The hot streakin’ Aptos boys’ soccer team clinched its second consecutive Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League crown following a 3-0 win over Soquel on Wednesday night.
Senior Nami Banks had one goal and one assist for the Mariners, who closed out the regular season with eight consecutive victories. They improved to a 9-1 record in league play en route to back-to-back league championships, and third one in the past four seasons.
“This one meant a lot,” said Banks, who has been a part of all three SCCAL title runs. “In the beginning of the season, we were a very young team. We still didn’t mesh well, especially in the preseason and maybe even in the start of the league. As soon as we got past that, this team has been great. One of the best teams I’ve played with in high school.”
Ivan Zavala scored twice in the first half for Aptos. Teammates Ben Baker and Isaiah Acevedo each were credited with one assist.
The defense also held it together to support senior goalkeeper Noah Curran, who recorded seven saves in the Mariners’ seventh clean sheet of the season.
Aptos head coach Roberto Zúñiga credited the players for a great week of practice and overall preparation against a challenging Soquel squad.
“I really want to give props to my defenders,” Zúñiga said. “And it wouldn’t be done without our keeper Noah [Curran]. He got a couple of them that were spiked right in front of him and he was able to lay on top of them, and keep that ball from going into the net.”
The Mariners meant business going into Wednesday night’s match, starting out strong from the get-go and continuously pressuring inside of Soquel’s zone until they found the back of the net.
Zavala notched his first goal of the night on a perfectly placed cross pass from Banks. Ten minutes later, Zavala collected another pass from Baker and again took a powerful shot to zip it past the opposing goalkeeper, giving the Mariners a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
After the break, Zúñiga mentioned how the low fog made it difficult for players to get accurate passes in the air. Still, they worked through the visibility issues and made a huge impact with widening the field.
“It’s hard to take advantage of something like that,” Banks said. “But I think both teams, we had the same disadvantages, same advantages to the fog. It was still a lot of fun.”
In the 70th minute, Banks and teammate Isaiah Acevedo had no issues on a give-and-go play that capped off the scoring for Aptos.
After receiving a pass from Damian Garcia, Banks broke free past Soquel’s midfielders.
“I was gonna shoot it but the defender caught me,” Banks said. “I ran it to the side, luckily Isaiah was there waiting for it.”
Banks dinked a pass to Acevedo before dishing it back to Banks for a 15-yard blast into the back of the net, giving him a team-best 13 goals this season.
“Nami is a phenomenal player,” Zúñiga said. “I’ve said it before, he’s the backbone of this team. He’s got a great skill set, he’s got great vision. He will fight for 80 minutes straight, and he won’t let up.”
Aptos (14-4-1) earned the top seed in the Division III playoffs and will host No. 8 Los Gatos (8-8-2) on Saturday at 1pm, while No. 4 Santa Clara (10-8-2) will host No. 5 Willow Glen (9-6-5).
On the other side of the bracket is SCCAL rival Harbor (15-3-2), which earned the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Sacred Heart Prep (13-2-5) on Saturday at 7pm.
Alisal (7-6-6) earned the No. 7 seed and plays at No. 2 Aragon (11-5-2), also on Saturday at 3pm.
The biggest obstacle for Aptos hasn’t been getting into the CCS playoffs, but it’s getting past the quarterfinals. They’ve suffered early exits in the opening round for the past four years.
“When we come out with energy, with a passion that this team has, right off that whistle I think we’re unstoppable,” Banks said. “We’re gonna get there this Saturday, we’re gonna hype up and then we’re gonna go out there and crush the team that whoever we face.”
