After 90 minutes of play, the El Camino Warriors men’s soccer team secured their second straight South Coast Conference title after dominating the East Los Angeles Huskies 4-0 at home on Tuesday.
With a win over the Huskies, the Warriors, currently ranked No. 1 in California, maintained their unbeaten streak at home and clinched a first-round bye in the postseason.
The Warriors’ first goal came from midfielder Joshua Zendejas, who was assisted by Sebastian Gomez and Diego Garcia in the 26th minute of the game.
Zendejas attributed his third goal of the season to great teamwork.
“It was just a great team goal, you know it took a couple passes to get there and then it was just good build-up play,” Zendejas said. “I was happy that I was able to finish it.”
Before clinching back-to-back SCC titles, the Warriors took control of possession, playing most of the first half on the Huskies side of the pitch early on.
From there, the Warriors created multiple scoring opportunities, resulting in Huskies goalkeeper Angel Martinez having to make multiple blocks.
Despite taking the lead, the Warriors continued to create scoring opportunities.
One of those opportunities opened up at the 42-minute mark from Warriors forward Alek Palomares. His goal was assisted by midfielder Issa El Assal.
El Assal described how he was able to assist Palomares to find an opening to get the ball into the net.
“I got in position to find a gap,” El Assal said.
In the 45th minute, El Camino nearly scored its third goal of the game. However, Martinez blocked two close shots and Warriors defender Ivan Torres hit the goal post.
Early on in the second half, the Warriors continued to mount pressure on the Huskies, attempting multiple shots.
The 63rd minute of the game featured Warriors midfielder Ricardo Diaz scoring the third goal of the game. Diaz was assisted by Warriors forward Marvin Gamez.
With the assist, Gamez became the team’s top scorer, in addition to having the most assists alongside midfielder Charlie Cazares.
Gamez has 10 goals and 10 assists this season.
Warriors forward Erik Kerner sealed the deal in the 89th minute of the game, receiving the ball from Fernando Sandoval, slotting it past Huskies goalkeeper Thomas Ibarra.
The Huskies ended the game without a single shot attempted, leaving Warriors goalkeeper Robert Baker with little to do throughout the game.
On the other hand, the Warriors ended the game with 32 shots, with four of those resulting in goals.
East Los Angeles men’s soccer team assistant coach Juan Aguiniga said the season is over as the Huskies missed the playoffs by a couple of points.
“Gotta get started for next year,” Aguiniga said.
El Camino men’s soccer coach Michael Jacobson said after the game he was impressed by his team’s SCC-clinching performance.
“We played pretty well and had a good shut out,” Jacobson said.
Zendejas gave his thoughts on the upcoming tournament.
“I think we have a pretty good chance, I think we’re going in knowing we won our conference so we have a strong mentality, a good team and hopefully we can win,” Zendejas said.
The Warriors have defeated the Huskies in their last three games since 2021 and added a fourth consecutive win against the Huskies in the last four seasons.
The last goal the Huskies scored against the Warriors was on Oct. 25, 2019. That game ended with a 2-2 tie.
El Camino will open up postseason play on Nov. 12 by hosting an unnamed opponent in the semifinal round.
Editor’s note:
- Added three photos into the story on Monday, Nov. 11 at 8:34 a.m.
