid-day Monday.

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