Rebuilt Long Beach starts strong

There was much uncertainty surrounding the Long Beach boys’ soccer team following a shocking first-round playoff loss last season and 11 players graduating. A rebuild appeared to be in order, but so far, this young group has shown plenty of moxie to start the new campaign.
The Marines enjoyed an incredible playoff run two years ago by making it to the Round of 16. That momentum carried over into last year, when Long Beach went 9-2-2 during the regular season and posted four straight shutouts to cap a regular-season ending five-game winning streak before being blanked 2-0 by No. 14 Kennedy.
With many of his impact players gone, coach Leo Palacio understandably had some concerns about his retooled roster, which features three freshman starters among the host of newcomers.
“This is the kind of group that is going to be very unpredictable,” he said. “I just want them to compete, that’s it. A bend, but don’t break attitude.”
But any fears of a down year have been quelled so far thanks to a 2-0-1 start despite tough weather conditions, including a 3-0 victory over Division to kick off this week Monday behind three second-half goals by senior Ryan Ocampo. Each tally was set up by promising sophomore Ryan Heitefuss while Jayden Zarco stopped all 11 Blue Dragon shots for the shutout.

The resiliency that the boys showed in the heat and humidity last weekend was equally impressive. Long Beach tied Calhoun 1-1 on Thomas Gosden’s goal during the evening of Sept. 8 and then posted a 3-1 win over St. John the Baptist in a game that started at 9 a.m. the following morning.
Senior Mateo Gomez, freshman Oliver Unver and All-Conference defender Braedon Konop scored for the Marines that morning and Zarco stopped six of seven shots. The short turnaround between the two games allowed Palacio to further evaluate his entire roster.
“Calhoun is pretty good, but we were away, and you always want to get a point away so that was a good point for us,” Palacio said last Saturday night. “This morning, when we played St. John the Baptist, I played a whole new team and they responded.”
Gomez, a JV callup, and the experienced Unver will have to take on bigger roles with senior forward Ryan Fitzgerald temporarily sidelined with a head injury suffered in the opener. Fitzgerald had the most goals of all the returnees with four, including a hat trick off the bench against Calhoun last Sept. 29.
Heitefuss will be an “impact player” on this year’s team, according to Palacio, who is also high on fellow midfielder Josias Saravia. Konop is expected to be one of the Marines’ best players, said Palacio, and heads a strong defensive corps that also includes seniors Alejandro Castro and Hunter Stadtman.
“Braedon likes to go forward, and he’s got the green light with our team,” Palacio said. “He’s our hardest hitter.”
Zarco played mostly up front last year, but several impressive appearances in goal convinced Palacio to make him the full-time keeper.