Hillsdale goes undefeated

Hillsdale (10-0-4 PAL Bay, 13-1-6 overall) might have settled for a draw and still claimed bragging rights over not dropping a league game since 2023-24. But, finishing the regular-season slate out with win No. 10 in PAL Bay play was oh so sweeter.

“It was definitely important,” Hillsdale head coach Jaime Gomez said. “I think we needed to continue the momentum ... and came out with energy for our [Central Coast Section playoff] run. So, we did need to play a good game.”

With consecutive league titles, the Knights have moved through the PAL ranks, and done so quickly. Last season, the team secured the PAL Ocean Division championship en route to a CCS Division II title and a CIF Northern California Division III regional final. This year, Hillsdale moved to the upper PAL Bay and kept surging, battling for 10 wins and four draws, while wrapping up the league crown last Friday with a 2-0 win over Aragon.

It marks the second time in program history Hillsdale has won the Ocean Division crown one year and the Bay Division crown the next. The last time came 20 years ago in 2005 and ’06.

Gomez, though, not wanting to stack the pressure of history on his players shoulders, played it cool throughout the 2025-26. So, the sixth-year head coach decided not to tell his team about the historic implications until late in the season.

“We were surprised but we wanted to repeat that,” Hillsdale senior Bernardo Chaparro said. “And we really wanted to stay undefeated. ... It just gave us an edge because the Hillsdale class of 2026, we want to leave a legacy as the best team in Hillsdale history ... and knowing they did it (20 years ago) gave us motivation to also want to go back-to-back.”

Hillsdale was playing with an augmented lineup Wednesday, as Gomez opted to rest senior midfielder Tyler Hughes and played other key starters part-time.

“Just giving people the equivalent of a half,” Gomez said. “That was my goal today, and still be successful in getting the win.”

Still, the Knights fell back on one of their bedrock philosophies, showing sometimes the best defense is a good offense. So, after walling the back rank through the opening minutes while M-A (4-3-7, 6-7-7) gained one of its best attacking pushes, Hillsdale flipped the field and stayed on the attack for the rest of the afternoon.

Hillsdale earned two corner kicks, with the first initially being ruled a goal kick. The referees rightly changed the ruling, however, to keep the Knights on the attack.

“Very important, because we had the momentum,” Gomez said. “And if we lose that corner kick, we lost that momentum. ... We just got the guys over the hump to finishing the next play, because they knew that they were there.”

A crisp shot attempt by senior midfielder Eli Sanchez setting up the second corner. Sanchez got behind a defender and took a strong right foot to a pass over the top from Chaparro. The shot toward the bottom left corner took M-A’s goalkeeper off his feet, and only an all-out diving stab averted a goal by pushing the attempt out of bounds, denying Sanchez his first goal of the season.

“Heartbreak,” Sanchez said. “I was looking for a goal throughout the whole season, waiting for that moment ... but I’m extremely happy that we were able to get a win and go undefeated in league.”

It was Chaparro who delivered the go-ahead goal in the 66th minute with a header off the left post. Senior midfielder Max Gallatin initially played it in off the right wing and, after a deflection back to him, sent it in on the near side to senior midfielder Lucas Cosmos. With the defense converging, Cosmos sent it across to Chaparro, who was in close and had a clear look to his team-best sixth goal of the year.

“He played in a really good ball to the back post, and I was just in the right place at the right time,” Chaparro said. “So, I had a pretty good view to the goal, so I just headed it in.”

There was a feeling the goal was coming, after Hillsdale earned four corners in the first half. Senior forward Brady Skidmore kept his team on the attack to start the second, putting a bicycle kick on goal in the 43rd minute. Skidmore later put a header just over the post in the 55th minute, and senior Henry Farrow followed with a shot off the crossbar in the 63rd.

Once Chaparro broke the seal, the Knights doubled down in the 73rd minute when senior Ryan Cherrington played a long cross to the back post for Skidmore to finally get his due, exacting a header to put Hillsdale up 2-0.

Hillsdale has now won eight PAL championships all-time, five in the Ocean Division and three in the Bay. The Knights’ first Bay Division title came in 1996-97. The program’s last loss in league play came Feb. 2, 2024, at South City. Since then, Hillsdale has played 27 league games without a loss, posting a 21-0-6 record over that stretch.

Heading into the 2024-25 campaign, rising to the top of the Bay Division in two years wasn’t on the team’s radar, Gomez said. Last year’s postseason run, though, was an eye-opener.

“So, I think it was huge coming into this league,” Gomez said, “knowing that half this team was in Nor Cals and the CCS finals.”

The CCS soccer playoffs open Saturday. Brackets and schedules will be announced Thursday afternoon.