Depth will be key to Glendale Community College men’s soccer success
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From a series of dribbling drills to a machine rifling shots from various angles at a handful of goalkeepers, there turned out to be plenty of action going on at Sartoris Field while the members of the Glendale Community College men’s soccer team conducted a recent practice.
About 25 players took to the field on a rather warm morning making preparations for the upcoming season under second-year coach Laura Matsumoto. Matsumoto watched the events unfold before gathering the Vaqueros near midfield for a brief meeting.
PHOTOS: Vaqueros men’s soccer prepares for season
“We’re going to pay close attention to detail,” said Matsumoto, whose team will begin its season at 5 p.m. Friday against Irvine Valley in a nonconference home match. “We have a pretty good mix of players and we are confident in their abilities to work hard and get the job done at practice and in games.
“I think having the extra depth will help in terms of battling neck and neck for playing time. It’s excellent motivation.”
At one end of the field, Matsumoto lined up a group of soccer balls and had the machine launch shots at the busy goalkeepers.
“The point of the drill is to be ready for different set pieces from corner kicks to direct kicks to having the goalkeepers cover and stand their ground,” said Matsumoto, who took over the program from Joe Agoston after serving as Agoston’s assistant for nine seasons. “Those are the kind of things that can make a difference in a game and we work on addressing that.”
Matsumoto said she would like to see the Vaqueros’ win total increase after Glendale finished 4-10-7, 4-7-5 for seventh place in the Western State Conference last season..
The Vaqueros, who last posted a winning season and advanced to the Southern California Regionals in 2003, have 10 sophomores on board.
Those expected to vie for the starting goalkeeper job are freshmen Carlos Quinteros, Nima Tohidi and Andrew Zaimes.
Glendale’s defensive unit will probably consist of sophomores Akram Abdulrahman, Nicholas Brayley, Hugo Hernandez, Eduardo Lopez, Jose Luis Perez-Badillo and Jason Sandoval. They will be joined by freshmen David Banuelos, Jorge Monterrosa, Quinteros and Ramiro Ramirez.
The midfielders will likely be sophomores Erick Trejo (Crescenta Valley High), Luis Haro, Toshiki Takii and Max Trautmann (Burbank). The freshmen midfielders will probably be Augusto Aliaga, Ivan De La Torre, Cesar Lopez, Argasik Moradian (Burbank), Taiki Nakahiro, Jesus Rosas, Wilkins Salas and Zackary Shiposh.
Those looking to provide offense at forward are freshmen Matt Ryan (Crescenta Valley), Dearian Robateau, Salas and Trautmann.
Glendale will kick off conference play at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at home against Citrus and will finish the regular season at 5 p.m. Nov. 13 against visiting Rio Hondo.
