A couple of years ago Dan Salas gave a group of veterans two options.

But the veterans made the wrong choice, leaving Salas to hitch his hopes to a group of freshmen, a move that continues to gain steam. Salas’ Corona del Sol’s boys soccer team kicked off the 2016-17 season with a 3-1 win against defending state champ Hamilton on Tuesday.

The current crop of Aztec veterans bought in when Salas approached them as freshman, but, like most freshmen, it took them a while to catch on. But the commitment they made to each other and their program may lead to more special moments in this soccer season.

“They (freshmen) were clueless at first,” Salas said. “But at the same time they had conviction. They were like, ‘We don’t know this Salas guy, but he’s honest and let’s build from there.’”

Corona del Sol will get a chance to make a national splash next week when it, Hamilton and Brophy travel to to play in one of the nation’s biggest tournaments, the Lotto Sport Western Showcase in San Clemente, Calif. The tournament features four teams ranked in the top-11 of topdrawersoccer.com’s national rankings, including No. 5 Hamilton.  

All of the matches will be streamed live. On Tuesday, Corona del Sol was down 1-0 at halftime and playing without its state player of the year candidate, Ryan Flood.

The tall senior midfielder/forward sat because of two yellow cards Flood received in Corona del Sol’s last match, a state quarterfinal loss to Hamilton last year.

“Our guys came out (after Tuesday’s halftime vs. Hamilton) ultra focused and angry,” Salas said. “We made some adjustments, and they got together as a team and starting calling out their responsibilities.”

The changes worked and led to three goals by three different players, Bryan Olivares, Tanner Pile and Preston Grayson.

Even without Flood, there was still plenty of leaders on the pitch for Corona del Sol. That depth is a reason why the Aztecs are one of 6A’s favorites this year.

John Rea scored a team-high 26 goals for Corona del Sol last year and is redshirting this year at Notre Dame. But that group of freshmen (Pile, Conor Thorne, Austin Delaney, Josh Whitney, Mike Lopez, Ethan Crupe) Salas tabbed to help bring stability to his program three years ago won’t allow the team to slip this season.

“They are absolutely the glue of this team,” Salas said.

(Corona del Sol is on track for a good season. Photo courtesy of Corona del Sol.)