Preparation pays off

The game is scoreless with seven minutes left on the clock.

As the sun dips behind Triton Soccer Stadium in La Jolla, an autumn chill fills the air. The players and coaches sit on the edge of their seats.

This is a title rematch between the Golden Eagles and the Broncos of Cal Poly Pomona. A California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament championship is on the line.

Then, in the 84th minute:

GOOOOAL!

Forward Robin Lindahl connects with a rebounded ball following a free kick in front of the Cal Poly Pomona goal. Three minutes later, midfielder Carlos Zarate sweetens the score to 2-0.

As the clock ticks down to zero, the Golden Eagles players and coaching staff leap off the bench and rush the field, turning it into a sea of gold. For the second year in a row they are CCAA Tournament champions.

“It wasn’t so much a matter of who we played, but a matter of focusing on ourselves and our preparation and making sure that we understood what it was going to take,” head coach Chris Chamides said in a post-CCAA championship press conference. “So I am really, really happy for the boys to have experienced that.”

The victory was extra special for transfer student Zarate, whose goal that day was his first as a Golden Eagle.

“It felt amazing to be able to contribute to the team and the win, especially in such an important game,” says Zarate, who is from El Monte and previously played for Rio Hondo College.

For the Golden Eagles, building a nationally recognized program has been all about preparation and progress. Sixteen years ago, the men’s program had seven straight losing seasons and was picked to finish last in the CCAA. Now, the Golden Eagles have been ranked in the top 25 nationally for 15 consecutive seasons and have netted two NCAA West Region and four CCAA Tournament titles. In 2017, they were the first CCAA No. 5 seed to win a tournament title in the conference sport’s history.

Under a blazing afternoon sun in the days before the tournament, Chamides commands the field with a whistle.

“Up! Up! Up!”

“Let’s go, man, get the ball in play!”

“I want touch and hit, not touch, think about it and hit!”

The players are disciplined under the direction of their coaches, focusing on each piece of feedback, each play, each drill. In one drill, they lined up behind two rows of colorful cones taking turns defending against a teammate, focusing on moving their feet as fast as possible as they tried to control the direction of the offensive player.

“The message we give to the players is trust the process, prepare, do all that you can to be ready for each game,” Chamides says.

Antonio Rosas, a returning senior defender, said the program is meaningful not only to players, but to the community in which he was raised. As a kid, he and his friends often kicked around a soccer ball in the local park in Monrovia. Now those friends and his family come cheer him on in the stands. They’re proud. “It’s that feeling that one of us made it somewhere,” Rosas says.

The College Sports Information Directors of America have also recognized Golden Eagles players for their performances on the field and in the classroom.

The tournament championship was the highlight of the team’s outstanding season, which ended with a tough 2-1 loss in the NCAA Division II West Region quarterfinals to Azusa Pacific in overtime.

Of the 32-player squad, five players graduated in 2019. The team has many returners this season. They’re hungry for a third championship crown and more success in the NCAA Tournament. And they’re ready to work.

“When we come [to play], we know we don’t come here to just have a good time, we are coming here to win championships—you can see it in training every day. There’s a goal we have in mind,” Rosas says.