La Cañada boys’ soccer’s Grandalski shares top recognition
A season ago, Brandon Grandalski helped the La Cañada High boys’ soccer team win the Rio Hondo League championship and make a deep postseason run.
It provided Grandalski extra motivation heading into this season.
Though La Cañada couldn’t quite equal last season’s success, Grandalski, a junior midfielder, turned in a superb season which saw him earn a share of the league’s most valuable player award with Monrovia senior forward Justin Albert.
“One of my goals coming into the season was to get all-league first team,” said Grandalski, who finished with three goals and four assists. “Last year, I got on the second team.
“To get league co-MVP means a lot to me in that I was able to help the team and school. It took a lot of extra hours at practice to find ways to get better.”
La Cañada finished 11-4-5, 7-1-2 in league for second place in league behind Monrovia. The Spartans advanced to the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs, falling to Mountain View.
“The first thing he did was evolve as a leader and that helped a lot of our younger guys,” La Cañada second-year coach Bruno Costa said. “Brandon was a work in progress coming into the season and he proved to be very proficient as a midfielder.
“For him to get an award like that says so much about his overall improvement.”
Four Spartans were named to the league’s first team, three were selected to the second team and two picked up honorable mention.
Trevar Bambanian, Ryan Cabello, Armen Eyssakhanian and Max Landa earned spots on the first team.
Bambanian, a junior defender, contributed three goals and four assists.
“Trevar has that great ability to score and defend,” Costa said. “The whole team relies on him.”
Cabello helped anchor La Cañada’s defense, which yielded just 20 goals.
“With Ryan, it’s all about hard work,” Costa said. “He covers so much ground during a game.”
Eyssakhanian collected six goals and seven assists as a senior midfielder.
“He grew a lot and matured throughout the season,” Costa said. “You knew he would make the right moves playing at midfielder.”
Landa, a sophomore goalkeeper, finished with 35 saves.
“He’s got all of the characteristics to be a top goalkeeper and he covers a lot of ground,” Costa said.
Daniel Landesman, Dylan Pastor and Williams Chant were selected to the second team.
Landesman, a junior, flourished as a defender. Pastor, a senior midfielder, collected five goals and five assists. Chant, a junior forward, finished with four goals and four assists.
Earning honorable mention were senior goalkeeper Ryan Crispi (25 saves) and sophomore midfielder Arian Shapourifar (three goals and four assists).
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
