LAMC Men's Soccer defeated Santa Barbara on Tuesday and tied No. 13 Oxnard on Friday to earn a qualifying bid to the CCCAA playoffs for the first time since 2016. First-year head coach Alberto Rosas led the team to an 8-9-4 overall record, a 4-3-3 conference record, and a 3rd-place ranking in the Western State Conference North division standings.

Rosas, who was voted Western State Conference Men's Soccer Coach of the Year, credits the team with picking up momentum late in the season and hopes the athletes will bring that with them to the first round of regionals, when they will face Santa Ana College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17.

"At this point everybody is good and you're in it for a reason," Rosas said. "We expect to play a good team, a team that knows how to win. They won't be easy to beat, especially when we're traveling, but we've traveled all year and gotten good results on the road, so we're hoping to continue that momentum into the post-season."

Santa Ana posted an 11-5-3 season record and finished third in the Orange Empire Conference.

The Eagles are on a hot offensive streak, scoring 11 goals in their last three games. Six of those goals were scored by freshman midfielder Ricardo Martinez, who heads into playoffs with three back-to-back games with two goals apiece and leads the team with 12 goals on the season. He is followed closely by Brandon Escobar, with 10 season goals, and Emilio Vallin and Jose Salles with four each. Sophomore midfielder Andres Aguilar is also expected to be a key offensive player for the Eagles in the post-season. 

On defense, Mission will rely heavily on redshirt freshman Miguel Granados, who finished 5th in conference with 74 saves, and sophomore Elijah Patyk, who has also scored two goals while being a defensive anchor in the back for the Eagles.

With Saturday's Round 1 regional competition, LAMC Soccer begins the pursuit of its first-ever CCCAA state championship. Rosas and assistant coaches Gustav Gomez and Will Beard have confidence in their athletes' ability to rise to the occasion as a team.

"I think this team this year has surpassed expectations given the adversities that we've gone through," Rosas said. "When you're willing to sacrifice for the guy next to you and work for the guy next to you, positive things are going to happen. And that's why we're in the position that we're in. Now in the post-season it's continuing with the same team philosophy that we've had all year: one game at a time, one moment at a time, one play at a time."