El Camino Real claims City Section Open Division boys' soccer title in overtime

Los Angeles Times

01-03-2025

Coto Bladdimir gathered the El Camino Real High boys' soccer team after the team's first practice in July.
The Royals needed to regroup. It was the season after losing to Birmingham in the City Section Division I final — falling in back-to-back years — and being consequently disqualified from state championships after postgame emotions turned into a brawl between the teams. Bladdimir decided he needed to speak up. The senior defender said he needed to refocus his team as the team captain.
'This year is gonna be different,' the senior defender told his teammates. 'It's gonna be a less toxic environment, and we're gonna be a family, not just a team at the end of the day, but we're a family.'
When Bladdimir rose in the penalty box Friday night, his head pounding the ball into the back of the net to secure the City Section Open Division boys' soccer title in a 2-1 overtime victory over Birmingham, it was his team, his family, who surrounded him as he ripped off his shirt and ran toward the home crowd at Los Angeles Valley College.
The Royals (20-2), down 1-0, tied the match on a Jonathan Rabinovitch penalty kick in the 64th minute and defeated a 10-man Patriots (25-3) squad in overtime after a late red card switched the match's tempo. The win marked ECR's first City Section title since 2020.
'I've tried my hardest for the past few years to build a family,' Bladdimir said with an El Salvador jersey draped around his chest. 'These aren't just soccer players at the end of the day. These are my brothers. We've bled together. We sweat together, and every single training session, I made the most of it.'
ECR coach Ian Kogan said Bladdimir was the last player to leave practice Thursday evening. He called his captain the 'epitome of a leader' and a 'second coach.'
Bladdimir said he and his teammates turned their emotions inward Friday for the rivalry matchup, focusing instead on what they could control in the match after last year's postgame incident.
When Birmingham striker Carlos Esnal put the Patriots ahead early in the match, Bladdimir and the Royals defense buckled down — stymying an opposing attack that riddled off seven shots in the first half into only just one in the second half and overtime combined.
When Rabinovitch hobbled off the field in overtime, the Royals losing their top scorer when they neededa golden goal to win, Bladdimir rose to the occasion.
'I said, 'Coto, want to be my hero tomorrow?'' Kogan said he asked his captain. 'He's said, 'I'm gonna be your hero tomorrow.''
'Ole, Ole, Ole Ole,' rang as the bus filled with Royals set off for its trip back to Woodland Hills — the campus where ECR will now prepare — and potentially host a Southern California Regional playoff game.
For Rabinovitch, who missed ECR's 1-0 loss to Birmingham earlier this season, the Open Division title was a long time coming — not just for him, but for alumni and fans too.
'We obviously lost the last two championships [to Birmingham],' the senior forward said. 'It means a lot. All these fans, all the past players, all the alumni, to see us. It makes us really happy winning this game.'
For Granada Hills' Illiana Velazco, potentially defeating Cleveland meant more than the CIF state title the Highlanders won a year ago.
And in the biggest moments, on Friday night at L.A. Valley College in the City Section Open Division girls' soccer final, the sophomore defender's goal was the difference. From a corner kick in the 27th minute, Velazco scored an Olympico — curling the ball goal-bound — to give Granada Hills a two-goal lead to win the title over Cleveland 3-1.
'The rivalry between Cleveland and I, I think that makes it better than winning state [last year],' said Velazco, who led the Highlanders to their first City Section title since 2021.
Velazco almost did the same for Granada Hills' first goal, hitting the post from her corner kick in the 18th minute, allowing her teammate, Haley Mallas to shuffle the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Granada Hills oach Guilherme Mitrovitch, in just his second season in charge, said Velazco had been throwing or kicking in assists 'all year long.'
Cleveland (18-3-3) pulled a goal back when freshman forward Brielle Dunn converted a penalty in the 73rd minute, but Granada Hills (14-4-2) scored moments later — thanks to a 30-plus-yard strike from sophomore midfielder Yasmine Guemma — to cement the win.
'They haven't got to the final in a few, quite a few years,' Mitrovitch said. 'It means a lot to everybody.'