‘She’s very worthy.’ El Capitan senior named CCC Most Valuable Player by coaches
El Capitan High senior Haley Espinoza generated a lot of the offense for the Gauchos soccer team this season.
The Fresno State-bound star scored 13 goals and finished with 14 assists in just 10 matches.
“She’s an athlete that can set up a teammate for a goal, but can also finish and that makes her a very valuable player,” said El Capitan coach Jose Duran.
The Central California Conference coaches agreed, selecting Espinoza as the CCC’s Most Valuable Player.
“It’s an honor to be recognized for what I do on the field,” Espinoza said. “At first I was surprised, but I think after the four years of playing high school soccer, I feel I’ve earned it my senior year.”
Duran says Espinoza is a complete package on the field.
“She’s a very smart, aggressive player,” Duran said. “She has good vision and understands pressure points. She knows when to pinch and when to push out. She knows when to finish. She plays with such an intensity. She’s very worthy of being named MVP.”
El Capitan teammate Anaya Shelton was named the CCC Offensive Player of the Year.
The Golden Valley duo of Jadyn Gong and Haylee Heffner earned the CCC’s two other major awards. Gong was named the Goalie of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. Heffner was named the Defensive Player of the Year.
Gong and Heffner will be teammates for the next four years at UC Merced.
The all-CCC first-team selections were Atwater’s Ashley Perez, Buhach Colony’s Kayleigh Howard and Alexi Ochoa, El Capitan’s Stacy Olivero, Kassidy Spiva and Alondra Higareda, Golden Valley’s Kayla Perez, Destiny Reyes and Bella Rodriguez, Livingston’s Saahi Lara and Merced’s Rylie Lawry.
The second-team picks were Atwater’s Evelyn Cisneros, Buhach Colony’s Julianna Beltran and Lesley Martinez, El Capitan’s Jalissa Cortez and Maggie Ochoa, Golden Valley’s Rylee Heffner, Gisselle Naranjo and Izzy Richardson, Livingston’s Alondra Gutierrez and Merced’s Analiese Flores and Vanessa Perez.
CCC Boys Soccer
After leading the Merced boys to a CCC championship, senior MichaelAaron Ortez was named the conference MVP by the CCC coaches.
Ortez scored an astounding 22 goals in 12 games this spring for the Bears.
“He dominated on offense, he controlled the ball,” said Merced coach Bart McAfee. “He was man marked a lot. There were games when he had a man on him the whole time, sometimes two guys on him.”
Ortez had a five-goal game against El Capitan and a four-goal game against Buhach Colony.
Golden Valley senior Carlos Morales was named the CCC Offensive Player of the Year. Morales scored 12 goals for the Cougars this season.
Atwater’s Alfredo Rodriguez was named the Defensive Player of the Year and Livingston’s Yareth Martinez was named the Goalie of the Year.
The all-CCC first-team selections were Alex Pena (Atwater), Jason Mendoza (BC), Adrian Aguilar (EC), Bryan Figueroa (GV), David Ledesma (GV), Diego Garcia (Livingston), Marco Romero (Livingston), Eden Sandoval (Livingston), Lorenzo Jorgenson (Merced), Henry Mejia (Merced) and Adrian Ramos (Merced).
The second-team picks were Atwater’s Aaron Perez and Armando Ramirez, Buhach Colony’s Eddie Tinoco, El Capitan’s Alexis Hernandez, Golden Valley’s Miguel Angel Chavez and Adrian Perez, Livingston’s Ezekiel Padilla and Adrian Mireless, Merced’s Fabrizio Alvarez, Matthew Baladad and Julian Enciso.
The Sportsmanship Awards went o Atwater’s Jose Ceballos, Buhach Colony’s Beau Usry, El Capitan’s Fernando Abarca, Golden Valley’s John Moua, Livingston’s Beau Brummell and Merced’s Jayden Xiong.
This story was originally published June 20, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
