Cerritos College men's soccer coach
Benny Artiaga, who recently
helped lead the Falcons to their first-ever
California Community College State Championship, was
recently named the NCSAA/adidas
Junior College Division III National
Men's Soccer Coach of the Year at a ceremony in
Indianapolis last week. The Falcons, who turned in
one of the most impressive defensive efforts ever
seen, defeating four of the top teams in the state
in the playoffs by a 1-0 score to conclude the
season with a 20-3-5 record and #2 national ranking.
"The whole experience of being
in Indianapolis was quite humbling,” said Artiaga.
“It was amazing to look around and see Sunil Gulati
(President of the US Soccer Federation), Bruce Arena
(Former National Team Coach), Anson Dorrance
(18-time National Champion with the University of
North Carolina women's team), Tim Von Steeg
(current men's National Champion with UC Santa
Barbara), and thought, 'what am I doing here?'. I
headed to Indianapolis with a really positive
approach of just being grateful for being invited to
the big ceremony. I was enjoying every second of
being around the nation's elite and being able to
participate in forums, lectures and field sessions
that included some of the brightest soccer minds in
the world. In one room you had the England National
team assistant coach, in another room was England's
Sports Psychologist and there were also coaches from
the National Federation from Spain, Holland,
Germany, Ireland and other countries."
The selection of Artiaga
surprised many, as the state of California has not
been recognized very often when choosing the
community college coach of the year. Although some
of the best teams in the country have come from the
state, only once has a men's team and once has a
women's team head coach been from California.
Artiaga represents the third overall.
"This season was one of ups and downs
but luckily most of the downs happened earlier than
later,” said Artiaga. “We started preseason play 0-2
and quickly fell behind in the third game in
addition to losing (returning conference player of
the year) Adrian Gonzales for the remainder of the
season.”
But the Falcons started
their comeback from that point forward and finished
the season 13-0-2 on their way to the title. "I
think the injury and the slow start was a gut-check
point in our season because, as a coaching staff,
you wonder sometimes if everybody is still on the
same page and if our players still believe. The
important part was for our coaching staff to
approach it with the same demeanor and confidence as
we did in the preseason. Assistant coach Raul
Avellaneda was instrumental in keeping our kids
positive and constantly injecting me with that
positive energy we needed to move forward.”
According to Artiaga, it wasn't
until a 2-1 loss to Mt. San Antonio that the players
decided to go from being a good team to a great one.
The result was their 15-game unbeaten streak to end
the season, which also included a 1-0 playoff win at
Santa Ana College, which snapped their 14-year
post-season home field winning streak.
"By
the time playoffs came around, we were a really
confident group of guys, especially our team
defense,” added Artiaga. “We did not believe anyone
could score on us and sure enough, we only allowed
one goal throughout the playoffs and that came in
the latter part of a 3-1 win in the first round of
playoffs. The key game was the Santa Ana win, where
we scored in the 86th minute to win the
game. From that point on I knew we would not lose
again. This group gave the coaches an aura of
confidence, and as every game approached, our
practices were extremely sharp and our discipline
was impeccable."
“You know, when my name was
announced that I had won, I looked to (Falcon
women's head coach)
Ruben Gonzalez and he had the same look of
disbelief as I did," said Artiaga. "I can now laugh
at it, but from the time I got up and walked to the
stage to pick up the award and when I got back to my
seat, I have no idea what was said because I went
completely blank. I had to ask Ruben what they said.
I didn't even wear the suit I brought because I
thought I had no chance of winning. But afterwards,
I couldn't help but stop and think about the
sophomores and how they were the true catalysts for
the season because they truly believed in the
program and the system. They were part of my first
recruiting class and will forever be a part of this
award. To me, they represent the beginning of a new
phase for the Cerritos program and future
accomplishments."
Artiaga thinks the state championship
is a turning point in the program because, "we have
some amazing returning players who continue to
improve and we will have one of the strongest
incoming classes ever," added Artiaga. “But, we must
remain humble and continue to work on the basic
values that made us successful and not get all
wrapped up in all the external things that make you
lose focus. My emphasis will not change. I will
continue to recruit hard because that is the only
way we can have the state's elite players here at
Cerritos. We will continue to work and develop our
players, while at the same time, keeping our focus
on the big prize."
