Chaffey men should challenge for Foothill title

The Chaffey College men's soccer team is expecting to challenge for Foothill Conference honors this season. The team has never made the playoffs or won more than nine games but is 11-2-1 heading into its Foothill Conference opener in one week against Victor Valley.

The difference is simple, according to third-year coach Ben Cooper.

"Its recruiting. We have better players," he said. "We have some talented freshman that have brought a lot to the program and we're seeing the benefits."

Leading that group of newcomers is forward Ernesto Ramos (Rialto HS) who has a team-high 11 goals and three assists. Another freshman, Abel Rodriguez (Montclair HS), is next with seven goals.

The defense is also solid, having allowed just eight goals in 14 games. The players who are major factors there are Tyler Mitchell and Angel Betancourt, two of the four sophomores on the squad.

The success has come even though the team lost freshman forward Jorge Vergara to a ruptured kidney.

Cooper singles out traditional title contender Rio Hondo as the team to beat but expects a lot more competitive games.

"I think every team in the conference is better than it was last year," he said. "It's going to make for better games the rest of the way and that will only help us."