Cougar Pride
2014 Trophies
By Josiah Birkbeck
Taft College Men’s Soccer has had another amazing season, finishing first in state with the most power points out of seventy-two junior colleges. Taft went on to achieve third place statewide after losing a fairly balanced game to Cerritos. “At the end of the day soccer is one of those sports where you can dominate and still lose,” said head coach Angelo Cutrona. Cutrona went on to describe how the game played out, “The two teams seemed to cancel each other out, the difference was one incredible shot on their part.”
The Cougars have placed in the final four statewide, five out of the last nine years, which is impressive for a little town like Taft. Cutrona is proud to be a part of the tradition that has been created at Taft College. Players have gone on to play at higher levels, both division 1 and 2, and professionally. Cutrona mentioned some of those players, “Most recently we’ve had former Taft College players make impacts at higher levels such as Edgar Contreras playing in the final four NCAA Division 1 for UCLA and Miguel Ebarra is a regular on the U.S.A. men’s national team.”
When asked what the plans are for the future training of the team entailed Cutrona had these words to say, “We’re always looking for different ways to improve, and the idea is to get better every single day, and we’re always looking to perfect our game.” The coach’s approach seems to be working well because Taft has placed in the top 10 nationally seven years in a row.