MARTY JAMES

martyjames.sports@gmail.com

There's so much that impresses and excites head coach Rogelio Ochoa about the Napa Valley College men's soccer team.

There are the numbers, with the Storm going into the season with 25 players on the roster.

There is all the work that the Storm has put in, with players participating in spring and summer programs.

There is a connection and bond that the players have formed, with Ochoa calling the Storm "a very professional group."

There is also the way that the Storm has looked, particularly in scrimmages, in the last week and a half to start the 2025 fall season.

"They're hard working. They're very connected. You can tell they're extremely focused when we're doing film, extremely focused when we're on the field," Ochoa said on Friday.

"They understand there's a task at hand. You can sense it. You can feel it. It's pretty cool."

Six players return from last year's team and two players are back from the 2023 team.

Napa Valley (5-11-4 overall, 5-4-3 Bay Valley Conference) concluded last year's season with two straight wins, both of which were shutouts, and finished in fourth place in the conference standings.

The Storm closed out the season with consecutive wins over Merritt College-Oakland, 3-0, and Yuba College-Marysville, 8-0.

"I think last season, they were very aggressive, very strong. They were very direct, but sometimes the ball didn't bounce your way," said Ochoa. "We were just unfortunate, sometimes conceding goals last minute, missing open opportunities, where you scratch your head and say, 'That should have been ours.'

"We're so close. Hopefully, we can minimize that this year and close that gap in those key games."

Napa Valley will start this year's season at home on Tuesday, August 26, facing Skyline College-San Bruno in a nonconference match at 4 p.m.

The Storm is also at home on Friday, August 29 in a nonconference match against Modesto Junior College at 4 p.m.

"Hopefully, we're prepared for Tuesday, our opener against Skyline," said Ochoa. "We have two tough opponents right off the bat. We have Skyline, and then we have Modesto, both tough, tough matches, both good programs, that historically make playoffs and are always fighting for their conference title.

"It would be a great confidence booster for us to get good results. Obviously, you want to win every game, but we also want to try to have that identity – to really step up and have key players really take over the game and have our team really manage those key moments."

Napa Valley has additional nonconference matches against City College of San Francisco (Sept. 5), College of the Redwoods-Eureka (Sept. 9), Foothill College-Los Altos Hills (Sept. 12), Ohlone College-Fremont (Sept. 16), Evergreen Valley College-San Jose (Sept. 19), and Santa Rosa Junior College (Sept. 26).

"Our nonconference is always tough. We do it like that purposely. Hopefully, we can get positive results," said Ochoa.

Players in the NVC program have been at work, preparing and training for the 2025 season, since February, during the spring session. There is also a summer session, leading into preseason practices that started in mid-August.

"We had a big group this spring," said Ochoa. "A lot of those guys are here. Hopefully, we can see some of those players that played in the spring really show that in the fall.

"I think just having that continuity with our culture, which is our program, is really cool."

Napa Valley had a rough start to the 2024 season, losing four straight matches before tying Chabot College-Hayward, 1-1.

The Storm has played in two scrimmages this month. The first one was against its alumni and the other was an intrasquad scrimmage.

"I think this group has that experience of managing moments within the game. We've had two scrimmages, and both, I think we've gotten a lot of positives out of," said Ochoa. "There's moments where we were challenged, moments where we had to figure things out, and the team did that, which is what we want."

There are six returning players for the Storm:

* Alberto Martinez Hernandez, defender. Hernandez was named All-Bay Valley Conference second team last year.

* Jesus Medina, defender.

* Michael Soto, midfielder.

* Jonathan Preciado, defender.

* Julian Robledo, midfielder.

* Angel Olvera-Vega, goal keeper.

Players returning who were on the 2023 team:

* Angel Perez, defender.

* Mario "Gio" Avina, forward.

Optimistic is the word that Ochoa uses when talking about the Storm.

"I think this group is hungry, and I feel like this is going to be a good opportunity for them to showcase their skill and hopefully propel them to go play at a higher level," said Ochoa. "We have quality in every line. We have depth. It's such a strong group.

"I think these players have a chip on their shoulder, and I think that's going to really help us this season, and hopefully win tight games and also manage tough games as well, because it's a group that wants more. They're happy to be here, but they want more, whether it's playing at a four-year (college), or they're playing semi-professional, professional. I think that's the biggest difference. And I think because of that, they're really going to play out there with something to prove.

"We have got to concentrate on the season right now, concentrate on the task at hand."

The Storm is getting all-around standout play from several players, including:

* Sergio Hernandez, a winger/striker, who is returning from an injury.

"He's happy to be back. He's happy to be playing. He's enjoying soccer. You can tell, he wants more," said Ochoa.

* Adrian Ceja, midfielder.

"A good player, a quality player, who I think is going to have a great season, and hopefully does move on to the next level after this," said Ochoa.

* Cadel Newton-Knotch, goalkeeper.

"We have a strong goalkeeper this year who gives us a presence," said Ochoa. "It's just having that goalkeeper presence, someone that's comfortable with his feet, someone who's comfortable playing out of the back. It definitely helps the back line when defending and also when starting the attack."

Also, on the team:

* Christian Damian Corona Ponce.

* Hayden Hubbard.

* Aristeo Eusebio Ezquivel Jr. * GianLuca Olea.

* Edmundo Gonzalez Lopez.

* Jovani Jimenez.

* Ricky Gonzalez.

* Julian Robledo.

* Daniel Dominguez.

* Salvador Gutierrez.

* Guardas S. Atwal.

* Carlos Avina.

* Diego Luna.

"I think the message to the season has been, we need a group that will win us games, not the starting 11, but a winning group of players who sometimes will start, some who will come off the bench, and will rotate as needed, to get the job done, which is to get the result," said Ochoa. "They're buying into that. I think the more we do that, and the more success we have with that on the field, the more they'll be willing to do that for the team."

A strength to the NVC team is in its overall numbers and depth.

"We were able to recruit big numbers and then get last-minute recruits that, I think can be very helpful and hopefully help us in those tight games," said Ochoa.

"We have such quality depth and then also fluidity. I think that has to be key, being fluid in our attack, fluid in the way we move on the field, supporting one another, and just fluid in defensive shapes as well and understanding our roles. I think the more we can do that, the more problems we can cause opponents. And then having a strong bench, having guys coming in and out and the level not dropping, and sometimes even raising the level, is going to really be a benefit."

Gedeon Ilunga, a winger, transferred from NVC to Pacific Union College and will play for the Pioneers.

"He was a big threat up top, with good speed and breaks lines. He's a problem for any defense," said Ochoa.

* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.