Men's Soccer Ends 31-Year Drought, Wins Fifth 3C2A State Championship

WALNUT, Calif. --- One of the greatest teams in El Camino College history capped off a remarkable season on Sunday with a 4-0 victory over Cuyamaca to claim the 2023 3C2A State Championship held at Mount San Antonio College.

The Warriors won the fifth state championship in the history of the men's soccer program and first since the 1992 season.

The Warriors (24-1-0) 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.

This season's state championship joins the ECC Men's Soccer trophy case along with the 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1992 titles and this year's team is just the fifth in school history to record one loss or fewer in a single season (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985). 

On Sunday, the Warriors dominated Cuyamaca for most of the game, something they did to the majority of their postseason opponents. After four early shots against the Coyotes in the first 14 minutes, Marvin Gamez was fouled just outside of the 18-yard box in the 15th minute. Charlie Cazares drilled the ensuing free-kick, beating the goalkeeper to the near post and putting the Warriors on top 1-0.

Eight minutes later, the Warriors doubled their advantage after a long ball was played up top where Jovanny Mejia headed the ball straight up in the air. Diego Garcia then took his turn with a header into the air and when the ball finally came down in the box, Shingo Nakano got his foot to the ball and sent it over the keeper and into the far side of the net to make it a 2-0 game.

The Warriors outshot the Coyotes 8-2 for the first half.  The Warriors would finish with a 16-7 shot advantage with 10 shots on goal to the Coyotes two shots on target.

True to form and for the ninth time this season, the Warriors came out firing after halftime and scored a goal within the first five minutes to start the second half to make it 3-0. In the 50th minute, Gamez was brought down inside the box and freshman defender Franco De Luna drilled the penalty kick high and to the left for his fifth goal of the season and third penalty goal of the year.  

The Warriors capped off their masterpiece of a season with their 111th and final goal of the year in the 78th minute after Cazares scored his second free-kick goal of the game, beating the keeper to the far post this time and making it 4-0.

Sophomore goalkeeper Donovan Palomares earned his 17th clean sheet of the season after making two saves in the game.  

For his incredible efforts in the postseason, Gamez was named the 3C2A Tournament Most Valuable Player.  Gamez finished the season with a state leading 28 goals and 66 points despite missing two games. He recorded back-to-back hat tricks in the 3C2A State Quarterfinals and Semifinals and drew both fouls that resulted in the Warriors' first and third goals in the championship match. Gamez also finished his freshman campaign tied for the school record for goals scored in a single season with legendary former Warriors player and soccer head coach John Britton, who tallied 28 goals and 18 assists in 1978 to establish both the program's goals (28) and points (74) record in a single year. 

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.

The Warriors scored two or more goals in 23 of the 25 matches they played. They also had 16 games where they scored four goals or more including four of their five 3C2A postseason matches. 

*Cumulative Team Stats prior to the 2013 season were lost after the 3C2A's previous statistics site provider went offline permanently.