'Curse Broken!' Temecula Valley Men's Soccer Clinches Southwestern League 1st Time In19 Years

TEMECULA, CA — The Temecula Valley High School Men's Soccer Team clinched the Southwestern League for the first time in 19 years. The hard-fought victory on Tuesday vs. Great Oak High School, which felt a lot closer than the 3-0 score on the board, according to coach Darren Drago.

Thursday, they continued their push in a 2-1 win over Murrieta Valley High School. On Feb. 3, they once again face Vista Murrieta before heading to the playoffs.

Coach Drago is in his 10th season coaching men's soccer at TVHS, and in a recent interview with Patch, he said this year's team is special, and it shows.

"The boys are stepping up. They did very well against the Wolfpack. It was a good, tough win," he said. "The team hasn't won the league since 2007, so this was a big deal for our boys. They wanted it really bad. They wanted to 'stop the curse!' and they did it."

Drago knows they have a few games left to keep up their plan for the postseason.

"The boys have come together as a group and a team, not playing as individuals," he said. "Yes, we have great individual players who do well on their own, but when our focus is 'everything as a team,' we score, we work with each other, we move down the field as a team, and when we score, it's everyone who has built from the back to the front."

According to Coach Drago, this group of boys is highly talented, though when asked, he hesitated to name specific players. For him, the whole team is a solid unit.

Standout players may vary week to week. In the game vs. Great Oak High School, Christopher Rodriguez scored two goals, and Maurice Nielebock brought intense pressure to the Wolfpack's back line.

"Maurice could have scored two or three goals in that game," Coach Drago said of the player. "He brought so much pressure."

"You can get pretty far without talent, but adding their talent to this season is a recipe for success," Coach Drago said. "We have a lot of hope going forward."