First-year head coach Jeremiah Martinez says he plans on being
the Anzar boys soccer coach for a while, and that’s good news for
the Hawks. The San Juan Bautista school has had at least three
coaches in the last three years.
HOLLISTER
First-year head coach Jeremiah Martinez says he plans on being the Anzar boys soccer coach for a while, and that’s good news for the Hawks. The San Juan Bautista school has had at least three coaches in the last three years.
A Santa Cruz High graduate, Martinez takes over a team coached by Carlos Zepeda last season that fell just short of earning a Central Coast Section berth. The Hawks, who finished 5-4-1 in the Coastal Athletic League and 5-5-1 overall, needed to win their last three games of the season in 2009 in order to steal the league title from Pacific Collegiate and advance to the postseason.
Instead, Anzar went 0-2-1 in its last three matches, and PCS took the title as a result.
But playing the game for the last 14 years, as well as previously coaching both boys and girls of all ages, the 27-year-old Martinez plans to instill a positive mental approach at Anzar, which has never qualified toward the CCS playoffs.
The Hawks are currently 0-4, with losses to Monte Vista Christian (6-1 L), Greenfield (3-1 L), Greenfield again (2-1 L) and St. Francis Central Coast Christian (4-3 L), although the new head coach has been seeing improvements recently.
During its game against St. Francis on Monday, Anzar held a 2-0 lead before suffering a one-goal defeat.
“As far as the preseason, I wasn’t too concerned on winning games as I was learning specific things,” said Martinez, whose Hawks employ three different formations, including a 4-4-2, a 4-3-3 and a 5-3-2. “We’re starting to understand how to hold certain offenses and how to make our offense stronger.”
It hasn’t been easy, though. Anzar lost one of its better players in Juan Carlos Vega earlier this season when the sophomore forward suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Last year as a freshman, Vega led the Hawks with 15 goals scored.
“There’s no team out there that we can’t beat,” Martinez said. “It’s the mentality — who is gonna step up now? Now everyone is gonna have to step up.
“After they saw what happened with St. Francis, they’re very hungry now.”
Perhaps due to the loss of Vega, Martinez said Anzar’s strength this year is its ability to plug in different players at multiple positions, where defenders can be forwards and vice versa.
“People will get hurt,” he said. “We just have to roll with the punches when people do get hurt.”
The Hawks will open CAL play on Thursday against Pacific Grove. The Breakers, who finished third in the CAL last year behind runner-up York, is considered the favorite in the league this year. Pacific Grove boasted a 4-1-1 overall record at press time, with victories over Monterey, Seaside and Stevenson.
Meanwhile, York carried a 2-3 mark at press time, while Pacific Collegiate was 1-4-1.
Martinez seems excited no matter who the Hawks play, though, whether it be a league favorite or not.
“It’s all about learning from the mistakes that we make,” he said.
AHS Girls Soccer
The Anzar girls soccer team opened Coastal Athletic League play on Wednesday against Calvary Christian.
The Hawks were 4-3 overall at press time. Head coach Carlos Flores could not be reached for comment.
Anzar compiled a 6-5-3 overall record last season, 6-2-2 in the CAL, and finished runner-up to Pacific Collegiate. The Hawks advanced to the CCS playoffs in 2008.
