By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE —  Freshman Kevin Guerrero won’t turn 15 until February, but he’s a sponge when it comes to soaking up soccer knowledge.

The Carson goalkeeper already has learned a lot in his 14 years, 10 months on the planet.

One thing the Post’s Keeper of the Year has figured out is you never, ever let opponents see you sweat. Tie game, down two, up two, overtime or opening minute, Guerrero’s outward demeanor is the same. He’s an unreadable mask of  focus and concentration.

“It’s not like I never get nervous before a big match,” Guerrero said. “I’m a freshman, and it was a big jump from China Grove Middle School to the South Piedmont Conference, so I had some nerves. But I was able to keep all the nerves inside.”

Carson head coach Lauren West was convinced before the season started that Guerrero could stay calm, cool and collected.

That proved to be the case as an extremely competitive South Piedmont Conference season unfolded.

The bottom of the league had gotten feistier, while the top of the league was solid, but not dominant. Carson quite literally had a chance to win, lose or tie every time it walked on the field in the SPC. There were no sure wins and no sure losses. One good decision or one electrifying stop by Guerrero made the difference many times in Carson’s 10-10-3 season.

The Cougars made it back to the 3A state playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. He was a critical part of that.

“We had 41 players on our jayvee and varsity, and Kevin was the only freshman that was placed on the varsity,” Carson head coach Lauren West said. “In my entire coaching career, he’s the only freshman I ever have made the starting goalkeeper. The reason for that is nerves. Freshman are generally nervous and they have difficulty adapting to the intensity, the skill, the jump in play between middle school and high school soccer. But Kevin was able to make the transition between the two levels flawlessly.”

Guerrero started playing early.

“My mom signed me up when I was 5 or 6,” he said. “By the time I was 11 or 12, I started focusing on goalkeeping. Coaches told me that’s where my best opportunities would be.”

Those coaches are looking smart.

There was a struggle way back in August with Concord in which Guerrero showed he could be an impact varsity player. Concord worked for three times as many shots on goal as the Cougars, but Guerrero accepted the challenge. He made 15 saves to preserve a scoreless tie. For Carson, that deadlock felt a lot like a victory.

“I’m a freshman, but I grew up playing against older players,” Guerrero said. “So it wasn’t easy, but it also wasn’t as hard as I though it might be. That early Concord match gave me some confidence.”

So did the rematch with the Spiders. Again the teams battled into overtime. This time Carson won it. In two overtime matches with Concord, the SPC runner-up, Guerrero allowed a total of one goal.

“There were a lot of tight matches,” Guerrero said. “The matches with West (Rowan) were very tough. The matches with South Rowan were hard because I knew so many of those guys.”

Carson twice took on 4A West Cabarrus in uphill matches.

West Cabarrus had one of the area’s most dynamic scorers in University of North Carolina-bound Drew Waller. Waller scored twice in each match against Carson, but Guerrero stopped quite a few of his rockets that would have been goals against most opponents.

Todd Tinsley, the veteran coach who guides West Cabarrus, recruited Guerrero to play on his club team — the Broncos — which says a lot.

“Kevin played like there was ice in his veins even in the most intense situations,” West said. “He thrives on the toughest situations. He went one-on-one with Waller on multiple occasions and came out on top quite a few times.”

Guerrero remembers “five or six” stops against Waller. Each save against the big-time recruit elevated the freshman’s confidence a bit more.

Guerrero was at his best in Carson’s first-round playoff match against Atkins. He made 10 saves, as the teams battled 0-0 through regulation and the two overtime sessions. Atkins finally prevailed in a PK shootout, but Guerrero, who even converted a PK in that one, clearly did everything in his power to keep Carson’s season alive.

There were some flowers, some accolades for him at the end of the season.

He made All-South Piedmont Conference and All-Region, which is a rare honor for a freshman.

For the season, Guerrero had 150 saves.

“A lot of them were game-changers,” West said. “He single-handedly kept us in games against tough teams like Concord, coming up clutch over and over.”

West believes Guerrero is the second Division I prospect the Carson program has had and she believes he’s the most talented goalkeeper the Cougars have ever been blessed with.

“Kevin is humble, he’s hard-working,  and he’s already a team leader,” West said. “Aside from being an incredible player, he’s an incredible person. He has great character, and that is not always the case with talented players because of their egos. When other players trash talk him, he ignores them and plays harder. He never goes into any save studs up, and he is always the first person to help an opposing player to his feet.”

Guerrero wants to have a future in soccer and is working for it, but he’s in no hurry. He wants to enjoy one year at a time.

“Right now, I’m  just trying to get better,” he said. “I’m focused on my club team and on my schoolwork. If I keep working, hopefully colleges will be recruiting me some day.”

 

The Post determined how many players from each team. Coaches made the selections from their team.

All-Rowan County soccer

Salisbury — Yahir “Yatti” Avilez, Carlos Henriquez, Abdul Eliwa, David Austin, Hines Busby, Robert Moulton, Mohammed Jabateh

Carson — Kevin Guerrero, Diego Campuzano, Jose Escobar, Anthony Beckham

West Rowan –  Rodrigo Pacheco, Giovanni Romero, Jose Hernandez, Andrew Mead

North Rowan — Jordin Moreno, Salim Shamman, Kevin Alvarado, Jonathan Reyes

South Rowan — Grayson Steedley, Michael Coles, Alan Ballinas-Gutierrez

East Rowan — Carter Honeycutt, Ivan Landaverde, Marcus Hoyt

Player of the Year — Avilez, Salisbury

Keeper of the Year — Guerrero, Carson

Coach of the Year — Matt Parrish, Salisbury

Notes — Eliwa scored a high percentage of Salisbury’s goal and was CCC Offensive Player of the Year. Coach Parrish had 1A and 1B in the county. He chose to reward seniority.

Parrish was named to the N.C. Soccer Coaches “field of honor” this year. Parrish may have done his best coaching job ever, as Salisbury jumped from a third-place, 12-win team to one of the elite teams in 2A with essentially the same cast of characters. West Rowan’s rookie coach Cristyan Cabrera was named SPC Coach of the Year. He led the Falcons to a winning season.  East Rowan’s Nermin Hozdic elevated East from no-chance to competitive. Carson (Lauren West) and North Rowan (Hector Calleja) coached tough teams that made the playoffs. Not much went right for South Rowan (Tim Hopkins), but the Raiders weren’t bad. They beat West Rowan and Carson late in the season.