High School Boys Soccer: Reigning section champion Calistoga off to 3-1-1 start
The Calistoga High boys soccer team got three goals from Jaime Valadez and two from Noel Sarabio as it blanked visiting Roseland Collegiate Prep 7-0 on Sept. 13 at Logvy Field.
Sarabio notched his brace by scoring the first and last goals of the match, in the third and 57th minutes.
Valadez opened his hat trick by scoring the second goal in the fourth minute and the fifth and six ones to open the second half, in the 51st and 53rd minutes.
The Wildcats' third and fourth goals appeared to be own goals scored by RCP in the 12th and 16th minutes, giving Calistoga a 4-0 halftime lead.
Calistoga traveled to the coast and dropped a 2-1 nailbiter at Point Arena on Wednesday, before routing Anderson Valley 5-1 in Boonville on Thursday to improve to 3-1 in the NCL II and 3-1-1 overall.
The Wildcats opened their season with a 0-0 nonleague tie at Lower Lake and opened league play with a 3-1 win at Credo in Rohnert Park.
They will visit Clear Lake for a nonleague contest at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Calistoga won its first ever North Coast Section in the sport last year in Division 2, beating league archrival Sonoma Academy on penalty kicks after the teams went scoreless in regulation and overtime.
"We're coming off the championship and we had a couple of juniors and sophomores last year — specifically the juniors, who really used their time last year to kinda learn from the four or five key players who were seniors last year," said fourth-year head coach Cristian Escobedo.
"We have senior Ruben Rubio, who is solid in the back, senior Noel Sarabio, who is filling in in the midfield for us, and senior Jaime Valadez, who is going to be our leading goal scorer. So they're really kinda learning from last year and hopefully using that momentum they had to get the younger players up to speed. Kevin Munguia is one freshman who has been getting some playing time.
"Most of the team is back, which is exciting. We have a lot of junior high kids coming up next year, but this team is really kind of a continuation of the team we had last year."
Another senior is goalkeeper David Bravo, one of the heroes in last year's section championship game. He didn't have many blocks on Sept. 13.
"The defense did a pretty good job of keeping their team away," he said. "We're still a pretty young team. I know we lost a lot of good seniors, but we're still trying to build up."
Also back are seniors Roberto Guzman, Adrian Perez, Alan Robledo and Jesus Rodriguez, junior Elias Montanez, Diego Perez and Cristian Ramirez-Quizar, and sophomores Leo Ramos-Garcia, Angel Alvarado and Victor Martinez.
Newcomers are Omar Bravo, Aecos Chavez, Aris Cristino, Aldo DeJesus, Adrian Gonzalez, Andres Guzman, Diego Hernandez, Carlos Infante, Giovanni Lopez, Brandon Lopez-Tovar, Marcial Palomero and Rafael Rodriguez.
Bravo thinks both Valadez and Noel Sarabio — who were second and third on the team in scoring last year with 12 and five goals, respectively — will both be prolific scorers for Calistoga.
Escobedo said the players stay in shape between high school seasons by doing what they do during it, play soccer.
"You see Logvy, it's always full of kids playing soccer. They're always just playing. We don't necessarily as a team do a lot of offseason (training). When practices start, which was Aug. 12 this year, is where my role comes in. But for the most part, some of them are playing club soccer. Aside from that, it's all street soccer and them just playing recreational."
Last year's Wildcats finished second at 9-2 in the North Central League II behind Sonoma Academy, which was 10-1. The rivals met four times last season — three times in league, where they lost only to each other.
"I would say just like any other season there's teams that kinda pop up and you're not really sure about, but for us the expectation is still Sonoma Academy is going to be at the top for us, a team we're going to have to compete with. You always have Anderson Valley, which does a great job every year, RCP has kinda been on and off, so we'll see how they do this year. But for us, we're focused on league."
The Wildcats hope to win their third league title in Escobedo's four seasons at the helm.
Calistoga hosts Tomales at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, then visits Sonoma Academy at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Four soccer players — Giovanni Lopez, Diego Perez, Infante and Ramirez-Quizar — are also on the football team, which played at Elsie Allen on Sept. 13. After playing RCP in soccer that day, the four gridders took off for Santa Rosa and joined the football team midway through its game, which had a 6 p.m. kickoff.
They will likely have to do the same next Friday when the football team hosts Cornerstone Christian at 6 p.m. after the soccer team plays at Sonoma Academy. Their schedule also shows two more busy Fridays for the two-sport quartet — on Oct. 11, a home soccer game against Credo at 5:15 p.m. and homecoming football game against Stuart Hall at 7 p.m., and on Oct. 18, when the soccer team hosts Point Arena at 5 p.m. and the football team entertains John Swett at 6 p.m.
