San Diego County Cup champions crowned

The San Diego County Cup holiday soccer tournament wrapped up Dec. 30 with six boys division finals at Hilltop High School and three girls division finals at Mater Dei Catholic High School.

With nine division finals and 50 total entered teams, it was one of the largest fields in the event’s recent history.

“It’s getting there, it’s growing,” said Hilltop coach Jesus Acevedo, who serves as tournament director. “This is the first time we’ve had a women’s division in a while.”

The event, which kicked off with pool-round games Dec. 26, wrapped up the 2025 portion of the 2025-26 schedule in time for league play to kick off.

Mater Dei Catholic went undefeated in three games to capture the top girls division: 7-0 over Olympian, 4-0 over Otay Ranch and 1-0 in the final over Otay Ranch (4-4-0)

Senior Keira Baranski scored the lone goal in the championship game victory against the Lady Mustangs while junior Lydia Chavez supplied the assist. Senior Cami Givens made five saves to record the shutout win.

Sophomore Alessia Villalpando netted a goal and assist in the prior win over Otay Ranch while Chavez and sophomores Madison Lassalette and Sofia Hernandez each scored single goals. Sophomore Lani Magana picked up two assists while senior Alex Johnson had one assist. Givens had the shutout with three saves.

Hernandez and Villalpando each scored two goals in the win over Olympian while Chavez, Baranski and freshman Sophia Ruvalcaba each scored one goal. Sophomore Brielle Andre had two assists while sophomore Camila Campos notched the shutout victory with one save.

Mater Dei Catholic improved to 8-0 with a non-league win over Francis Parker on Jan. 3 to start the new year in fine fashion as the No. 4-ranked team in the San Diego Section.

Villalpando, Ruvalcaba and senior Leila Magana each scored single goals in the team’s latest win while Campos and junior Daniela Alfaro each made three saves to share the shutout.

In the Lady Crusaders’ 8-0 start team leaders include Villalpando with 13 goals and four assists for 30 points, Leila Magana with four goals and five assists for 13 points and Chavez with four goals and two assists for 10 points.

Givens has appeared in seven matches with three shutout wins.

Mater Dei Catholic had out-scored opponents 29-2 in the eight games.

In other girls division finals, Hilltop blanked Ramona, 2-0, to win the Green Division while Logan Memorial defeated Chula Vista, 3-2, to win the Black Division.

Hilltop (6-3-1) finished 3-1in its four tournament games: 4-0 win over Valley Center, 2-0 loss to Ramona and 8-2 win over Imperial before avenging the loss to the Lady Bulldogs in the championship game.

Logan Memorial (5-2-1) rode three goals by junior Reyna Gutierrez to slip past Chula Vista while freshman Jessica Meraz scored both goals for the Lady Spartans (6-6-1).

Logan Memorial kicked off tourney play with a 4-1 over Bayfront Charter before taking a 3-2 loss to Chula Vista. The Lady Eagles rebounded with a 7-0 win over Castle Park and the championship game victory in the rematch with the Lady Spartans.

Meraz, senior Haylee Lopez and junior Christina Trujillo each scored goals in the pool game against Logan Memorial.
Chula Vista also defeated Castle Park, 1-0, and Bayfront Charter, 5-0, in the tournament.

Trujillo supplied the game-winner in the win over the Lady Trojans while freshman goalkeeper Julie Hanigan made six saves to record the shutout.

Trujillo scored three goals in the win over Bayfront Charter while Lopez and freshman Arizu Toxqui-kubelis each scored one goal. Hanigan (two saves) and senior Aylin Camila Cruz (four saves) shared the shutout.

Strike force
Chula Vista Learning Community Charter’s soccer program has started to reap rewards. The Cobras defeated Hilltop, a long-established program, to win the 2022 Division IV girls soccer championship. The Cobras boys team is making noise this season with an 8-1-3 record.

CVLCC completed a Black Division sweep at 4-0. The Cobras defeated High Tech High San Diego 1-0, shaded Bayfront Charter by the same score and topped Logan Memorial by back-to-back scores of 2-0 and 2-1 (in the final).

Diego Campos and Omar Graxiola both scored goals in the division championship game. The win extended the team’s winning streak to six games.

“I’m very proud of the boys,” CVLCC coach Daniel Villalva said succinctly. “We want to keep our momentum going forward.”

The 26th-ranked Cobras compete in the Frontier Summit League and are ranked No. 1 among the section’s Division V-AA teams. The division rankings include No. 2 Liberty Charter at 7-1, No. 3 Ocean View Christian Academy at 5-4 and No. 4 High Tech High North County at 8-4-1 among the 12 teams in the division.

League opponents include Mountain Empire, High Tech High Chula Vista, Ocean View Christian Academy, O’Farrell Charter and Health Sciences.

How good is CVLCC? Match scores seem to place them among the South County’s better teams with 2-2 draws against both Sweetwater and Montgomery, a 1-1 tie against Olympian and a 1-0 loss against 12th-ranked Eastlake.

The Cobras, ranked 26th in the section, already compete in the Metro Conference in water polo. Could they be adding soccer next? Interesting conjecture.

The County Cup tournament offered a preview of league play for San Ysidro and Sweetwater, which both compete in the Metro-South Bay League.

“It’s going to be really competitive this year,” said Sweetwater coach Jaime Abarca, whose team will also vie with Otay Ranch and Olympian in league play.Daniel Cardenas put Sweetwater up 1-0 in the 22nd minute on a shot at the far post. But the Red Devils offense seemed to ebb and the Cougars were suddenly the ones pressing the attack for large chunks as the game went on.

San Ysidro drew the equalizer in the 35th minute and netted the 2-1 go-ahead goal with 6:45 to play in the second half. Carlos Trejo scored both goals.

“It was good to see what they had and I think their coach would say the same thing about us,” Sian Ysidro coach Christopher Mora said.

Photos by Phillip Brents

Sweetwater entered the game with a 9-2-1 record and a 3-0 group showing with wins over Southwest El Centro (3-0), Ramona (5-4) and Gompers Prep (2-0). Johan Langston had two goals in the win over Ramona.

With five seniors in the lineup, the Red Devils remain a relatively young team.

No. 18 Southwest (6-1-3) was gunning for respect and earned it with a 4-3 shootout loss to Central Union (14-0-2), ranked No. 1 in the section, in the closing game.

Senior Bryan Silva scored his 17th goal of the season for the Raiders.

Photos by Phillip Brents

San Diego Section Winter Sports Rankings

Boys soccer
(Through Jan. 3)
1. Central Union 14-0-2, 2. Mission Bay 5-0-1, 3. Grossmont 6-1-1, 4. San Marcos 8-1-0, 5. Torrey Pines 6-3-0. 6. Orange Glen 5-0-1, 7. Bonita Vista 4-1-1, 8. Sage Creek 7-0-0, 9. Mission Hills 6-3-1, 10. St. Augustine 4-3-0, 11. Hoover 8-5-2, 12. Eastlake 6-2-1, 13. Escondido 5-1-2, 14. Mater Dei Catholic 6-2-1, 15. Mt. Carmel 3-0-3, 16. Canyon Crest Academy 3-2-2, 17. Oceanside 4-1-3, 18. Southwest 6-2-2*. 19. La Costa Canyon 6-3-1, 20. La Jolla 5-1-1, 21. Scripps Ranch 4-1-3, 22. Sweetwater 9-3-1, 23. Westview 3-1-2, 24. Coronado 4-2-1, 25. Otay Ranch 5-3-3, 26. CLVCC 8-1-3, 27. Patrick Henry 4-1-3, 28. Granite Hills 4-4-2, 29. University City 4-3-2, 30. Escondido Charter 5-3-2. Others: 37. San Ysidro 5-4-1, 46. Chua Vista 4-4-2, 48. Montgomery 2-2-1, 57. Olympian 3-4-3, 61. Hilltop 2-6-3, 66. Ocean View Christian Academy 5-4-0, 79. Bayfront Charter 7-6-4, 84. High Tech high Chula Vista 4-5-0, 95. Castle Park 0-8-2, 99. Mar Vista 0-5-1

Girls Soccer
(Through Jan. 3)
1. San Marcos 6-1-0, 2. Patrick Henry 5-2-0, 3. Torrey Pines 6-0-1, 4. Mater Dei Catholic 8-0-0, 5. Coronado 6-0-0, 6. Mt. Carmel 5-0-3, 7. Poway 5-1-1, 8. Cathedral Catholic 6-2-2, 9. Santa Fe Christian 5-0-0, 10. Mission Vista 6-1-0, 11. El Camino 4-1, 12. La Costa Canyon 3-2-1, 13. Del Norte 3-2-0, 14. Mission Hills 5-4-0, 15. Pt. Loma 5-1-0, 16. San Dieguito Academy 3-2-2, 17. Rancho Buena Vista 4-3-0, 18. Our Lady of Peace 4-3-2, 19. La Jolla 4-2-0, 20. Rancho Bernardo 5-3-1, 21. Ramona 7-3-1, 22. Carlsbad 2-2-2, 23. O’Farrell Charter 5-0-2, 24. Brawley 11-2-1, 25. Monte Vista 6-1-2. Others: 33. Otay Ranch 4-4-0, 39, Eastlake 4-6-0, 41. Bonita Vista 1-4-1, 45. Montgomery 4-3-1, 50. Olympian 3-4-1, 60. Chula Vista 6-5-1, 65. San Ysidro 3-5-0, 72. Southwest 2-7-3, 73. Sweetwater 1-3-1, 85. Castle Park 3-7-0, 89. Mar Vista 1-9-2

1. 
   Boys Basketball
   (Through Jan. 3)
2. 1. Santa Fe Christian 15-1, 2. Victory Christian Academy 13-4, 3. Madison 12-2, 4. Mission Bay 11-5, 5. Cathedral Catholic 11-5, 6. La Costa Canyon 12-5, 7. Olympian 12-4, 8. San Marcos 11-5, 9. Mira Mesa 13-5, 10. Francis Parker 7-8, 11. St. Augustine 8-7, 12. Bonita Vista 10-4, 13. Torrey Pines 7-8, 14. Poway 12-5, 15. Carlsbad 7-9, 16. Rancho Bernardo 8-6, 17. Montgomery 10-5, 18. Christian 8-8, 19. Point Loma 10-3, 20. Morse 14-0, 21. Westview 11-3, 22. Calexico 11-2, 23. Mission Hills 8-8, 24. Coronado 9-6, 25. Army-Navy Academy 11-5, 26. Pacific Ridge 11-4, 27. San Diego 10-8, 28. Helix 10-8, 29. Scripps Ranch 8-9, 30. Bishop’s 11-3, 31. Patrick Henry 11-5, 32. Del Lago Academy 9-1, 33. Sage Creek 7-9, 34. Steele Canyon 10-6, 35. Ramona 10-6, 36. Del Norte 8-8, 37. High Tech High North County 10-0, 38. La Jolla Country Day 5-10, 39. Maranatha Christian 7-8, 40. Rancho Buena Vista 7-9. Others: 41. Mater Dei Catholic 6-5, 43. Southwest 11-5, 64. Sweetwater 7-4, 66. High Tech High Chula Vista 6-6, 67. Otay Ranch 6-12, 81. Eastlake 3-14, 82. Hilltop 9-6, 88. Mar Vista 4-10, 94. CVLCC 3-5, 95. Chula Vista 4-9, 98. Bayfront Charter 2-5, 99. San Ysidro 2-11, 104. Castle Park 3-9, 118. Ocean View Christian 2-6

Girls Basketball
(Through Jan. 3)
1. Francis Parker 9-4, 2. Mater Dei Catholic 13-1, 3. Mission Hills 7-6, 4. La Jolla Country Day 10-7, 5. Cathedral Catholic 10-5, 6. Grossmont 10-4, 7. Westview 7-6, 8. Imperial 10-4, 9. La Costa Canyon 10-4,10. Patrick Henry 15-0, 11. Rancho Bernardo 14-3, 12. Montgomery 11-5, 13. El Capitan 12-5, 14. Victory Christian Academy 5-7, 15. Scripps Ranch 10-6, 16. San Diego 9-5, 17. Central Union 9-5, 18. Our Lady of Peace 11-3, 19. Bishop’s 8-5, 20. Otay Ranch 13-4, 21. Calexico 12-3, 22. Canyon Hils 10-2, 23. Christian 10-3, 24. Escondido 7-4, 25. Torrey Pines 7-8, 26. San Marcos 6-7, 27. Cambridge School 4-1, 28. Rancho Buena Vista 9-6, 29. Carlsbad 6-12, 30. Hilltop 11-1, 31. Valley Center 9-2, 32. Lincoln 2-7, 33. Sage Creek 8-7, 34. Fallbrook 6-7, 35. Mt. Carmel 6-7, 36. Oceanside 5-5, 37. Morse 9-7, 38. Bonita Vista 7-6, 39. Vista 7-8, 40. Southwest El Centro 6-1. Others: 41. Castle Park 7-1, 44. Olympian 7-8, 45. Eastlake 7-8, 76. Chula Vista 6-8, 79. Southwest 4-7, 83. San Diego Academy 2-3, 89. Mar Vista 2-7, 93. San Ysidro 3-6, 94. Ocean View Christian 1-4, 97. CVLCC 2-4, 98. Sweetwater 0-5, 104. Bayfront Charter 2-4