The562’s soccer coverage for the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Beach Futbol Club.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Poly alum Jayon Brown and PlayFair Sports Management.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by JuJu Smith-Schuster and the JuJu Foundation.
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After two wild, stressful weeks of playoff games, the Long Beach Poly boys’ soccer team is just one win away from its first CIF-SS championship since 1999. The Jackrabbits went up by two goals on the road against Santa Monica in Saturday’s Division 2 semifinal, then almost ended up giving the lead away before hanging on to win it, 2-1.
Poly will host San Clemente next Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach for the Division 2 title game.
“I still can’t put it into words,” said Poly coach Eric Leon. “These boys have gone through so much this year, and they deserve every second of this. And I’m still kind of in shock myself that we’re back in the title.”
For all the shock he was feeling, Leon also predicted this. He told his team before the playoffs started that he thought they’d either be a first-round out or that they’d go all the way to the championship game.
“It’s just been that kind of year for us, finishing third in league, looking honestly weak at times,” said Leon. “But they’ve been resilient, and we’ve gotten difference-makers back from ineligibility so we’ve got our full roster for the first time all season.”
Two of those returned players were difference-makers on Saturday, as they were part of a masterclass build-up for the Jackrabbits in the game’s first goal. It started with Steve Marquez taking the ball away from a SaMo midfielder, then tapping it back to defender Anner Aguilar, who fed it up the left wing to Antony Martinez Urrutia, who fed it ahead to Marquez, who found Roberto Bermudez. The sophomore took a touch forward to get around a defender, then crossed it into the box to Damien Suarez, who tapped it in.
It was a beautiful build, with five Jackrabbits touching it eight times virtually uncontested to result in the goal. It was also a play that relied heavily on two players–Urrutia, and the goal-scorer Suarez–who have missed time with academic ineligibility and who recently returned to the field.
“I just barely got cleared, I’ve been working so hard to get back on the field,” said Suarez. “It feels great. It feels amazing. Being in the championship for the first time since 1999, that’s crazy.”
For Leon, it was a proud moment to see players who stuck with it and worked to get eligible not only get back on the field, but contribute in a major way.
“This is what we can produce with our full roster, I’m extremely proud of their work on and off the field,” he said. “I was happy for them, for that moment.”
It wasn’t Poly’s only green-and-golden moment. The Jackrabbits added to their lead with a second goal in the 45th minute, just after halftime. Victor Kagurabadza’s long throw-ins have been a great weapon for Poly all playoffs, but the Jackrabbits hadn’t been able to connect with one yet. As the bus pulled up to the field on Saturday and the team got a look at how narrow the Vikings’ field was–just barely wider than the football lines–Kagurabadza started getting excited.
“Victor was on the bus telling everyone he needs three assists today,” said Leon with a laugh.
“I’ve been chucking them and we haven’t converted,” said Kagurabadza. “When we saw the field we were all excited–throw-ins and crosses all day. We knew we could capitalize on the small field.”
His throw found Fabio Lopez, who whipped his head and placed it perfectly into the far netting, over the outstretched hands of the SaMo keeper.
“I just had a feeling it would happen today,” said Lopez. “It was God’s will for me to be in the right place to put that ball in the back of the net.”
The Vikings turned up the pressure, scoring on a free kick with less than ten minutes remaining and then seeing a potential game-tying header fly wide left in the game’s waning minutes. In the end, though, it was the Jackrabbits who celebrated, as they were booed by a few parents in the SaMo crowd.
“I thought our fans showed up for us and supported us really well,” said Leon. “We had Poly, Millikan, Wilson people out here. It’s Long Beach vs. Everybody in the playoffs.”
“When you get knocked out and you’re going home you’re upset, it showed that they were upset,” said Kagurabadza. “They were angry, but the scoreboard spoke for itself.”
The Jackrabbits will host San Clemente in the finals next weekend–we’ll post the time and ticket links when they are finalized.
