Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: Sequoia’s Max Slayen

“He made some key saves for us, especially against Sacred Heart,” Sequoia head coach Daniel Mejia-Garcia said. “He’s made at least one big save per game, but against Sacred Heart he made a big save in the last 10 minutes to save the game.”

Slayen has been selected as the Daily Journal Athlete of the Week for recording two shutouts last week, including Sequoia’s 2-0 home win over Jefferson last Monday. The senior keeper has now recorded three straight shutouts, starting with the Ravens’ 2-0 win Monday, Nov. 24, at San Mateo.

Still, as impressive as it was to earn a scoreless draw against a CCS powerhouse like SHP, Slayen’s takeaway was bittersweet with Sequoia not coming away with the win.

“The draw felt super nice,” Slayen said. “Holding them scoreless is always a good feeling against a good team ... but I think on a different day we could have pulled out three points and a win on that one.”

Coming off a disappointing 2024-25 season, Sequoia has some lofty ambitions this year. Three years ago, during Slayen’s freshman season, the Ravens won the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division and — after an injury to Sequoia’s regular goalkeeper earned Slayen a promotion to varsity, where he was thrown into the starting role the second half of the year — advanced to the CCS Division I semifinals.

Sequoia’s final win of that 2022-23 season was, of course, a Slayen shutout with the Ravens knocking off Hollister 1-0 in the playoff opener.

“It was super fun going all that way, also pretty overwhelming,” Slayen said.

Since getting promoted to the PAL Bay Division in 2023-24, however, the Ravens have won just two league games, including an abysmal 0-10 mark to finish in the cellar of the six-team “A” league last year.

“The boys were disappointed to not have the season they wanted last year,” Mejia-Garcia said. “But … these boys are seniors now and they’re here to make a strong stance in the Bay.”

Much of the reason of Mejia-Garcia’s optimism is the offseason commitment of his core players, who teamed with San Carlos United Soccer Club. Slayen, along with midfielder Zach Gebhart, defensemen Kyle Rudy, Amar Evans and Kai Fisch anchored the team that finished in second place in the NorCal Premier Soccer League.

“I think defense is going to be the key,” Mejia-Garcia said. “I think that will be an advantage for us to have boys that have played together for so long, and a lot of those boys are in the back line.”

Last year’s downturn on the field was also shrouded in tragedy for Sequoia, as head coach Greg Markoulakis stepped away from the program after being diagnosed with ALS. Markoulakis, 64, died of symptoms related to the disease Feb. 24.

The Sequoia team attended Markoulakis’ funeral service in the weeks following the 2024-25 season. And while Slayen said there were players on the team that had a closer relationship with Markoulakis than he, and who were more deeply affected by the loss of the longtime figure in San Mateo County youth soccer, there was still a connection, especially since it was Markoulakis who called him up to the varsity team in 2022-23.

“Personally, he was definitely a big part of me feeling comfortable freshman year,” Slayen said. “He was such a great guy and an amazing coach. All the players who interacted with him all really liked him.”

Slayen’s shutout streak came to an end Monday as Sequoia fell 2-1 at home against Menlo School. It was the Ravens’ last game before the start of PAL Bay Division play Wednesday against Aragon.

Mejia-Garcia was intent on challenging his team with a tough five-game non-league preseason schedule. The Ravens opened the year with a 2-0 loss to 2024-25 CCS Division I playoff qualifier Los Altos, before wrapping up with back-to-back games against SHP and Menlo.

“[The goal] was really to play top competition early ... and us really prepping a team of that caliber, teams that I know make CCS year after year ... and then finishing our preseason with two quality teams,” Mejia-Garcia said.

“I wanted to make sure the boys understood that if we follow the game plan ... execute the game plan, we can keep up with these teams,” he said, “and if we keep up with these teams, we can compete in the Bay Division.”