Giants' men's soccer team builds on 2021 success with 3-0 start

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

It was a season of important firsts for College of the Sequoias' men's soccer team in 2021.

Consider the Giants' accomplishments during the 14th championship season in program history.

* They won at least 10 games for the first time.

* They captured their first Central Valley Conference title.

* They made their first appearance in the Northern California Regional playoffs.

* They scored their first postseason win.

Quite the turnaround for a program that averaged 4.5 wins a year through its first 13 seasons.

Now, coach Renato Bustamante admits the bar has been raised internally for Sequoias, which welcomes back four all-conference honorees among 11 returners overall.

"It took the stigma away of not being able to win," Bustamante said. "Now we believe we can win and we want to win it all. The boys are confident and committed to doing everything we can to give ourselves the best possible chance to win it all."

Looking to build on last year's historic season, the Giants are off to a 3-0 start, having beaten Bakersfield 3-1 on Aug. 26, Allan Hancock 5-0 on Aug. 30 and Canyons 6-3 on Sept. 6 behind two goals from Adrian Lopez (Mt. Whitney).

Sequoias returns to action at 3 p.m. Sept. 9 when it hosts L.A. Mission on its campus field.

Among the Giants' returners is last season's Central Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Cristian Trujillo, a Golden West High product who was the team's top points producer with five goals and seven assists. Sequoias also returns first-team All-CVC selections in midfielder Lopez and defender Brian Perez (Redwood), as well as defender Mathew Ramirez (Lemoore), a second-team pick.

Other returners from a team that went 11-8-3 overall and 6-3-1 in the CVC include goalkeepers Yuliang Chang (Reedley) and Rexton Figallo (Redwood), striker Christian Sasntillan (Porterville), midfielders Tomas Alvarez (Reedley), Moises Cortes (Tulare Union) and Carlos Lopez (El Diamante), and defender Gabriel Cruz-Ambriz (El Diamante).

The Giants also have a sophomore newcomer in Leonardo Marquez-Ramirez, a midfielder from El Diamante.

"I'm grateful to have this group of sophomores, who have experienced the whole process with me, our lows and highs and the standards that are needed to be a championship caliber team," Bustamante said. "They have been fantastic since the first day of summer class making sure the culture is right. They are working very hard and are focused on being the team we want to be."

Among Sequoias' 17 freshmen recruits, Bustamante said he has four exciting strikers Ernesto Pacheco (Redwood), Joshua Aguirre-Ramos (Orange Cove), Jesus Godinez (Tulare Western) and Ramon Meraz (Mission Oak-Tulare).

Newcomers in the midfield include Evan Wessel (El Diamante), Jonathan Vega (Granite Hills-Porterville), John Leal (Tulare Western), Juan Samano (Granite Hills), Gustavo Ledesma (Reedley), Marco Jasso (Tulare Union) and Felix Zarate (Farmersville).

The Giants' backrow will be bolstered by freshmen defenders Efrain Castro (Farmersville), Brian Garcia (Orange Cove), Ulysses Godoy (Lindsay), Brian Bardonex (Redwood) and Ruben Magdaleno (Tulare Western), and goalkeeper Julian Vicente Lae (Redwood).

"I think (the freshmen) fit the profile of what we need perfectly," Bustamante said. "They are very hard working, very driven and have adapted to the group of sophomores very quickly."

Bustamante was named the CVC Coach of the Year last season after helping the Giants recover from a 2-7-2 start, including a 0-3-0 record in conference play. Sequoias went 6-0-1 over its final seven regular season games to rally for the CVC title and earn an automatic berth into the Northern California Regionals.

After receiving the No. 15 seed, the Giants upset No. 2 Foothill 1-0 in the first round before their playoff run ended with a 3-0 loss to No. 10 American River.

"We're very proud of what we accomplished last year, but at the same time, it just makes things more challenging," said Bustamante, who balances his coaching duties at Sequoias with playing for the Fresno Fuego of the United Soccer League One, the third tier of U.S. professional soccer. "Expectations are higher. We're not the team that's never won and is sneaking up on people anymore."

Sequoias will play four more home matches -- 2 p.m. Sept. 13 vs. Cosumnes River, 3 p.m. Sept. 16 vs. Cabrillo, 1 p.m. Sept. 20 vs. Lake Tahoe and 2 p.m. Sept. 23 vs. Los Angeles City -- before opening CVC play at 3 p.m. Sept. 30 against Fresno City.

The Giants 10-game conference schedule concludes Nov. 11 at West Hills-Lemoore, time to be announced.

The NorCal Regional playoffs begin Nov. 17.

"I'm very confident in them because they show up every day with a special focus and belief about what they do," Bustamante said. "They showed me last year that they are willing to work hard on and off the field. They are not going to quit. When you have guys with those attributes, you have to believe because it's special."