The El Camino men’s soccer team won its first South Coast Conference Championship final in a 3-0 shutout win against Mt. San Antonio College on Friday, Nov. 10.
This was the Warriors’ first time making it to the South Coast Conference Tournament final since the competition started four years ago.
Last year, the Warriors fell in the first round of the tournament to Long Beach City College on penalty kicks and would end up placing fifth overall.
“We’ve been a strong program [in the past few years], but this group bought into how we want to play… special talent this year,” men’s soccer coach Mike Jacobson said.
For the tournament, all the SCC teams entered a single-elimination bracket with the first two teams getting a bye, as teams fought to earn a spot in the championship game.
El Camino beat Los Angeles City College 5-0 on Nov. 7 to win the SCC semifinals and advance to the finals.
Men’s soccer asserted its dominance in the SCC this regular season, finishing with a 9-0 record in the conference and outscoring opponents 37-8, in a historic run this fall semester.
“We’re in a pretty good routine,” Jacobson said. “Our training is about repetition, managing players’ bodies, nutrition and making sure our players handle their school [work] as well.”
The Warriors are still riding an impressive 17-game win streak and have yet to lose in the past two months of competition, making their current 19-1 record one of the best in El Camino’s men’s soccer history.
“We’ve got special players from good pedigrees, got a good core nucleus,” Jacobson said.” But we have good depth and guys that really contribute off the bench… a well-rounded group that buys in.”
The Warriors’ only loss came in their third match of the regular season against Norco College on Sept. 5, losing 3-1.
Men’s soccer has established its soccer program as the best so far in Division III and seeks to continue its success.
They have also held the top spot in the United Soccer Coaches Junior College Division III rankings for five polls in a row.
The Warriors now wait for the California Community College Men’s Soccer Southern California Regional Playoffs, which begins on Nov. 18.
“We try to break up the season into parts and not get caught up in streaks,” Jacobson said. “First is the regular season, next is the [SCC] tournament, and now we have to get ready for regional [playoffs].”
