Prep soccer: With eclectic lineup and simple plan, McClatchy eyes 14th-straight title

The McClatchy boys’ soccer team has a unique look and sound to it.

During Thursday’s 5-1 win over Grant, a McClatchy assistant coach barked in Spanish at the players, “Rapido, rapido!” It just as easily could have been German or Italian. The Lions have players from disparate countries and a variety of club teams in the Sacramento area.

Whatever works.

McClatchy has won 13 straight Delta League titles and is poised to win another, with an 8-4 record overall and a 6-0 mark in the Metro Conference. McClatchy athletic director Rob Feickert gives credit to coach Vaughn Boyce, who has led the team since 2005. McClatchy soccer coaches have the toughest jobs of all the high school’s sports programs, Feickert said, because they pull players from all over and make them into a cohesive unit.

“That’s just something we deal with,” Feickert said. “The diversity at this school makes coaching a tough thing to do.”

“It’s a little bit difficult as a public, inner-city school, to kind of bring like all the things together to have to have a talented team,” Boyce said.

Boyce, who also coaches with the San Juan Unified soccer club, makes it look pretty easy. The key, in part, is depth. The Lions had four different players score goals against Grant. That’s not unusual for McClatchy, which has had at least eight players score this season.

Boyce likened his job to putting together a complicated jigsaw puzzle. It’s clear he likes the challenge.

“It’s constantly trying to find the right fits,” he said. “Everybody has natural-given talents, and there’s room for it within the game. Can we find the space? Where do I have what piece? It’s like making a soup. What can I brew up today? Right. And hopefully it tastes good.”

The job is actually simple. Boyce is constantly chattering at his players during games and practices, shouting elemental instructions: Look around the field. Take the easy pass. Press up when the ball is on the other side of the field.

“Through simplicity, we find complexity,” Boyce said. “We keep it simple. We have triple-threat soccer. … We shoot, we dribble based on the area that we’re at, right? So that’s fairly simple, right, that I teach to everyone. And then, through that methodology, once they learn it, I allow the players to get creative and add their own flavor onto it, add their own personality to it. And from there, we have fun.”

It’s been plenty of fun for Martin Uribe, who tallied a goal against Grant on Thursday. While the players aren’t together long – usually starting practice around Thanksgiving and wrapping up regular-season play in early February – the Lions offer a change of pace.

This isn’t club play, which can be monotonous with its every-weekend tournaments. And it’s not the same cast of players kids get used to seeing every day for nine months of the year. And Uribe likes it that way.

“It’s a different experience,” Uribe said. “Because (we have players) coming from Ecuador, Germany, they bring what they know there to America. And they could teach us a bit of what they learned. And it’s a good combination between our soccer and their soccer.”

Most McClatchy players are on a club team, but not all, which is unusual. And the Lions play for a hodgepodge of club teams, rather than one or two, which is typical at most top-tier high schools.

Despite the challenges, McClatchy has already rolled through the first half of the Metro schedule unbeaten and untied, though three games were decided by a single goal. The Lions are always going to get the best a Metro opponent has to offer, said Chase Sudmann, who had a pair of goals against Grant.

“Everyone just wants to play us to beat us,” he said. “It’s like we have a target on our back.”

Grant coach Mong Vue can confirm that. He said his Pacers always dial up their game when they face McClatchy.

Despite the lopsided score, the Pacers opened some eyes on the McClatchy sideline with their talents. Grant doesn’t have kids who play club soccer. They practice in area parks and against each other. Goalkeeper Julian Rico Moreno had a very nice punch save in the first half to keep the score reasonable against McClatchy, then played midfield in the second half, displaying nifty footwork and passing abilities. Big junior striker Maurice Davis showed power and speed up front. And Cristian Gomez could be a Division II or Division I player in college, Vue said, if he had been able to stay in club soccer.

Vue hopes his Pacers can rival the Pacers soon. For now, beating McClatchy is the top goal for Grant and all the Metro rivals.

“They’ve been a really good program that I look forward to playing and also watching,” Vue said. “They do have a lot of talent here. … It’s similar to Grant, too, and with some of their players not playing club and just playing for the high school.”

And it’s a mix unlike anywhere else.

This story was originally published January 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.