The Hilltop High School boys soccer team kicked off the 2014-15 season by capturing the championship title of the Coronado Islanders tournament.
The Lancers defeated Carlsbad, 2-1, in the tourney finals on Dec. 10 at Coronado High School.
“We were up with a 2-0 lead until the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Carlsbad scored its goal,” HHS coach John Salts explained.
Hilltop goalkeeper Abner Alatorre was credited with 18 saves — many of them “point-blank rockets,” according to Salts.
“He really had an amazing performance in the net,” Salts noted.
Carlos Monsivais scored first for Hilltop (4-0-1) at the 33-minute mark with a shot across cage to the upper corner. The goal came on a cross from forward Mathias Cien Mayer that was flicked over by a header in the center by forward Josue Ponce to left winger Monsivais, who one-touched the shot in mid-stride back across the box from about 20 yards out.
The second goal came in the 48th minute when Ponce was taken down in the Carlsbad box which resulted in a penalty kick that Ponce drilled into the back of the net.
“Carlsbad kept the pressure on the entire match, even sending their keeper up on every offensive series of the final minutes,” Salts noted.
Hilltop got by Mt. Miguel (2-0 win), La Jolla (2-1 win), Poway (1-1 tie) and San Ysidro (2-1 win) to make it to the championship match while Carlsbad (3-1-1) advanced past Bonita Vista (2-0 win), San Ysidro (0-0 tie), Central Union (2-0 win) and Coronado (2-1 win) to meet the Lancers in the title match.
Cien Mayer and Ponce led Hilltop in the tournament with three goals each while Rigo Santana contributed a goal and four assists.
The Lancers are also competing in the annual Grossmont Conference Holiday Tournament and were scheduled to face off against St. Augustine and La Costa Canyon, followed by a game against Canyon Crest Academy.
Salts said the schedule will give his team six match-ups against five high-end Division I teams — what the HHS coach referred to as “a solid start to our season on strength of schedule.”
“This should give us a very good perspective of were to gauge our program for this season,” Salts said.
Hilltop, which recorded runner-up finishes in the CIF finals in both 2011 and 2012, looks to show well this year braced by 14 varsity returners, including nine starters.
“We have a strong core with our top returning players Rigo Santana, Victor Lopez and goalkeeper Abner Alatorre, combined with a solid foundation from senior Louise Alfaro and Josue Ponce, including newcomers freshmen Brendan Murphy and Max Ugarte,” Salts explained.
“This year our goal is to be right there in contention for another CIF championship like we were last year — to take over where we left off.
“Our big focus this year in preseason has been conditioning. The boys put in over 40 miles of running in their first week of conditioning and will continue to push the envelope this year. We plan on being a very focused, well-conditioned and disciplined soccer team.”
