Mater Dei’s boys soccer team won the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship last season.

The Monarchs’ success continued in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs as they reached the Division I final.

Mater Dei coach Sean Ganey senses that the team this season wants more of that type of success.

“The boys are hungry and they want to do it again,” Ganey said. “This group is excited.”

The Monarchs, who beat Arlington 1-0 in last season’s CIF-SS Open Division final and lost to St. Augustine of San Diego 2-0 in the regional final, have plenty of outstanding returnees.

Junior forward Ayden Romo was All-Orange County first team and Trinity League offensive player of the year last season.

“He’s an absolute competitor,” Ganey said of Romo. “There’s not a moment when he will back down.”

Senior defender Avian Gonzalez-Flores, who signed with Cal Poly Pomona, was the Trinity League defensive player of the year last season.

Dalton Bulowski, another senior defender, signed with Northwestern. Senior midfielder Kalani Kunimura is a four-year varsity player. Sophomore forward Sebastian Moran was Mater Dei’s fourth-leading scorer last season.

Challenges are coming, including, as Ganey said …

“The Trinity League,” he said. “It’s the best league in the nation, I would say.”

Mater Dei opens league play Jan. 3 at Santa Margarita then follows with league games Jan. 8 at Servite and Jan. 10 at JSerra.

NOTES

• The season started Nov. 18 and ends Feb. 5. The CIF-SS playoffs start on Feb. 13 and conclude with divisional championship games on Feb. 22. The CIF SoCal Regional starts Feb. 28. …

• CIF-SS boys soccer teams will be placed into playoff divisions according to the ranking on the Massey Ratings System at the end of the regular season. Rankings of teams will first be posted Jan. 7, a Tuesday, and every Tuesday after that until the playoffs begin. …

• San Clemente beat Orange Lutheran 5-3 on Dec. 4. Max Jolley scored two goals for San Clemente. Servite beat Valencia 4-2 on Wednesday. …

• Canyon got off to a 3-0-1 start including a 2-0 win over Edison. Canyon’s Luke Ward scored four goals over those four games.

ORANGE COUNTY BOYS SOCCER TOP 10

1. Mater Dei: The Monarchs bring back several top players from last year’s team that won the CIF-SS Open Division championship, including All-County first-team selections Avian Gonzalez-Flores and Ayden Romo.

2. Servite: The Friars have a new coach, Alex Ramirez, who coached at Savanna for 17 years, and a talented roster that includes senior midfielder Mattias Kremer and senior defender Michael Coury. The players were both standouts on last year’s CIF-SS Division 2 championship team.

3. JSerra: Senior forward Gavin Allegaert scored a team-high nine goals last year for the Lions, who also have seniors Kaden Kirsch and Jake Tatch back from a team that reached the Open Division playoffs.

4. San Clemente: Senior Jonah Levandofsky and Griffin Blair lead the Tritons, who beat JSerra and Mater Dei in last year’s Open Division playoffs.

5. Orange Lutheran: The Lancers lineup won’t have many seniors, but the senior group includes standout goaltender Ayden Santana and striker AJ Campbell.

6. Godinez: Jaythan Lopez, a junior, and freshman Mario Resendiz each scored three goals in the Grizzlies’ first five games this season.

7. Valencia: Sophomore center-midfielder Cade Lussier was All-Empire League first team last season, and junior center-midfielder Omar Rubio is another top returnee for the Tigers.

8. Sunny Hills: Lancers will be a contender in a tough new Crestview League that includes Canyon, Foothill, El Dorado and Yorba Linda.

9. Canyon: Jacob Segova, a senior, is a leader for the Comanches, who beat Edison this month.

10. Edison: The Chargers went 15-3-4 last year and could be as good or better this year.

TOP 10 PLAYERS

Gavin Allegaert, JSerra, Sr., F: Allegaert scored a team-high nine goals for the Lions last season and was named to the All-CIF Open Division team and the All-Trinity League first team.

AJ Campbell, Orange Lutheran, Sr., F: Campbell scored six goals last season.

Avian Gonzalez-Flores, Mater Dei, Sr., D: He was selected to the All-CIF Open Division team last season.

Kaden Kirsch, JSerra, Sr., D: Kirsch was named to the All-CIF Open Division team last season.

Jonah Lefandosky, San Clemente, Sr., F: He scored three goals with two assists in the Tritons’ first three games this season.

Cade Lussier, Valencia, So., MF: Lussier was All-Empire League first team last season as a freshman.

Mattias Kremer, Servite, Sr., MF: Kremer scored two game-winning goals in the playoffs as the Friars won the CIF-SS Division 1 championship.

Ayden Romo, Mater Dei, Jr., F: He was All-County first team and All-CIF Open Division last season.

Ayden Santana, Orange Lutheran, Sr., GK: He allowed only 15 goals in 11 games last season.

Jake Tatch, JSerra., Sr., MF: Tatch was All-County second team last season and has signed with Michigan.

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