Mike Perez is in his first year as the Anzar High boys’ soccer coach, but he already knows the team well.
Perez, who has coached competitive youth soccer for nearly 10 years and is still a board member of the Aromas soccer club, has known several of the Anzar players since they were in grade school.
He’s coached many of them through youth club and league play, similar to what a number of successful high school coaches of winning programs do. That’s why there should be optimism around the Anzar soccer program, which doesn’t have a rich soccer history.
Perez is out to change that.
“As a coach, it’s important to build consistency,” he said. “Once you get established, the players know what is expected of them year in, year out. We still have a long, long way to go, but I like the players we have and believe with hard work they’ll be able to do good things.”
Perez feels the team will be particularly strong on the backline with senior Aldo Campos manning the defense. Perez said Campos runs like a deer, recognizes key situations during the game and plays the position well.
Senior Zac Tomasini possesses athleticism and agility to go along with an aggressiveness that make him tough to take off the ball, and sophomore Jesus Martinez plays well in space and has solid ball-control skills.
Some of the top midfielders include Rodrigo Amezcua, Ricky Gutierrez and Angel Valentin. Amezcua presents a physical presence opponents must contend with, Gutierrez possesses one of the best shots on the team and Valentina has solid ball-control skills.
Abel Campos will be looked upon to keep the ball moving, and goalkeeper Art Munoz showed some nice instincts and aggressiveness in Monday’s 3-2 loss to Pajaro Valley in the season-opener for both teams.
Going forward, the Hawks need to string together multiple passes and control more of the possession, which they didn’t have against Pajaro Valley. In the first half, Anzar literally had the ball for maybe 10 percent of the possession, as it was relegated to chasing the Pajaro Valley players all over the field.
Although the Hawks possessed the ball more in the second half, they still spent a ton of time pursuing the ball instead of controlling it. They received goals from Valentin and Amezcua, who scored from 42 yards out in the 60th minute. Anonth Srisavaththay showed some nifty footwork, and Valentin displayed playmaking ability.
Perez said over 20 players tried out for the team, a healthy number for a Division V school like Anzar.
Perez prefers a possess-based game; however, he knows his players must be more disciplined and focused to not force a pass or shot and to stay patient to build up the attack.
