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 Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
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.
It’s safe to say that the Long Beach Poly boys’ soccer team prefers the result from Wednesday against Cabrillo than the first time the two programs battled.
When the two opened Moore League action back in December, the Jackrabbits had to claw their way back for a tie after having two athletes sent off with red cards.
On Wednesday night, the Jackrabbits gave a glimpse of what was possible when they’re at full strength as they scored four goals in the second half which led to a 5-0 win over Cabrillo.
“It makes a big difference,” Long Beach Poly coach Carlos Casillas said. “But overall, I’m proud. These boys have been working and they finally put a whole game together and we saw the outcome, which is actually perfect for us.”
It didn’t take long for the Jackrabbits to jump on the Jaguars as a steal led to a cross inside the box from Matthew Sanchez that Salvador Alfaro was able to get to on a deflection and he delivered to give Poly a 1-0 lead less than 20 seconds into the match.
Cabrillo didn’t let the early goal shake them as they pushed forward and got some quality shots including one from Alan Fuentes that Poly keeper Mekiah Twal was able to save. However, Poly responded and it looked like Matthew Sanchez would give the visitors a 2-0 lead, but an offsides call reversed the goal.
Shortly after the call, Cabrillo was awarded a free kick and Ivan Perez lined up an attempt that was right on the mark, but Twal was there again as Poly held onto its 1-0 lead as the teams went into the half.
Looking to give his team some breathing room, senior Damian Gonzalez found himself in the right spot at the right time and scored on a rebound to give the Jackrabbits a 2-0 lead in the 47th minute.
“It was good for us,” Gonzalez said of the team scoring in the second half. “We needed to score goals to compete for the Moore League.”
That goal seemed to spark Poly as everyone started to take shots as Daniel Silva, Sanchez and Beninto Quezada scored in the final 15 minutes of the match to put things away as the Jackrabbits remained in a tie for first place.
“We just trust each other with the ball,” Gonzalez said of his team’s ability to score Wednesday night. “Having that trust with everyone is good to know. We trust it.”
The win sets up another big contest when they host Lakewood on Friday. The Lancers are currently in third place. Cabrillo will also play Lakewood in their next contest, but on Monday.
