Preview: With new young talent, Crush Men’s Soccer looking to have breakthrough season

The Clovis Crush soccer team practices dribbling and passing in preparation for the 2019 season, Aug. 28, 2019. MICHAEL FORD/CLOVIS ROUNDUP

With a 3-0 victory over Tahoe to begin the regular season, the Clovis Community College men’s soccer team kicked it off to a flying start.

And that is just what the doctor ordered for a team that went 8-9-3 in 2018, missing the California Community College Athletics Association playoffs.

But, in just the fourth year of the program’s existence, the Crush are seeking to break through with a young roster full of real talent.

Players like sophomores Gabriel Sosa, Carlos Osuna and Robby Rosas figure to be key cogs if the team gets to where it wants to go.

So, how will the Crush utilize this young talent, you ask?

Head coach Chad McCarty says that he will employ various formations like the 4-3-3, 3-5-2 and 4-4-2. Each has its own strength and McCarty knows that he has the players to make any of them work.

“It just kind of depends on the personnel and how they do. Once they’re thrown into real competition. And then we’ll be able to identify our strengths and weaknesses and adjust the team as we go,” McCarty said. 

“Like the first half of the season or the first five or six games it’s hard to tell what you really have. So we have a base formation that we think suits our personnel well.”

The Crush will have to get by a stacked Fresno City team that went 16-2-7 in 2018 and finished first in the Central Valley Conference and Taft, which finished 17-3-3 and in second place.

With a roster that features 16 freshman on the active roster, not counting redshirts, goalkeeper Robby Rosas knows that leadership will be key if the team leapfrogs Fresno and Taft.

“We really try to have a good defensive shape and that starts with me,” Rosas said. “Goalkeeper is a leadership position and if someone is not on it, or in the game, it can expose the whole team.”

Rosas won six games as a starter in 2018, including 5 shutouts.

Offensively, many of the team’s attacking players are freshmen, so the team will have to rely on sophomores Carlos Osuna and team captain Garbriel Sosa to do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to goal scoring until some of the freshman get comfortable on the pitch in college level soccer.

The Crush will face Fresno City and Taft within a week of one another Oct. 1 and Oct. 8. Victories against these teams could show that this Clovis Crush team is for real.

Michael graduated from Fresno State in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in print journalism. During his time at the university, he served as sports and managing editor for The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper. In addition to the Clovis Roundup, Michael has written for The Fresno Bee, the Kingsburg Recorder and Selma Enterprise. He has a passion for sports and can be found on the sidelines at local games, bringing the citizens of Clovis the athletics news they deserve.