The Division I Golden Boot race came down to one night.
This is our third and final Division I list of the fall, with the playoffs next. When we last checked in, on Oct. 19, Arcata's Isai Aguilar and McKinleyville's Gaelen Creighton were tied at the top. They met in the last game either side had on…
The Division I Golden Boot race came down to one night.
This is our third and final Division I list of the fall, with the playoffs next. When we last checked in, on Oct. 19, Arcata's Isai Aguilar and McKinleyville's Gaelen Creighton were tied at the top. They met in the last game either side had on the schedule, and one goal now separates them.
Arcata and McKinleyville, rivals in the Big 5, fill five of the top ten places between them. Further down, two seniors from the Bay Counties League - East are level, and there is one new name. Two more players sit just outside, and several coaches told us what these players mean to their teams.
Not every total here is final. Two players in the top ten still have games to play, and both could climb.
Here is how the top ten stands.
Arcata went to McKinleyville on Oct. 27 with Aguilar a goal ahead. He and Creighton both scored, Arcata won 5-2, and the sophomore finishes the regular season on 28, his sixth straight game with a goal. That run took in the 4-0 win over Eureka on Oct. 24, a game Arcata coach John Davidson had called "big" the week before. Aguilar scored 13 goals in 19 games as a freshman and has more than doubled that in 20 this fall, including three at Athenian on Aug. 28 in a 4-0 win. Davidson names his team's strength as "our offensive technical abilities." Aguilar is the one who finishes what that creates.
Creighton ends one short, but he gave Aguilar no room. The senior has scored in each of his last 10 games, a run that began against St. Bernard's on Sept. 26 and ended with one of McKinleyville's two goals against Arcata. His 27 goals and 10 assists make 64 points, the most in the top ten, and he has been involved in 46 percent of McKinleyville's recorded goals. He had three at Credo on Sept. 17, a 4-1 win, and three more in a 3-3 draw with Fortuna on Oct. 6. A year ago he was a provider as much as a scorer, with 12 goals and 12 assists in 14 games. In his final season he has become the finisher too, for a side that are 16-4-2 in the Big 5.
Rine gives McKinleyville two of the top three places, and his 3.6 points per game is the best rate of the five Big 5 players on this list. The junior has 24 goals in 14 games, twice the 12 he scored as a freshman, and in 10 fewer games. He scored three in a game four times this fall, twice against Ferndale, and he finished with a goal in each of McKinleyville's last four games, five in the last three.
No one in the top ten is in better form. Rothschild has scored in each of his last three games, seven goals and two assists in all, with four at Gateway on Oct. 20, a 5-0 win, and two in a 4-0 win over Jewish Community on Oct. 27. The rise has been steep. Three goals in eight games as a junior became 21 goals and 10 assists in 13 as a senior, 4.0 points per game, and he has been involved in 69 percent of the Jaguars' recorded goals.
He has one more chance to climb. The Jaguars host Gateway on Oct. 29, a side he has scored seven against in two meetings this fall. Three more goals would draw him level with Rine; four would take him into third.
Mukome and Pelayo Llamas III are level on 20, and their teams have met three times. Mukome scored in the first two, a 1-1 draw on Oct. 2 and a 2-1 win over College Preparatory School on Oct. 23, and Athenian won the third 2-1 on Oct. 27. The senior has 10 assists to go with his goals in 11 games, and he has been involved in 60 percent of Athenian's recorded goals. His 4.5 points per game is up from 2.6 a year ago.
Mukome has one game left as well. Athenian host Bentley in their conference tournament on Oct. 30, against a side that beat them 1-0 on Oct. 20. Two goals would lift him past Rothschild's current total, and five would take him past Rine.
Llamas III scored the Cougars' goal in the Oct. 23 defeat, his third straight game with one. The senior has 20 in nine games, 4.6 points per game, after seven goals in 11 as a junior. Six came at Redwood Christian on Sept. 15, an 8-0 win, and five more at St. Joseph Notre Dame three days later. Two of his goals have been game-winners.
Estrella Jr is new to the top ten. The senior captain, who plays on the right wing and up front, is the leading scorer for a Fort Bragg side that have just won their league for the third year in a row. He has 19 goals and eight assists in 17 games, and he finished with five goals and an assist in the last three, four of them in a 5-1 win over Willits on Oct. 22. Fort Bragg coach Oscar Estrella expects him to be named league MVP for the second straight season. Going into the playoffs, Estrella points to the unity this group has built over four years, and the chemistry the players have kept for the last three.
James is the only freshman in the top ten, and he is as likely to set a goal up as to score one. He has 17 goals and 12 assists in 23 games. Against Ferndale on Sept. 26, a 13-0 win, he had four goals and two assists; against St. Bernard's on Sept. 1, a 15-0 win, he had three goals and four assists. Davidson knows how young his side is. For a deep playoff run, he said, "our young team needs to show maturity in moments of adversity." James is the youngest of the three Arcata players here.
Grosveld saved his best for the last game. The junior had three goals and an assist in the 5-2 win at McKinleyville, and he scored in both of Arcata's wins over them this fall. He is one of Arcata's three captains, and Davidson said all three "have performed well this season." Grosveld had six goals and six assists in 20 games as a sophomore; this fall he has 17 goals and 11 assists in 23, and his 2.0 points per game is more than double the 0.9 he managed a year ago.
Swift has the highest scoring rate in the top ten: 17 goals and 11 assists in eight games, 5.6 points per game, against one of the tougher schedules among these teams. The junior is the leading scorer for a Credo side that are 13-6-2 in the North Central League II.
Hikes is Fort Bragg's second scorer, with 15 goals and five assists in 16 games, and his coach names the junior as the prospect to watch. "The future is bright for this young man," Estrella said.
Kelseyville coach Kennith White calls Inostroza Carrillo "the straw that stirs the drink," and the numbers agree. Three of the senior's 14 goals have been game-winners, he has six assists, and he has been involved in 43 percent of Kelseyville's recorded goals. White had to replace nine starters from last season's league champions, and Inostroza Carrillo missed three games at the start of the league schedule; Kelseyville went 2-1 without him. Against Middletown on Oct. 22 he scored one goal and set up the other in a 2-1 win, against a keeper, Joseph Robertson, who made 13 saves by his coach's count.
Editor's note: Inside The Ninety wants to tell more stories like this one. Records and results only go so far, and the best stories come from the people closest to the game. We thank Coach Davidson of Arcata, Coach Estrella of Fort Bragg, Coach White of Kelseyville and Coach Robinson of Middletown for sharing their thoughts on their players.
If you coach a team with a story worth telling, we want to hear from you. There might be a breakout player, a season that turned around, or a group doing more with less. Email us at insidetheninety@gmail.com or send us a DM.
