The San Diego Mesa College Athletic Program has cemented its place as one of the nation’s premier two-year college athletic programs, finishing second in the 2024–2025 Ron Case Cup standings. The award, one of the highest honors in two-year college athletics, recognizes excellence in championship competition across all sports.
I was born in Munich, Germany, but moved to California right before I turned a year old; so unfortunately, I do not speak German. I lived in San Jose until I was eight, then I moved to San Diego, where I have been for the latter half of my life.
Second-year student Zora Williams is using her voice to bring more mental health and nutrition programming to San Diego Mesa College. Williams was elected president of the college’s Associated Students (AS) for the 2024-2025 academic year and serves as the college’s student representative on the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees.
November 17, 2016
San Diego Mesa College’s men’s soccer team (8-4-9) will travel to take on Oxnard College (11-2-8) in a playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Entering the playoffs for the second year in a row, the matchup is reminiscent of last year, where Mesa was defeated by Oxnard in the regional semifinals. This year, however, the team feels confident that they have what it takes to defeat the reigning state champions.
Assistant Coach Duarte Andrade, who is in his second season working with the team, sees this game as a sort of rematch.
“We’re just way more organized defensively, we’re just a tough team to beat,” Andrade said. “I know we’re going to be really difficult to break down – our biggest key to the game is trying to get on the board to score early.”
Prior to going to the playoffs last year, Mesa’s men’s soccer team had not been to the playoffs since 2003. Andrade sees the close-knit relationship between the players as being a paramount reason for success this season.
“We’re definitely a family unit, everyone gets along great, and that’s huge – you’ve got to have that team comradery to be able to make the playoffs two years in a row,” Andrade said.
According to Andrade and Head Coach Michael Lopez, some of the key players this season have been goalkeeper Ryan Daniels; defenders Erik Espinoza, Jesse Fuentes, Ryan Frick and Miguel Yerena; and centers Hernan Maldonado and Ryan Becker. Daniels is the reigning PCAC Goal Keeper of the Year, a title Andrade said that he may earn again this year.
Now in his fourth season as head coach, Lopez said that the years of working with his assistant coaching staff has resulted in a cohesive coaching team. This, he said, has resulted in a successful men’s soccer team at Mesa College.
“Now we are a team as a staff – I have great trust in them, and they have more freedom to make their impression on the team felt,” Lopez said. “I think the players benefit from having more perspectives to hear from, and more ears available to them to voice their thoughts and work through some of the challenges that come up as a student-athlete.”
It’s not just the staff that is working well as a team. According to captain and business finance major Becker, the players have been able to bond much better on and off the field this season than in previous years.
“We have a really strong team with community spirit this time, we’re all really close, we’re all really good friends, we build each other up and I think every aspect of our team is solid,” Becker said. “Our team, this year, is really good at keeping a positive attitude.”
Mesa is the number 14 seed, and Oxnard is the number three seed going into the semifinals. The winner of Saturday’s game will have to play and win two more rounds of games to have a chance to go onto the California Community College Athletic Association State Final Four at Ventura College on Dec. 2 and 4.
For more information about San Diego Mesa College’s men’s soccer team, contact Coach Michael Lopez via email at mwlopez@sdccd.edu or via phone at (619) 388-7309.
Tags: Men's Soccer, Soccer, Athletics, Sports
Jennifer Nichols Kearns
Director of Communications
jnkearns@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2759
Michael Lopez
Head Coach, Men's Soccer
mwlopez@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-7309
The San Diego Mesa College Athletic Program has cemented its place as one of the nation’s premier two-year college athletic programs, finishing second in the 2024–2025 Ron Case Cup standings. The award, one of the highest honors in two-year college athletics, recognizes excellence in championship competition across all sports.
San Diego –On Monday, July 22 to Thursday, July 25, 2024, the San Diego Mesa College Softball program and Nike’s US Sports Camp program will host a half day and day camp for local girls, ages 6-14, at all levels of experience with Softball. Campers will learn the skills required to successfully play at a competitive level and maximize their potential as players.
San Diego, CA. — It is with great sadness and deep regret that San Diego Mesa College announces the passing of one of the greatest long jumpers in history, Arnie Robinson, at the age of 72. Arnie Paul Robinson, Jr. had a nearly life-long connection to Mesa College as a student, a coach and a Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient. He lived in San Diego and began his track career as a stand-out athlete at Morse High School. In 1967, he enrolled at Mesa College, where he set school records in the long jump, high jump, and triple jump for track and field.
