Gamez Named National Player of the Year

UNITED SOCCER COACHES' 2023 PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- Freshman Marvin Gamez was named the United Soccer Coaches' Junior College Division III National Player of the Year, it was announced Tuesday.

Gamez caps off his historic freshman campaign as the first Warriors soccer player to ever receive a National Player of the Year award. He was also named the South Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year and the 3C2A State Championships Tournament Most Valuable Player this season.

In 2023, Gamez finished the year 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.

During the year, Gamez was also named the National Player of the Week on two occasions.

This year, the Warriors claimed the fifth state championship in school history and first since 1992 after going 24-1-0 on the season. 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).  

The Warriors scored 111 goals in 2023 to 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.