Atwater soccer riding team concept into Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals

There’s no one player on the Atwater High School boys soccer team that keeps opposing coaches up at night.

It’s kind of what makes the team so special.

While guys like sweeper Alex Rios and striker Eduardo Cebrero certainly possess star power, Jimmy Brewer’s squad long ago realized the whole team is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Egos and individual statistics have been put aside with results becoming the only concern.

Look no further than Atwater’s goal scorers through the first two rounds of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs for proof. Zeb Stevens (eight goals), Omar Duran (eight), Jonathan Escobedo (four) and Emile Bado (four) didn’t rank in the top six for the team entering the postseason. Crisp passing and unselfish play allowed the quartet to shine when the opportunity arose. It’s a mentality that’s allowed 14 players to find the back of the net this season, 13 doing so multiple times.

In any given game, Brewer will throw 16 to 18 players onto the pitch, confident each one could be that day’s hero. It’s what makes the Falcons so dangerous heading into Wednesday’s semifinal game at Jesuit. No one player needs to be relied upon when they play as a team.

“I did a little scouting of the four teams remaining on MaxPreps, just looking at the stats,” Brewer said. “It’s not surprising that the other three all have one main goal scorer and then there’s a big dropoff to the next guy. Eduardo certainly leads the way with our team. He’s got 20. But then we have a guy with 13, a 10, a couple nines and some eights. You can’t look at this team and say, ‘OK, that’s who we have to take away,’ because then you’re setting someone else up to beat you.

“There’s definitely a lot of guys on this team that would never leave the field for other teams. Some of them are only playing half the game for us. We made it clear from the beginning, though, with the depth we have, we’re a better team by getting everyone in and involved like that. They’re still high school kids. They still have pride and want to be perceived as good players, but it’s a credit to the group’s selflessness that they’re willing to give some of that up for the team.”

It helped that the Falcons knew the score coming into the season. With 14 returners and only 11 spots available on the pitch, there was always going to be a rotation. Still, knowing how something is going to be and accepting it aren’t the same thing. Brewer said there isn’t animosity when someone earns a start, nor lobbying for playing time from the guys on his bench.

“I think it helps that when we make subs there’s no drop in our play,” Escobedo said. “The guy going in for you is going to go just as hard. We’ve all got skill, and we all want to be out there. We’ve learned to just make the most of when we’re on the field.”

The formula seems to have worked. Atwater (24-1-4) tied the school record for wins in a season with the 2006 team that exited in the semifinals. The 96 goals have topped the 2006 team’s 93 with at least one game left to play.

“There are a lot of similarities between that team and this one,” Brewer said. “They kind of rose up and surprised everyone as juniors and then came back and had a really strong senior year in 2007. That team probably had the best player during my tenure in Jesse Horta, but this team is player for player much more talented.

“The biggest difference between the two teams is that 2006 group came back and got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round the next year. Reaching the semifinals in back-to-back years distinguishes this group. They’re probably the most successful team in school history.”

While the Atwater players appreciate that fact, it won’t be quite as meaningful if they don’t reach the championship game that eluded them a season ago. Standing in its way is the team that handed the Falcons their only loss of the season, a 3-0 defeat at Jesuit (22-2-1) on Oct. 23.

“Getting to the title game has really been the only goal since last year,” senior winger Brandon Alvarez said. “It hurt a lot just missing it and knowing we deserved to be there. If we do it, it’s even sweeter because we did it in Division I this year.

“There wasn’t really anything we did wrong in the first game against Jesuit,” Alvarez said. “We had an own goal, and they scored on two free kicks, but they didn’t build up against us. We had the bulk of the shots; we just didn’t finish. If we can do that and be a little smarter around our box, we’ve got a good chance.”

The Falcons are one of five local teams with semifinal matchups Wednesday:

No. 3 Livingston will travel to No. 2 Galt for a 3 p.m. game in Division IV. It’s a rematch of last year’s semifinal that the Wolves (14-5-2) won 2-0.

No. 7 Delhi (12-8-1) will try to follow its upset of No. 2 Escalon in the opening round of Division V with another road win over No. 3 Summerville. The pair will square off at 6:30 p.m.

In Division VI, No. 1 Hilmar (15-4-2) hosts No. 4 Encina and No. 3 Gustine (16-9-4) travels to No. 2 Delta-Clarksburg. Both games kick off at 3 p.m.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 7:50 PM with the headline "Atwater soccer riding team concept into Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals."