Quintero and Kniffen named Coast Union MVPs for boys soccer, girls basketball
Senior Reagan Kniffen hauled in two awards for her basketball prowess this past season. Kniffen was named MVP of the Lady Broncos, and was placed on the All-Coast Valley League first team.
Senior Rima Panchel was also named to the All-CVL first team, and senior Ashley Martinez was named to the All-CVL second team. Sophomore Meg Stern was given league honorable mention.
Coach Bobby Youngs gave Emily McAvoy the Coach’s Award, and Stern was named Most Improved Player on the Lady Broncos.
The Lady Broncos received the Coast Valley League Sportsmanship Award, Youngs reported. Coast Union finished the 2015-16 season with a second place, 9-2 record in the CVL, but lost a home CIF playoff game to Calvary Murrieta on Thursday, Feb. 18.
Boys soccer
Coast Union boys soccer coach Luis Plasencia has announced team awards for the 2015-16 season. He named goalie Roberto Quintero as Most Valuable Player; midfielder Danny Pena received the Coach’s Award; and Gerardo Garcia was named Defensive MVP.
Quintero, also an accomplished football player, was named to the All-Coast Valley League Defensive Second Team after the 2015 fall season. Quintero made a series of leaping catches at the wide receiver position and booted the only field goal of the season for the Broncos — a thrilling, 37-yard, last-minute kick to top Valley Christian Academy 31-29.
Interviewed after the football season, the senior pointed out how playing goalkeeper for the Broncos in 2015 helped his football skills.
“You don’t let the soccer ball come to you; you attack it,” he related.
His father, who plays soccer regularly, taught him the precise technique for how a goalkeeper should catch the ball: hands together, thumbs touching, and fingers spread out like a “W,” he said.
“Me and my dad talk all the time about soccer,” Quintero explained. “He takes me out, and we practice. Catching a soccer ball the right way really, really, really helped me in football. I was actually surprised at how well I could catch footballs and just bring them in.”
Special to The Cambrian.
This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 8:37 AM with the headline "Quintero and Kniffen named Coast Union MVPs for boys soccer, girls basketball."