By Steve Breazeale
With Super Bowl XLVII approaching, San Clemente boys soccer head coach Mike Pronier brought up a little NFL history for the first place Tritons as they head into the final two games of the league schedule.
Pronier brought up the perennial success of the Peyton Manning-era Indianapolis Colts, who made it to the playoffs year after year but fell short multiple times before breaking through for a championship in 2007.
The Tritons (23-2-1, 4-0) are in a position to make the playoffs yet again, with a firm grasp on first place in the South Coast League, but during the team’s January 30 practice, Pronier stressed the importance of the Tritons not letting up.
“You can learn lessons from other sports and teams like (the Colts),” Pronier said. “The focus is to sit here and value what we’ve done to this point but also realize there’s things we can be better at and continue to work towards those things rather than sit here and say ‘Hey let’s just cruise into the playoffs’, because that can be dangerous.”
A matchup against Mission Viejo on February 2 will be an indicator of the Tritons closing efforts. The last time the two teams played, San Clemente walked away with a 2-1 victory, which senior forward Gage Zerboni described as a “physical game”. The Tritons can wrap up the league title with a win or a tie against the Diablos.
“As long as we stay focused and play our game, I think we can handle (winning league),” Zerboni said.
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