The562’s high school soccer coverage for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Long Beach Poly soccer alum Kennedy Justin.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
During their four years at Millikan, the Class of 2026 has only seen the Rams’ varsity squad lose twice in Moore League play.
Both of those losses occurred last season, and their most recent setback has stuck with them for exactly 364 days. That’s when Millikan lost to Long Beach Poly on their home field, with the Jackrabbits claiming the 2024-25 Moore League title.
That same title switched hands on Thursday night, and this time it was the Rams getting to celebrate on enemy soil. Millikan’s 3-0 victory over the Jackrabbits closed the regular season in style, with the Rams posting a flawless 12-0-0 record to win their sixth league title in the past eight seasons.
“I’m very proud. I can’t say it fully in words, but I’m a proud coach,” said Millikan manager Tino Nunez. “Last year with some pieces missing, and the losses we took, we weren’t ready for that. And I think those were learning moments. And defeat, it’s when you learn the most a lot of times, which sucks. But I think we took that into this year, knowing that we’ve been here before, we’ve lost key players before. All around, I think it’s a great mix of girls and I think they’re hungry to get that next thing. They just stay focused, so credit to them.”
Millikan once again kept a clean sheet, even while playing without top defender Savannah Galvan, who is expected to be fine for the playoffs. That makes it six shutouts in a row for the Millikan defense, which allowed just a single shot attempt to the Jackrabbits on Thursday night.
“Just our effort and our work on the field, and then even our work at practice, we’re all competitive,” said senior captain London Perez, who helped lead Millikan’s defensive effort. “We all compete at practice, and then it shows in the games.”
Across 19 games this season, the Rams have only surrendered eight goals. Only one of those came during Moore League play, during the first half of their league opener against Wilson. Since then, Millikan’s defenders and goalkeeper Samantha Ortiz have recorded 11 clean sheets running on their way to a perfect 12-0 mark.
“It was definitely a talk,” said Perez, confirming the team set out for a 12-0 season against their league rivals. “We all sat down, and we all agreed that we want to win. And we also have really good seniors that also want to win, and they show out on the field too.”
Millikan also went 12-0 against the Moore League two seasons ago, but it’s a rare accomplishment in soccer. Those appear to be the only teams to do it since Wilson’s national championship season in 2008.
The Rams also did plenty of attacking in their 3-0 win, and it didn’t take long to crack the scoreboard. In the opening minute of the game, sophomore Ellie Carungcong got free up the right wing, where she fired her shot on target, through the hands of Poly goalkeeper Zadie Kuykendall and over the goal line.
That immediate lead would stay right there at halftime, as Kuykendall was able to make five of her eight saves in the first half to keep the Jackrabbits within striking distance.
However, the Rams’ onslaught quickly resumed, with Furby Rios scoring in the first minute of the second half, only to see her goal wiped off the board by an offsides flag.
The Millikan attack put up 21 shots on the night, and eventually added to the lead at the hour mark. A free kick by Jayla Cortes was headed down by Rios toward the front of goal, where Caoimhe Tighe swept it home. Tighe was originally called offside–which video replay seemed to confirm–but the goal was given after a deliberation between the head referee and his assistant.
Six minutes later, Millikan cashed in their third from a corner kick. The inswinger came off the head of Carungcong and deflected right to Adelyn Murphy near the penalty spot, where she smashed it into the back of the net to cap the scoring.
Both Millikan and Poly will now await the CIF-SS playoff brackets, which will be released on Feb. 7.
