Tech’s boys soccer team relied on its defense to take the Southeast League title, posting 14 shutouts and going unbeaten in the first 12 games.
Luis Carranza fueled that dominating defense, both emotionally and as the final defender in the back.
That’s why league coaches named Carranza as one of three Southeast League Players of the Year, along with Coronado goalkeeper Danny Sellitti and Foothill forward Christian Volesky.
Sellitti’s role with the Cougars was obvious, posting 11½ shutouts and allowing only six goals in the regular season. Likewise,
Volesky was one of Southern Nevada’s offensive leaders with a stunning 32 goals.
Carranza’s role was a little bit different, however.
“He plays a position where you don’t get a lot of stats,” Tech coach Josh Jones said. “But he was kind of the glue who kept every thing together.
“He was like a field general out there. If he was having a bad game, it brought the rest of the team down. But when he was up, the whole team was up.”
Roadrunners goalkeeper Abdel Rodriguez, who earned All-Southern Nevada, All-Sunrise Region and All-Southeast League honors, had 10½ shutouts while allowing only five goals. But Jones said Carranza’s center-back performance was key.
“The shutouts were due mainly because of him,” Jones said of Carranza. “That’s not a stat, but it goes unreported. He just played a position where you don’t get a ton of stats.”
Carranza, a two-year captain, helped Tech (14-2-4) earn the Southeast’s No. 1 seed in the Sunrise Region playoffs before the team lost in the semifinals to upstart state finalist Desert Pines (15-4-3).
“It was a great season but unfortunately didn’t go as well in the playoffs as we wanted it to,” Jones said. “I think Luis and the five seniors played a vital role for the future. We thought it would be a huge rebuilding year with 14 underclassmen. But we relied heavily on our seniors to help those underclassmen who had never experienced high school soccer.”
Del Sol’s John Britt was named Southeast Coach of the Year.
In the Northwest, state champion Legacy earned the lion’s share of the awards, with eight players recognized. Longhorns forward Saul Aguirre earned Player of the Year, and Legacy’s Jose Gomez took Coach of the Year.
Valley’s Juan Carlos Gomez was named Northeast Player of the Year, and Desert Pines’ Judas Perez took Coach of the Year.
Spring Valley’s Seth McGinn and Western’s Joshua Ballard shared the Southwest Player of the Year award, and Bonanza’s Thomas Rainey was Coach of the Year.
All-Southern Nevada
Luis Carranza, Tech; Jesus Herrera, Tech; Oscar Velazquez, Tech; Abdel Rodriguez, Tech; Eric Beil, Del Sol; Jesse Romero, Del Sol; Roberto Perez, Del Sol; Danny Sellitti, Coronado; Jake Killian, Coronado; Devin Diego, Silverado; Christian Volesky, Foothill; Juan Carlos Gomez, Valley; Julio Borjas, Valley; Abel Alverado, Valley; Tony Velasquez, Valley; Victor Favela, Desert Pines; Cruz Cortes, Desert Pines; Rube Arzola, Desert Pines; Estevan Benavides, Las Vegas; Erick Fedde, Las Vegas; Carlos Ramirez, Eldorado; Sixto Raul Lucero, Canyon Springs; Shane Thompson, Bishop Gorman; Fuzz Orellana, Bishop Gorman; Tyler Eng, Bishop Gorman; Glenn Anderson, Bishop Gorman; Sergio Rodriguez, Bonanza; Robert Sagal, Bonanza; Daniel Hernandez, Bonanza; Joshua Ballard, Western; Jeffery Diaz, Western; Seth McGinn, Spring Valley; Jorge Echevarria, Sierra Vista; Saul Aguirre, Legacy; Ricky Acero, Legacy; Julio Uribe, Legacy; Stefan Skinjaric, Legacy; Alexander Schackley, Palo Verde; Matej Kustura, Palo Verde; Matt Poster, Palo Verde; Corey Ackley, Cimarron-Memorial; Bernardo Badillo, Cimarron-Memorial; Nico Johnson, Arbor View; Erik Christiansen, Centennial
All-Sunrise Region
Carranza, Tech; Herrera, Tech; Velazquez, Tech; Rodriguez, Tech; Juan Palacios, Tech; Beil, Del Sol; Romero, Del Sol; Perez, Del Sol; Gerardo Mendoza, Del Sol; Sellitti, Coronado; Killian, Coronado; Jesus Maciel, Coronado; Diego, Silverado; Julio Hermoza, Silverado; Volesky, Coronado; J. Gomez, Valley; Borjas, Valley; Alverado, Valley; Velasquez, Valley; Axel Gomez, Valley; Favela, Desert Pines; Cortes, Desert Pines; Arzola, Desert Pines; Gerardo Romero, Desert Pines; Benavides, Las Vegas; Fedde, Las Vegas; Ruben Amezcua, Las Vegas; Ramirez, Eldorado; Cruz, Eldorado; Lucero, Canyon Springs
All-Sunset Region
Thompson, Bishop Gorman; Orellana, Bishop Gorman; Eng, Bishop Gorman; Anderson, Bishop Gorman; Michael Gray, Bishop Gorman; Rodriguez, Bonanza; Sagal, Bonanza; Hernandez, Bonanza; Sondra Herstad, Bonanza; Ballard, Western; Diaz, Western; Christian Ramirez, Western; McGinn, Spring Valley; Ricky Gonzalez, Spring Valley; Echavarria, Sierra Vista; Aguirre, Legacy; Acero, Legacy; Uribe, Legacy; Skinjaric, Legacy; Miguel Herrera, Legacy; Shackley, Palo Verde; Kustura, Palo Verde; Poster, Palo Verde; Colton McCann, Palo Verde; Ackley, Cimarron-Memorial; Badillo, Cimarron-Memorial; Alex Ramirez, Cimarron-Memorial; Johnson, Arbor View; Christan Hallstrom, Arbor View; Christiansen, Centennial
All-Southeast League
Carranza, Tech; Herrera, Tech; Velazquez, Tech; Rodriguez, Tech; Palacios, Tech; Abel Hernandez, Tech; Beil, Del Sol; Romero, Del Sol; Perez, Del Sol; Mendoza, Del Sol; Jose Osorio, Del Sol; Sellitti, Coronado; Killian, Coronado; Maciel, Coronado; Jordan Yergensen, Coronado; Diego, Silverado; Hermoza, Silverado; Chase Leaders, Silverado; Matt Babas, Green Valley; Lex Freeman, Basic; Danny Musovski, Liberty; Volesky, Foothill
co-Players of the Year–Luis Carranza, tech; Danny Sellitti, Coronado; Christian Volesky, Foothill
Coach of the Year–John Britt, Del Sol
All-Northeast League
J. Gomez, Valley; Borjas, Valley; Alverado, Valley; Velasquez, Valley; A. Gomez, Valley; Adolfo Ramirez, Valley; Favela, Desert Pines; Cortes, Desert Pines, Arzola, Desert Pines; Romero, Desert Pines; Sergio Gonzalez, Desert Pines; Beanvides, Las Vegas; Fedde, Las Vegas; Amezcua, Las Vegas; Danny Guzman, Las Vegas; Ramirez, Eldorado; Cruz, Eldorado, Jessa Marta, Eldorado; Lucero, Canyon Springs; Mario Ahumanda, Sunrise Mountain; Eduardo Gutierrez, Chaparral
Player of the Year–Juan Carlos Gomez, Valley
Coach of the Year–Judas Perez, Desert Pines
All-Southwest League
Thompson, Bishop Gorman; Orellana, Bishop Gorman; Eng, Bishop Gorman; Anderson, Bishop Gorman; Gray, Bishop Gorman; Ramak Roohani, Bishop Gorman; Rodriguez, Bonanza; Sagal, Bonanza; Hernandez, Bonanza; Herstad, Bonanza; Adrian Chavez, Bonanza; Ballard, Western; Diaz, Western; Ramirez, Western; Mario Mendoza, Western; McGinn, Spring Valley; Gonzalez, Spring Valley; Rodrigo Tipacti, Spring Valley; Milan Popovic, Sierra Vista; Jarom Stuart, Desert Oasis; Ryan Benavente, Durango; Echavarria, Sierra Vista
co-Players of the Year–Seth McGinn, Spring Valley; Joshua Ballard, Western
Coach of the Year–Thomas Rainey, Bonanza
All-Northwest League
Aguirre, Legacy; Acero, Legacy; Uribe, Legacy; Skinjaric, Legacy; Herrera, Legacy; Skyler Ibarra, Legacy; Shackley, Palo Verde; Kustura, Palo Verde; Polster, Palo Verde; McCann, Palo Verde; Mitchell Scott, Palo Verde; Ackley, Cimarron-Memorial; Badillo, Cimarron-Memorial; Ramirez, Cimarron-Memorial; Gerardo Zacarias, Cimarron-Memorial; Johnson, Arbor View; Hallstrom, Arbor View; Andrey Winchell, Arbor View; Diego Zacarias, Centennial; Aurelio Ramirez, Cheyenne; Benjamin Soto, Mojave; Juan Gutierrez, Shadow Ridge, D’Khari Hicks, Faith Lutheran; Christiansen, Centennial
Player of the Year–Saul Aguirre, Legacy
Coach of the Year–Jose Gomez, Legacy
