Men’s Soccer Earns National Coaching Staff of the Year Nod

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- The El Camino College Men's Soccer Team kept racking up the postseason honroson Friday as head coach Michael Jacobson and his staff were named the National Coaching Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches.

Jacobson and assistant coaches Steven Barrera, Miguel Sanchez and Richard Fernandez earned the distinction after leading the Warriors to a historic season that included the fifth 3C2A State Championship in the program's history and first ever National Champion distinction.

Jacobson completed his fifth season at the helm of the Warriors in 2023 with Barrera being his assistant during that time period. Sanchez and Fernandez each joined the staff in 2019 and the group has helped rebuild the Warriors' men's soccer program into one of the best in the state.

In five seasons, Jacobson has amassed an 81-18-15 overall record including a 28-8-9 record in South Coast Conference action. During his tenure the Warriors have had six United Soccer Coaches' All-American selections including four in 2023. They've also had 29 All-South Coast Conference selections including two offensive player of the year, three goalkeeper of the year and one defensive player of the year selections. Jacobson was also selected as the SCC Coach of the Year for the first time in his tenure at ECC.

In 2023, Jacobson and company led the Warriors to a 24-1-0 overall record including a 22-match winning streak to wrap up the season with the program's fifth state championship and first since 1992. The squad also claimed the seventh South Coast Conference title in program history and first since 2014.

The Warriors nearly completed the third perfect season in program history (1982, 1985), with the team's only loss coming at Norco in the third game of the season on Sept. 5. The 24 victories tie a school record set by the 1981 team that went 24-2-0 and finished as the state runner-up to Foothill College.

The Warriors' 111 goals set a new program record and is the most goals ever scored by a team in the 3C2A in recorded history dating back to 2013 with the next closest team scoring 89 goals in 2021 (Hartnell). No team had ever recorded 90-plus goals in the 3C2A prior to this season.

While the offensive firepower was impressive, the Warriors defense was up to the task as well as the team only allowed 13 goals all year and shutout their opponents the entire postseason including the South Coast Conference tournament (seven games). The Warriors had an astronomical +98 goal differential for the season and scored 34 more goals than the next best team in the state while allowing the second fewest goals in the state behind Taft College who allowed 10 goals in six fewer games than the Warriors played this season.

The Warriors posted 17 shutouts for the season and finished the year without allowing a goal in their final 636:53 minutes of action, not including injury time. The Warriors scored 28 goals in their postseason tournaments (SCC Tournament + 3C2A State Championship Playoffs) with 20 goals in 3C2A tournament alone.