OCEANSIDE — The Oceanside High School boys’ varsity soccer team secured its first-ever CIF Southern California regional championship, an unparalleled achievement in the program’s 50-year history.
The Pirates defeated Lakewood High School 3-0 on March 2 in the CIF SoCal Division 4 championship game, finishing the season with an eight-game win streak.
Oceanside High juniors Kellen Love and Braulio Ibarra, who each scored goals in the victory over Lakewood, were named to the CIF San Diego Section’s First Team, and Diego Ruiz earned a spot on the Second Team. All three players were also honored with positions on the North County Coastal League’s first team, with Ibarra receiving the league’s Player of the Year award.
“We accomplished what we set out to do,” said Love, team captain.
Oceanside head coach Frank Zimmerman was named CIF San Diego Section and North County Coastal League Coach of the Year after guiding the Pirates (19-1-4) to an unbeaten league record. Oceanside notched regular-season wins against Torrey Pines, San Dieguito Academy, La Costa Canyon, and Carlsbad.
“Our guys deserve everything. They’re really happy that they achieved what they did. It’s like a dream come true,” said Zimmerman, who has led the program for nearly three decades.
The team progressed through the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship match without conceding a single goal. The trio of postseason shutout wins marked a season-long theme of strong defense setting up scoring opportunities. The Pirates only allowed 10 goals all season, and the last score allowed was on Jan. 25 in a 2-2 tie against Carlsbad.
“We had nine straight games where we weren’t scored on,” Zimmerman said.
Over the last 29 years at the helm, Zimmerman, an Oceanside High alum and former Pirates soccer player, said his longstanding dream has been to transform the program’s reputation after experiencing a winless season during his senior year.
The year after he graduated, Zimmerman returned as the Pirates assistant coach before taking over as varsity coach seven years later.
Since then, the team has gradually improved, winning four San Diego Section titles (2002, 2015, 2019 and 2024). This year, according to Zimmerman, the strategy for success was setting a goal of winning a section title, which appeared to motivate the players to reach that milestone and beyond.
“We didn’t even set a goal beyond that,” Zimmerman said.
Love expressed pride in the team’s achievements and is confident in the team’s future for his final year with the Pirates next year. Between seasons, Love and others play with the Oceanside Breakers soccer club.
Zimmerman, who serves as director of the Breakers, said the club played a big role in the team’s success, acknowledging the leadership from coaches Roy Sarmiento, Keith Love, Edward Benito and Scott Piri.
The team’s triumph has uplifted the players and rallied the community, which consistently displayed overwhelming support for their team, holding a pep rally to celebrate the historic championship win.
“Usually, we only have a couple hundred fans at games, but we had more than 2,000 fans at the home quarterfinal game,” Zimmerman said. “The outpouring of support in the community has been amazing.”
