Spartans Win First Ever Men's Soccer Conference Championship

November 15, 2022

Coach Frank Zimmerman has been building the MiraCosta men's soccer program for 11 years, and this year the program achieved it's first conference championship. The team has strong sophomore leadership and incredible depth of talent in all positions. The Spartans finished conference play with a record of 9-1-2. During conference play they had a stretch of 11 games that they were undefeated, and during that time had seven shutouts, holding the opposing team scoreless. The Spartans remain one of the top defensive teams in the state, anchored by goalkeeper Jeshua Lombana and defenders Juan Diaz, Shih-Kuan Yang, Tinh Ho, David Garcia and John Rivera.

Jose Aguirre led the Spartans with 18 points (seven goals and four assists.) George Silva was a close second finishing with 17 points (seven goals and three assists.) Freshmen Alexis Aparicio and Rudy Padilla finshed with 10 points and Jason Espinoza finshed with nine points.

Along the way the Spartans managed to sweep the conference series with cross-town rival Palomar College, winning both matches and holding them scoreless.

MiraCosta collected a number of awards at the conference level. Freshman defender, Shih-Kuan Yang, was voted Defensive Player of the Year. Other Spartans that were honored on the PCAC All-Conference team include Bobby Ehly (So.), Juan Diaz (So.), George Silva (So.), David Guzman (So.), and Jose Aguirre (So.) Freshman Goalkeeper, Jeshua Lombana, was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year. Coach Zimmerman was also named the Coach of the Year in the conference.

The season isn't over for the Spartans, after the conference championship they earned a seed in the CCCAA State Playoffs, which starts Wednesday, November 16th. The MiraCosta men's soccer team will play at Rio Hondo College at 6PM in the first round of the state tournament.

2022 MiraCosta Men's Soccer Roster