Coronado’s boys soccer team was already a heavy favorite to win its second straight Class 5A state title this past season with most of its 2023 roster being underclassmen.
But what was in store in 2024 was a shock even to the Cougars as they rewrote the state record book.
Coronado put together one of the most dominant seasons in Nevada high school sports history, rolling to a 28-0 record and winning the 5A state title with a 3-0 victory over Northern champion Hug on Nov. 9 at Coronado.
The Cougars became the second undefeated state boys soccer champion with no ties (Tech, 23-0 in 2012), according to known records by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, and the first team in the top classification to win back-to-back state titles since Legacy (2010 and 2011).
They also set eight state records, including the most goals scored (169) and shutouts (20) recorded by a team in all classifications. The Cougars outscored their opponents 169-10 for the season.
“It’s really unfathomable what they’ve done and what they could accomplish,” Coronado coach Dustin Barton. “We’re savoring what we’ve done and moving forward. I would have never guessed in a million years that we would be in this situation.”
Coronado’s dominant and record-breaking season earned the Cougars the honor of being named the Nevada Preps Team of the Year.
“I thought it was going to be an easier year than the previous season, but I didn’t really expect us to go undefeated,” junior midfielder Cy Adams said. “I thought they might have a little rocky road throughout the year, but that did not happen once. It’s kind of amazing what we did.”
‘Went with the flow’
Most of Coronado’s contributors on its 2023 title-winning team were sophomores, so the Cougars were already going to be tough to beat entering the season.
Then the Cougars got even more firepower with the addition of forward Gavin Flickinger, who plays on the same club team as most of his teammates but wasn’t cleared to play for Coronado in 2023.
“We won it without Gavin, and we got a 60-goal scorer coming in,” Barton said. “Well, we didn’t know he was going to score 60 goals. We knew we had a lot of offensive firepower, so we thought we had a good chance. We didn’t assume anything. We didn’t think we were going to go undefeated. We came out and played, and it all went our way.”
Flickinger, a junior, scored 60 goals to set the mark for goals in a season by a player in the top classification (5A/4A). The Fordham commit was named the 5A player of the year and Gatorade state boys soccer player of the year.
“It’s exciting, you got another player coming in and it’s going to help you score more goals,” junior defender Grayson Elisaldez said of adding Flickinger. “It’s extra help because we (won) the season before, and getting him, we had a chance at doing it again.”
Flickinger added 36 assists, which set a state season record for a player in any classification. Junior forward Dylan Flores added 38 goals and 34 assists and set a new mark for career assists by a player in the top classification (53).
Flickinger said early on that the team felt like it could have a dominant season. As Coronado approached record-breaking territory, Flickinger said the team and coaches wouldn’t talk about it that much and just focused on playing their game.
“Once we started getting close to all the records and had the undefeated record, there was a tiny bit of pressure to maintain it,” Flickinger said. “But I don’t think we put too much pressure on ourselves. We went with the flow of it.”
‘Know what to do’
That helped Coronado in one of its biggest tests of the season in the 5A Southern League title game against Palo Verde.
In 2023, Palo Verde scored three goals in the first 25 minutes and won the league title over Coronado before the Cougars ultimately won the state title.
That defeat on Nov. 4, 2023, was the last time Coronado lost. The Cougars have won 30 straight games and will have a chance in 2025 to set a record for most consecutive games without a defeat (52, by Bishop Gorman in 2008-2010).
“Ever since then, we try to tell them every day there’s a team that could beat us if we don’t bring our No. 1 game,” Barton said. “The kids know what to do.”
Remembering that loss, Coronado defeated Palo Verde 3-0 to get the league title on Nov. 2.
Barton, who has coached Coronado to all three of its boys soccer state titles, said he’s never had a group with this much chemistry, adding that the players spend a lot of time together outside of soccer.
Now Coronado will go into this season trying to do something no team in the top classification has ever done: win three straight state titles. And with seven All-5A Southern League selections returning, the Cougars could break some more records.
“No team has won three in a row. We’ll see. That’s our goal,” Barton said. “No. 1 is taking it game by game, minute by minute, hour by hour and winning all those minutes. It leads up to an undefeated season, hopefully.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
