2024-25 Boys Soccer

Sunnyside boys soccer primed for postseason, relish thought of competing in Open Division



Sunnyside is almost a week away from engaging in the historic first 32-team Open Division playoff involving boys soccer teams in the state and the Blue Devils are confident about their chances.

Casey O’Brien’s team is 18-3 overall (5-0 in the 6A South) following Monday’s 15-0 win over visiting Marana on Senior Night

The Blue Devils are No. 6 in the Open Division ratings (No. 4 in 6A) with one regular-season match remaining, Friday at Rincon/University.

The teams rated above Sunnyside are No. 1 Desert Vista, No. 2 AZ College Prep, No. 3 Pinnacle, No. 4 San Luis and No. 5 Washington.

Two of Sunnyside’s three losses are against these teams — 4-3 against Pinnacle in the championship match of the Holiday Extravaganza Soccer Tournament on Dec. 30 at Mesa and 2-1 at San Luis on Jan. 28.

The Blue Devils beat AZ College Prep 5-1 in the Holiday Extravaganza Soccer Tournament.

Their other loss was 2-0 against No. 11 Salpointe in the title match of the Brandon Bean Soccer Tournament.

Sunnyside could face any of these teams in the Open Division tournament and O’Brien is relishing the thought of that opportunity.

“I love it (the Open Division) because you have a definitive leader,” said O’Brien, 166-31-8 in his nine seasons as Sunnyside’s coach. “Everyone who wins the state title wants to say that they are the best.

“You are technically the best because you won a title but now you can unequivocally say this is the best team in the state. I feel like it makes teams come out of their comfort zones in their conferences. The 6A is tough. For us, it’s a chance to showcase what the 6A is all about.”

AZ College Prep is the top team in 5A and Sunnyside beat the Knights pulling away.

Salpointe is the No. 1 program in 4A under Wolfgang Weber and the Lancers managed to beat the Blue Devils in what is becoming one of the top rivalries among elite programs in Southern Arizona.

Sunnyside against Salpointe in the Open Division playoffs would be the best matchup between two Southern Arizona programs in the history of the sport given the status of the Open Division.

“We’ll play anybody; that’s how our team is built,” O’Brien said. “To be honest with you, I’d love to play Salpointe. We dropped that one. I’d love to play Pinnacle. I’d love to play San Luis. I’d love to play Desert Vista.

“I’m excited to play anybody they put in front of us but of course you’d like to right your wrongs and get back on track of where we fell short earlier in the year.”

O’Brien has his second-largest senior class in his tenure at Sunnyside of 11 players (the 2019-20 team that lost in the state championship match to Carl Hayden had 13 seniors).

His top four players — Angel Bracamontes-Pulido, Johan Jimenez, Aaron Abarca and Dieggo Resendiz — are seniors who account for 78 of the team’s 108 goals and 63 of the 94 assists.

The Blue Devils’ goaltender is another senior leader, Miguel “Miggy” Lugo, who has recorded seven shutouts with 71 saves this season.

The seniors, who were honored at halftime Monday during Senior Night, are motivated to bounce back from shortcomings in the postseason in previous years, including suffering the first loss of last season in the 6A quarterfinals against Mesa at home.

“Honestly, that’s been our main motive (to bounce back from what happened last year),” said Jimenez, who has 24 goals and 10 assists. “Trying to get our get-back from last year. Obviously, we didn’t have an amazing outcome to last year.

“It’s been our motive ever since that game ended — from that whistle all the way to now, it’s been our motive. We’re going to come out better. We’re going to do better. It’s been a little chip on our shoulder that helps us perform better.”

Jimenez is nearing the end of his competitive soccer career representing a school. He will attend NAU on an academic scholarship and plans to study dentistry.

Bracamontes-Pulido, one of the top players in the state, will continue his career at Phoenix College next season. He ultimately has his sights set on playing at Grand Canyon.

He is the career 6A record-holder in goals (80), assists (66) and points (226).

Bracamontes-Pulido’s 33 assists last season is a 6A record. He is only three assists shy of that mark this season.

He broke the 6A state record Monday with most assists (seven) and points (13) in a game.

His 92 points this season is 13 away from his 6A state record of 105 set last season.

When asked about his experience at Sunnyside, Bracamontes-Pulido said, “It’s been fun, real life-changing.”

Bracamontes-Pulido transferred to Sunnyside after his freshman season at Desert View.

“I would say the way coach disciplines us,” he said about why it has been life-changing for him. “He teaches about how we want to be successful.”

With the game against Rincon/University and five more in the Open Division before potentially winning a title, that leaves perhaps six more games together with O’Brien for this large group of seniors.

O’Brien greeted each of them and their families with hugs after they walked through a line of teammates on each side during the Senior Night celebration.

“It means everything. That’s the job. That’s why I do this,” O’Brien said after hearing about players saying he helped change their lives constructively. “There’s a lot easier places to coach and be. I’m here for a reason at Sunnyside.”

He then mentioned with a smile: “I wish they told me more often; it would be cool to hear it once in a while. Usually it’s when they are 22 and 23 when they come back.”

“Soccer is a means to reach people,” O’Brien added. “We use this game, this sport to kind of turn these kids around a little bit, open up their minds, their horizons and get them to see a different future for themselves.”

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

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