Team of the Week: Cuyamaca College exceeds expectations on the way to another big season

Last year, Esteban Salais scored both goals as Cuyamaca College defeated Butte 2-0 to win the California Community College Athletic Association’s men’s soccer championship.

This season, Salais led the Coyotes deep into the state two-year college playoffs with 14 goals in 20 games.

But there was a long pause when Salais was asked to discuss his scoring prowess for one of California’s ranking soccer programs. Then he spoke.

“It’s not just me,” he said. “If you name one of us, you have to name all of us. That’s who we are.”

“This team has exceeded my expectations in so many ways on and off the field,” said coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. “We’ve surprised everyone over the last couple seasons. Winning the state title last year was an amazing accomplishment. But that was a veteran team. Most the players on that team moved on. This year was an extremely younger team, a unit loaded with freshmen. We had very few returnees. I’m surprised we got back to where we are.”

The Cougars’ 2025 run ended Tuesday afternoon, when visiting Los Angeles City College scored in the second overtime to defeat Cuyamaca College 1-0 in a third-round match of the 3C2A soccer tournament. Cuyamaca finishes the season 19-2-2.

Cuyamaca won the state championship last year after finishing second in 2023. Over the past three seasons, the Coyotes have gone 55-12-7. And in 2022, Cuyamaca went 11-3-8 before being eliminated in the second round of the state playoffs.

And it’s not just the men’s soccer team making headlines for Cuyamaca these days. The men’s cross country team won the state championship last weekend. And the women’s golf team finished seventh.

Not bad for one of the smallest colleges in the 3C2A lineup.

“We’re not supposed to be where we are,” said Coyotes center defender Juan Antonio Miranda. “I think we caught some opponents by surprise the last couple of seasons. No more.”

It wasn’t totally smooth sailing for Cuyamaca’s soccer team this season, although it won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference title, was ranked No. 1 in the nation for a time and went into the postseason seeded third in the region.

“There have been challenges,” said Salais. “We all come from different backgrounds and we are young. It took some time for us to become a cohesive unit in our demanding style of play. We needed to learn how to communicate and play off each other and play as a unit.”

Salais and Miranda, both forwards, returned from the 2024 team. So did two midfielders — Josue Franco and Marcos Santillan — who were part of the 2023 state runner-up team.

“The defense was very inexperienced,” said Hiatt-Aleu.

The coach met with Miranda and moved him from offense to the central spot on the back line. Such a change doesn’t always sit well with a goal-scorer.

“At first, I was worried about the transition,” said Miranda. “On offense, you have one job. There’s much more pressure on defense. You can be playing a great game and one mistake can lead to disaster. Tactically, the biggest adjustment was being aware. But I can see the entire field in front of me. I can tell people where to go. And I also distribute the ball. It’s like being a quarterback. And I love playing the long pass to an attacker.”

The Coyotes’ starting lineup had one thing in common. Every member went to a local high school.

Flanking Salais (Bonita Vista High School) on the wings were Santillan (Sweetwater) and Diego Sanchez Cervantes (San Diego). The midfield was comprised of Josue Reyes Cortez (Lincoln), Franco (Hoover), Diego Esquivel (Bonita Vista) and Victor Renteria (Bonita Vista). Flanking Miranda (Torrey Pines) on defense were Carlos Montes Jr. (Hoover) and Diego Mendez (Bonita Vista). The goalkeeper was Edgar Gil (San Diego).

Salais had a team-high 14 goals. Esquivel added 13 goals and six assists. Renteria had seven goals and eight assists. Cortez had eight goals and four assists, Gil had a 0.95 goals-against average.

“The biggest thing this season is we kept winning with a new and young team,” said Miranda. “We kept our feet grounded and advanced our tradition.”

Meanwhile, MiraCosta College (13-5-7) was also eliminated Tuesday in the third round of the 3C2A soccer playoffs. Visiting San Bernardino City College won 5-4 on penalty kicks after the game was tied 2-2 through regulation and two overtimes.

Cuyamaca and MiraCosta were the last two local teams alive in the soccer tournament.

Every week during the school year, U-T contributor Bill Center highlights one San Diego college team that’s making strides on and off the field. To nominate a team, email wcenter27@gmail.com