ALL-ORANGE COUNTY BOYS SOCCER TEAM 2023-24

Mater Dei’s Michael Cherico is the Orange County boys soccer player of the year, on Friday, March 15, 2024. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Michael Cherico, Mater Dei, Senior 

Mater Dei senior Michael Cherico is unusually tall for a soccer player at 6-foot-5.

He is unusually good, too.

He scored 22 goals with 17 assists this season for the Monarchs, who won the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship and the Trinity League championship.

Cherico is the Orange County boys soccer player of the year for the 2023-24 season.

Mater Dei coach Sean Ganey said Cherico contributed excellence and versatility.

“He did so many things for us,” Ganey said. “We played him all over the field, as a striker, as a center-midfielder. Michael was the best player on the field in just about every single game we played.”

He scored the winning goal when the Monarchs beat Servite 2-1 to clinch the Trinity League championship. He assisted on Ayden Romo’s goal in Mater Dei’s 1-0 win over Arlington of Riverside in the CIF-SS Open Division final. He also scored one of the Monarchs’ three goals in their win over Del Norte of San Diego that sent them to the CIF SoCal Regional Division I final. 

Soccer is a quick-feet game that often caters to shorter players. Cherico said there can be advantages to being a 6-5 soccer player.

“It’s great that we were able to build set pieces around my height, and we actually had a lot of height on the whole team this year,” he said. “During the run of play I’m able to use my length to cover a lot of ground and reach my legs into spots to go for the ball.”

Ganey said, “A guy his size being so versatile is incredible.”

Cherico signed with Amherst College in Massachusetts, not so much for soccer as for other parts of what will be his college experience.

“Amherst stood out for me because of its combination of academics and athletics,” he said. “I really like the culture at Amherst. That’s the biggest draw, how they try to be winners in everything they do.”

Cherico said the best part of the season was not the championships. It was the friendships.

“It was great sharing these experiences with my brothers,” he said. “From the team dinners to just having fun with my friends, to staying around after practice to hit free kicks. When we lost we did it together and when we won we did it together.”

Mater Dei’s Sean Ganey is Orange County boys soccer coach of the year, on Friday, March 15, 2024. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

COACH OF THE YEAR

Sean Ganey, Mater Dei

Sean Ganey is the Orange County boys soccer coach of the year after leading Mater Dei to the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship.

Ganey, 46, led the Monarchs to a 21-3-1 record that included a 1-0 win over Arlington of Riverside in the CIF-SS Open Division final. It was Mater Dei’s first CIF-SS boys soccer championship since 2001.

Mater Dei started the season 14-0 and went 9-0-1 in the Trinity League to win the league championship.

In the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs the Monarchs lost to St. Augustine of San Diego in the Division I championship game.

Ganey said the success of the team this past season, his 13th as Mater Dei’s coach, came from the players.

“All of our guys were team-first guys” he said. “They immersed themselves in our team culture and made every game special.”

ALL-COUNTY FIRST TEAM

Michael Cherico, Mater Dei, Sr., F (Player of the Year)

Gavin Allegaert, JSerra, Jr., F

Allegaert scored a team-high nine goals for the Lions; was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Open Division team and the All-Trinity League first team.

Xavier Alcantar, Orange Lutheran, Sr., M

He was All-CIF Division 1 this season; scored seven goals with 13 assists for the Lancers, who advanced to the CIF-SS Division 1 and CIF SoCal Regional Division II finals.

Justin Cuevas, Servite, Sr., F

He was the CIF Southern Section Division 1 player of the year for the Friars, who won won CIF-SS Division 1 and CIF Southern California Regional Division II championships.

Avian Gonzalez-Flores, Mater Dei, Jr., D

He was the Trinity League Defensive MVP and was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Open Division team.

Finnegan Linas, San Clemente, Sr., M

Linas was All-CIF Open Division first team for the Tritons, who went undefeated in the South Coast League.

Isaac Morales, Sunny Hills, Sr., M

The Freeway League MVP scored 22 goals with eight assists as the Lancers went 10-0 in league.

Oliver Renard, Newport Harbor, Sr., M

Renard was the CIF-SS Division 2 player of the year for the division champion Sailors.

Ayden Romo, Mater Dei, So., F

The Trinity League’s Offensive MVP and All-CIF Open Division selection; scored a team-high 23 goals, including the goal in the Monarchs’ 1-0 win over Arlington of Riverside in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game.

Brady McClelland, Mater Dei, Sr., GK

The All-CIF Open Division goalkeeper was scored on only six times in 10 Trinity League games and shut out Arlington in the CIF-SS Open Division final.

ALL-COUNTY SECOND TEAM

Jake Barak, Mater Dei, Sr., F

Kaden Kirsch, JSerra, Jr., D

Nicholas Nodarse. Servite, Sr., D

Ethan Phillips, Orange Lutheran, Sr., M

Jacob Poole, San Clemente Sr., D

DSteven Sorto, Godinez, Sr., M

Jake Tatch, JSerra, Jr., M

Sebastian Ugarte-Capel, Aliso Niguel, Sr., M

Tyler Valdez, Foothill, Sr., M

Talin Morgan, Servite, Sr., GK

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