Soto Likes What He Sees As Cougars Prepare for CIF Soccer Final

On Saturday morning, Mario Soto will perform his usual pregame ritual by going to the beach and taking a long walk along the sandy shoreline, perhaps with a few teammates. But this particular outing will be much different that all the rest.

He probably will reflect on the highs and lows that have occurred during his four years as a member of the Capistrano Valley High boys soccer team. He likely will ruminate about his senior year as captain of an unpredictable Cougars team and an improbable, implausible, remarkable playoff run that has taken him and his teammates to the pinnacle of their high school soccer careers.

And he undoubtedly will imagine Saturday night’s CIF-Southern Section Division 2 championship match against the Claremont Wolfpack (Mission Viejo High, 7:30 p.m.) over and over at least a hundred times in his mind, each time coming up with a different version of the contest but each one with an identical ending.

“I will take everything I’ve learned from every coach I’ve ever had into that game, and I expect to win,” said Soto, the team’s star attraction and undisputed leader, who has scored 16 goals this season, tying him for ninth best in Orange County. “We have each other. We know each other well. This is a great team with great players, and we all hang out together. I expect my team to do well Saturday.”

It wasn’t always that way, even as recently as a year ago.

The Cougars started the 2009-2010 season winning 11 of 12 games, but lost their last 10 games to finish near .500. This season it appeared that history would repeat itself. The Cougars finished nonleague play ranked No. 1 in Division 2, but then won only two of eight league games, losing twice to rival Mission Viejo, to finish third in the Sea View League and with a tough draw entering the playoffs.

However, there is one major difference between last year’s team and this year’s team. His name is Jason Sorrell, first-year coach of the Cougars.

“I remember the first day we met Coach Sorrell and I knew immediately that this season wasn’t going to be like it was,” Soto recalled. “He has got a passion for the game and he gave it to all of us. He made everything so much easier that we shook off last season. Everybody was over it right away.”

It’s not uncommon to hear Sorrell yelling at his players to, “Keep working! Keep working!” during a match. He realized early on that the Cougars didn’t have the most talented team top to bottom, but they certainly could be the hardest working.

“There’s no substitute for effort,” Sorrell says. “I will play every single player on the bench if I have to get everyone working. I know nobody likes to come out.”

That workmanlike attitude helped the Cougars finish with only five losses against 24 wins or ties, including four consecutive one-goal victories in the playoffs.

“We knew we had a good team before the season, but he’s made us work at it to become better each day,” Soto said. “I’ve always been that player who did all the talking, but this year I’ve tried to be the player doing the work. Coach Sorrell brought me down to earth. He trusted me and I love having that responsibility coming in as captain of the team. If I work hard, the team works hard. If I slack off, the team will slack off. Everybody looks up to me as a role model.”

That’s the way it’s always been with Mario. Everybody has looked up to him, both literally and figuratively.

He was always the biggest kid in class and had to endure the taunts of other kids because of his weight. But young Mario was the best soccer player, too. His father, Mario Sr., played forward (Mario Jr.’s position) at Santa Monica High School and, according to Mario Jr., was a pretty good player who unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to continue playing after high school.

Mario Jr. also is the youngest of four children, all sisters — Evelyn, 27, Vanessa, 24, and Yesenia, 22. Vanessa played soccer briefly before getting hurt.

“They were like my big brothers, they always protected me,” said Soto, who is one of the biggest forwards in the county at 6 feet 1 and 180 pounds, which allows him to out-muscle most defenders. “I get a lot of support from my family. My parents both work, but they’ve always been there for me.”

Mario Sr. encouraged his only son to work hard at the game, and maybe one day Mario Jr. would have the opportunities that he didn’t. It must have worked because Soto will be attending Arizona Western College in Yuma this fall and plans to transfer to San Diego State in the next year or two. The Matadors won the 2010 Region I men’s soccer title and has sent many players to the Aztecs soccer program.

“I’ve never been away from home before, except for club tournaments,” Soto said. “I’m pretty nervous but pretty excited about going. I really want to play at San Diego State and they said this is the best way to go.”

Before that happens, however, Soto says he wants to leave Capistrano Valley with its first CIF championship in boys soccer since 1982. Despite feeling the after-effects of the flu and a 103 degree temperature, which sidelined him during much of the first half against La Habra in the semifinals, he expects to be 100 percent by Saturday.

No player has played more games (29) this season than Soto, which is a testament to his durability and fortitude. Besides, nothing could keep Soto out of the biggest game of his life.

“When we played Edison this year and lost 3-0, we were walking back to the locker room and everyone wanted to play them again, right then, because we thought we could’ve beaten them,” Soto said. “Normally when a team loses they don’t want to play that team again. But we wish we were playing them now. That’s the attitude on this team. We don’t want to lose again and then say we thought we could’ve beaten them. I expect my team to win. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”

And sometimes there’s nothing like a walk on the beach to really appreciate the calm before the storm.