Dons pull out two victories to advance to semifinals at South Torrance Tournament
Todd Heil reached the 400-win milestone as Santa Barbara High's boys soccer coach. (Noozhawk file photo)
By Barry Punzal, Noozhawk Sports Editor | @NoozhawkSports | December 21, 2018 | 11:24 p.m.
Todd Heil has valued the rich tradition of boys soccer at Santa Barbara High from the first day he started coaching at the school 20 years ago.
The program has thrived under Heil's leadership, and on Friday at the South Torrance Holiday Tournament he was rewarded with his 400th career victory.
His Dons beat a strong Redondo Union team, 1-0, for the milestone win and later got win No. 401 with a 3-2 comeback decision over El Segundo to reach the semifinals on Saturday.
Santa Barbara (7-3) will play Lynwood at 12:30 p.m. The other semifinal has Loyola taking on North Torrance. The winners play for the title at 6:30 and the losers play for third place at 5 p.m.
Under Heil, the Dons have averaged more than 20 wins a season.
"That speaks a lot to the program and the consistency we've had in our program," he said.
A winner of three CIF-Southern Section championships and a Regional title, Heil said it's humbling to be able to carry on the winning tradition that was established back in the 1970s.
"I value it. I think it's incredibly important. There's a reason why we say 'Nosotros' (us together). There's a reason why it's on the back of our jerseys. That's a mantra that was created back in the 70s when the team was first formed," he explained "There's a lot of pride in the program to carry on the tradition."
"I truly hope that I've done that. I definitely tried my best to adhere to those traditions and keep them in the back of my mind and create new ones as well."
Heil credited some of program's success to the consistency in the coaching staff. He and assistant Alfredo Martinez have been together for so many years that, "We've stopped counting," Heil cracked. "And, you look at the alums we have at our lower level like Ricardo Alcaraz, Gerardo Lopez, Carlos Cuellar. That consistency right there helps.
"It's so hard to find lower level coaches. To be able to have guys who have been part of the program as players and now as coaches, it's incredibly fortunate for us."
As for Friday's games, Diego Espinosa scored the lone goal in 56th minute against Redondo Union and the defense recorded a third straight shutout.
"We got a much better start to the game. Staying down here really helped out a lot," said Heil.
The boys did good job of controlling the tempo."
Espinoza found the back of the net again to level the score against El Segundo in the 16th minute. Jorge Ochoa scored the eventual game winner in the 31st minute, and the Dons defended in the second half.
"They were coming at us pretty hard," Heil said of El Segundo. "They were chasing the game, so we had to defend, and did well. "We really bunkered down and played some really good defense."
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