Boy's Division II Soccer preview

February 2, 2016 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Rincon head coach Roxanne Taylor.
(Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

No. 1 Rincon/University (17-3, 12-0) State Championships: 1997, 1998 and 2007:  Head coach Roxanne Taylor has 411 career wins (30 years) with three of those being state championships. The Rangers return to the playoffs for the first time in two years and they are returning as the top seed. MF Chris Cooper leads the team in scoring with 24 goals but Taylor points out he is just one part of her offense, "The team has wonderful chemistry this year and, although we have Chris Cooper scoring many goals, the rest of the team is responsible for 34 other goals pretty well divided among the entire team. You can't just man mark one of our players because 10 others players can score." The Rangers also have 10 shutouts and there are 12 seniors on the team.

No. 2 Tucson (21-0-1, 10-0-1) State Championship: 2014: The Badgers have only lost three games since 2013, an incredible run by head coach Ismael Arce. The team has made a statement by beating Rincon twice in invitational play this year with team captain Julian Gaona leading the way with 36 goals and 14 assists. 15 seniors means leadership is the key for Arce, "Most of my team consists of seniors.  We strive to play as a team and we support each other as a family." The team set a goal to go undefeated as they did in 2014 when they won the championship. Gaona is a father with a baby born in November.

No. 3 Gila Ridge (12-2-1, 9-2-1) First playoff appearance: Not only is this the first playoff appearance for the Hawks, it's the first winning season since the program began eight years ago. First-year coach Corey Semler credits a change in culture and having all of his players available for the change including senior CB Shae Erickson, "Erickson is probably our MVP thus far. He is the anchor of the defense and has led our team to seven shutouts." Traybourne North leads the team in scoring but the program can score in many ways according to Semler.

No. 4 Kofa (11-5, 9-3) State Championships: 1983 and 1989: Head coach Jamie Nicewander lists F Angel Lopez (17 goals), F Gavin Nicewander (16 goals) and MF Cristian Villegas (15 goals as his leaders, "We have been successful because of a team defend, team attack mentality. Notice we have four players who have scored over 10 goals each. The wealth is spread. Our back line has been the same. We have rotated defenders often and tried to build a deeper bench for post season play."

No. 5 San Luis (9-3, 9-3) Second place in 2006 and 2015: "New" head coach Tim Conroy led the team to a second place finish in 2006 and was an assistant on last year's runner-up team. "Our leading scorer this year is senior midfielder, Christian Trujillo with nine goals in 11 games, three of which were game-winning goals." The Sidewinders only have one returning starter, GK Romel Ojeda.

No. 6 Cibola (11-4-2, 7-3-2) Two playoff appearances in seven years: First-year coach Bryan Claudio has led the Raiders one of the most successful seasons in school history. MF Gabriel Claudio leads the team with 14 goals and MF Enrique Zamora has added 8.  The team started the season out 5-0 and ended it with a 4-0-1 streak.

No. 7 South Mountain (13-3, 10-2) Top seed in 2013: The Jaguars have struggled since reaching the quarterfinal round in 2013 but first-year coach Jose Diaz has the team back in the playoffs. Leading the way is F Bryan Medina and his 29 goals. Medina is ranked seventh in the state for goal scoring but the team also sports STRK Angel Torres (16) and MF Bryan Aceves (12).

No. 8 Trevor Browne (17-3-1, 9-2-1) Playoffs three years in a row: Jeffrey Scofield has led the Bruins to three straight playoff appearances but this is the first in Division II and the first time the team is hosting a playoff game. F Victor Perez is the leading scorer. Team captains are GK Oswaldo Machado and MF Isaac Pedraza.

No. 9 Sunnyslope (12-6-1, 9-2-1) Second place finish in 1989: First-year coach Mike Fenton has benefitted from the play of MF Sebastian Arellano who currently leads the team with 19 goals but he also credits the defense of  John Kanner, Junior Gonzalez, David Gonzalez, Manuel Jacobo and Cain Guevara for keeping the team in games.

No. 10 Canyon del Oro (11-6-2, 8-2-2) State Championships: 2009 and 2010: Jake Gillengerten is in his second year with the Dorados. CDO has not lost at home in two years. Due to injuries, the team played four high-profile matches with only 10 to 12 players on the roster. Dario Contreras leads the team with 10 goals.

No. 11 Nogales (11-7-1, 8-3-1) Third seed in 2015: Armando Romero-Davis is in his second year with the Apaches. Nogales was seeded third last year and made it to the quarterfinal round. The Apaches finished this year with six wins in a row with GK Jose Armentilla credited with keeping the team alive on defense. Joaquin Ramos is the team leader.

No. 12 North Canyon (10-1-1, 10-1-1) Quarterfinals in 2015: Kelvin William Reece has posted his second 10-win season in a row. STRK Slobodan Kajtaz has 22 goals to lead the Rattlers.

No. 13 Carl Hayden (10-3, 8-3) Second place finish in 2010:  First-year coach Michael Varela has almost matched the victory total for the last two years combined. "We are a team that focuses on dedication to team and family. We regularly meet as a team for team breakfasts and lunches. The group of guys on this team believe in selfless service and dedication to each other and that is what makes us strong as a team. This is my first year running the program so we are trying to build consistency in the program."

No. 14 Greenway (10-3-1, 9-3) Second Place: 1984, 1985, 1989 and 1990: Ken Laird is leading the Demons to their best record since a semifinal finish in 2013.

No. 15 Arcadia (9-2-1, 9-2-1) Second place in 2007: Michael Van Ess is in his second year with the program. The team lost their first game of the season and the last. "(We are a) very unselfish team, extremely young 6 of our 11 starters are underclassmen and willing to learn and want to get better," Van Ess wrote. Sebastian Gutierrez and Francisco Campos have 10 goals each.

No. 16 Higley (10-7, 9-3) Section champion: The Knights won their last five games to make it to the playoffs by winning Section IV. The team also outscored opponents 22-5 in that span.