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Santa Monica Men's Soccer Defeats Jurupa Valley for CIF
Southern Section Division IV Championship--Jaime Cardenas March
1, 2008
Santa Monica 2, Jurupa Valley 0
Santa Monica coach Frank Gatell didn't just want to win it for himself and
his players, he wanted to win it for everyone that had ever worn the SAMO
uniform.
"I was never able to get to this level and for it's always been about the
family" said Gatell, who played at Santa Monica and has been the coach at
the school the last 11 years. "It's not just that I personally got here,
but it's the whole family that got here-- and to me that's the most important
thing."
With former players and coaches in attendance, the nationally-ranked Vikings won
their first ever CIF title by beating Jurupa Valley, 2-0, in the Southern
Section Division IV finals Saturday morning at Warren High. Both goals were
scored by forward Alessandro Canale off of corner kicks from midfielder Artur
Jozkowicz.
Santa Monica (26-0-1), ranked No. 2 in the nation by Soccer.Rivals.com, will
likely be the top seed in Division I next week when the SoCal Regionals begin on
Tuesday. The main goal for the Vikings when the season began was not to finish
No. 1 in the nation or to win the regional, however.
"All that really matters is this plaque right here," said Canale, a
senior, while holding the CIF championship plaque.
Canale is the team's leading scorer with 20 goals. LMU-bound Jozkowicz leads the
team in assists with 23. He's also second in goals with 13.
Jurupa Valley finishes their season with a record of 20-3-4.
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