Boys soccer in the Metro Conference looks to be competitive once again this season. In the mix in the Metro-Mesa League will be the Bonita Vista Barons, who already can look forward to competing in the playoffs.
“Being in Division I, we will qualify either for the regular Division I or the Open Division,” BVHS coach Justin Robinett said.
The Barons return several standouts off last season’s team that finished 10-5-4 overall, 2-3-1 in league play.
Co-captains include senior midfielder Fernando Renteria and senior defensive back Max Rhoades. The team’s impact newcomer is junior forward K.J. Flores.
Robinett serves as the girls director for the Crusaders Soccer Club, which includes Academy teams in both genders from 2007 through 2017 birth years.
“High school is different from coaching at club,” Robinett said. “The importance of the student-athlete, getting cleared, grades and citizenship in order to play are some differences.”
High school soccer has its own structure and the ability to represent one’s school has its own drawing card.
“There were several standouts last year who were juniors and who are seniors this year,” Robinett said. “We should have a really competitive season this year.”
The Barons won the Metro-Pacific League championship in 2022-23 before moving to the Metro-South Bay League last season.
The Olympian Eagles won the regular season league title with a 5-0-1 record en route to advancing to the San Diego Section Division III championship game against the Monte Vista Monarchs. Monte Vista won the division championship with a 3-2 shootout victory.
Olympian was seeded sixth but upset third-seeded La Jolla Country Day and second-seeded Vista to get a finals berth opposite the No. 1 Monarchs.
Castle Park finished as the runner-up team in the Metro-Pacific League standings last season but ran the post-season table to the Division V championship.
Both Bonita Vista and Olympian move up from the Metro-South Bay League to the Metro-Mesa League this season. The 2024-25 Metro-Mesa League lineup includes Bonita Vista, Olympian, Southwest, Hilltop, and Eastlake high schools.
Mater Dei Catholic, the 2023-24 Metro-Pacific League champion, received the No. 3 seed in the Division IV playoffs and advanced to the division championship game against top-seeded Mission Bay, placing runner-up in a 5-1 setback.
Eastlake, the third-place team in the Metro-Mesa League standings, qualified as the No. 8 seed in the Open Division playoffs while Southwest, the league champion, received the No. 6 seed.
Among other Metro-Mesa League teams last season, San Ysidro received the No. 10 seed in the Division I playoffs while Sweetwater was seeded 11th in the division. Hilltop received the No. 4 seed among Division II teams.
Among Metro-Pacific League teams, Otay Ranch was seeded ninth among Division IV teams. While Mar Vista received the No. 9 seed in Division V.
Hilltop, Otay Ranch and Mar Vista advanced as far as the division quarterfinals.
San Ysidro and Sweetwater move to the Metro-Pacific League this season.
Red alert
Sweetwater’s boys and girls soccer teams are both off to strong starts in non-league play. The Red Devils hosted the High Tech High-Chula Vista Bruins in a double-header last Friday, coming out with identical 3-0 victories in both gender matches.
The SuHi boys improved to 4-1-1 through six games while the girls team upped its early season record to 4-2-1.
Junior Natalie Angel scored two goals and freshman Amaya Crews scored one goal to lead the Lady Red Devils in the opening game.
Junior Alexi Montoya proved to be one of the fastest players on the pitch while taking four shots. Angel took a team-high five shots — four on net — as Sweetwater controlled play with 16 shots.
Montoya leads the Lady Devils in scoring with six goals and one assist through seven games, followed by Angel with three goals and two assists.
“Slowly but surely,” SuHi coach Eduardo Rodriguez said. “We have a brand-new staff. We’re bringing in a new system. We want more touch, give-and-go, more positioning, more ball possession. We have a good mix of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, so when the seniors graduate, we still have players who will know the system.”
Jaime Abarca moves over from the girls team to the boys coach this season.
“We want to win league, continue a winning program with the boys side and eventually win CIF,” Abarca said.
Top players include seniors Giovanni Aceves and Diego Hernandez and freshman Faisal Musah Muhamma.
Sweetwater has already showed some mettle with a 4-2 comeback win over visiting Canyon Hills on Dec. 12 as Hernandez scored two goals and Johan Langston and Bryan Diaz one each.
Metro Conference Boys Soccer 2024-25 League Alignment
Metro-Mesa League: Southwest, Bonita Vista, Eastlake, Hilltop, Olympian
Metro-South Bay League: Castle Park, Otay Ranch, Chula Vista, Mater Dei Catholic
Metro-Pacific League: Mar Vista, Montgomery, Sweetwater, San Ysidro
