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5/19/08 - From the Register-Pajaronian

Breakers semipro soccer team goes 1-1-1 at U.S. Open Cup qualifying

The Santa Cruz County Breakers semipro soccer club couldn’t recover from a first-round loss and was unable to advance to the U.S. Open Cup during a Region IV qualifying tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. over the weekend.

The Breakers went 1-1-1 for the tournament, falling in the first round to Hollywood United, then beating Banat Arsenal 5-1 on Saturday and finishing up with a 1-all draw against San Diego United, the defending NPSL champions.

“We did OK,” Breakers coach Mike Runeare said. “For our first trip as a club to qualifying, I thought we did really well. It took about 14 hours to get there, and we got in at 1 a.m., so that first time out there just caught us off guard a little. But each half we got better, and I feel really good about going forward.”

Nate Hill scored three times for the Breakers in the team’s lone win. Ivan Compos and Edward Murillo Jiminez also scored. Murillo scored the team’s goal in Saturday’s tie.

The two group winners from the weekend tournament advance to play in the U.S. Open Cup, a national club tournament including teams from the NPSL, USL and MLS.

The Salinas Samba, also of the NPSL, competed in the other Region IV bracket, but could not advance.

The two teams to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup Sunday were Hollywood United, which is run by actor Anthony Lapaglia, and the Arizona Sahuaros.

The Breakers return to action this weekend with two matches, Friday against Real-San Jose at 7 p.m. in San Jose, and Saturday at Cabrillo College against the Samba. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

6/23/07 - Semipro soccer: Breakers earn tie with El Paso

6/22/07 - Breakers semipro team a local family affair

6/02/07 - 1:00 p.m. Salinas Samba - Santa Cruz Breakers 0-1

CAMPOS SCORES WINNING GOAL AGAINST FORMER TEAM

Coach Runeare's team was waiting for this rematch to cancel last week's 5-1 loss against the Samba. The Breakers took charge of the game from the beginning and possessed the ball for the most part of it. The winning goal came into the 24th minute of the first half from a 25 yard shot by Ivan Campos, a former Samba player. The Breakers created many other opportunities to score the second goal but just could not finish. The Breakers are now 3-2-1  and the team is in the running to finish at the top of the table of the NPSL Northwestern conference.

5/27/07 1:00 p.m. Santa Cruz Breakers - Real San Jose 4-2

Breakers bounce back with a convincing win

After yesterday's loss against the Samba, coach Runeare had only on thing in his mind. Making sure that his team was going to win in a convincing way to put behind yesterday's loss in Salinas.

The game could not have started in a better way for the Breakers when Harry Abraham scored the first goal in the fifth minute of the game on an assist from Mark Hogenhout.

The second goal came in the twentieth minute with Ivan Campos running on the left, beating a defender and then placing the ball to the left side of the keeper. The nearly 250 Breakers fans exploded in cheers after the second goal! Harry Abrams scored the third goal for the Breakers in a similar way as Campos had before, only this time the assist was executed by Eric Bucchere. The Breakers barely had time to celebrate the third goal when Armando Martinez put the fourth goal in the back of the net after only thirty minutes of play. The fans that showed up on this Memorial Day weekend were happy to see so many goals. However, the game was not over yet, and Real San Jose reacted positively by scoring two goals before half-time to set the score at 4-2 for the Breakers. The second half saw the Breakers controlling the game with the final score ending 4-2 for the Breakers.

The team is now 2-2-1 sitting in third place in the conference with 7 points behind the Knights, 12 points (one more game) and the Sonoma Sol, at 10 points.

The next home game for the Breakers will be against the El Paso Indios on June 22 at 7:30 p.m. and against Albuquerque Asylum on June 23 at 7:30 p.m. Both of these teams are in the Southwest Conference. The El Paso Indios have an average crowd of 3,000 people at their games and the Albuquerque Asylum have about 1,500 people on average per game. Thank you to all the fans that have been coming to support us so far! The next two home game should be the most two exciting games of the season! Don't miss them!

5/26/07 - 1:00 p.m. Salinas Samba - Santa Cruz Breakers 5-1

Salinas Samba transformed in the second half

This highly anticipated game against the Samba was played at Hartnell College. Both teams were looking forward to play as many of these players on both teams are friends and even teammates in the recent past. There is a great relationship between the two clubs and everybody was ready to see good competition on the field. The first half was to the advantage of the Breakers, while not playing as well as in the first three games, they were up 1-0 at half time. Until then, the Samba had not shown much either but they certainly were transformed in the second half. As matter of fact, out the six shots the Samba had in the second half, they scored 5 goals! The game ended 5-1 for the Samba and the Breakers dropped to 1-2-1 in the conference.

5/13/07 - 6:00 p.m. Santa Cruz Breakers - Sacramento Knights 0-1

Questionable penalty kick decides the game in favor of the Knights

It was the second game between the two sides in one week. This time the game was played at Watsonville High Stadium. Both teams won their game the night before and entered this game with a 1-0-1 record. Even though it is still early in the season, a win for either team would have meant a lone first place at the top of the NPSL Northwest division.

The game in itself was more exciting than the one played the week before at Cabrillo College, Carl Connelly Stadium. Both teams were more aggressive to the ball and the tempo of the game was higher. A lot of the play was in the midfield and dangerous scoring opportunities in the first half were scarce. In the 42nd minute, a contact between a Breakers defender and knight forward led to a questionable penalty kick for the Sacramento Knights. The penalty kick was scored putting the Knights ahead 1-0 at half-time. Like last week, the Knights started the second half stronger and had several opportunities to put the game away but strong defense by Tommy Hernandez and goalkeeper Jarod Wheeler created more frustration for the Knights forwards. The last fifteen minutes of the game saw a Breakers team pushing forward to get a tying goal.

The Breakers created several opportunities that should have finished in goal, showing a strong effort and desire to come back in the last minutes. When Breakers forward Jeff Meyer was literally taken down inside the penalty box, everyone thought that the referee would grant a penalty kick. However, he decided to give an indirect free kick that the Breakers did not materialize.

In the two games between the Breakers and the Knights, goals were scored on penalty kicks. After this game, the Breakers record stands at 1-1-1.

5/12/07 - 7:30 p.m. Sonoma Sol - Santa Cruz Breakers 0-1

Ivan Campos scores only goal in Breakers first win in the NPSL league

Before going to Santa Rosa, Coach Runeare knew that his team was going to play against another experienced and very competitive team in the league, the Sonoma Sol. Since the league's inception, Sonoma Sol has been competing for the conference championship with the Sacramento Knights. A good crowd showed up for this game, consistent with the Sol's average of about 1,000 fans per game in a season. The Sol started the game by showing very good possession of the ball but it was the Breakers that created the most dangerous scoring opportunities. Ivan Campos found himself in a very good one-on-one position with the keeper and placed the ball to the keeper's left side, scoring the only goal of the game. In second half, the Sol controlled the game but the Breakers had many players behind the ball which made it hard to penetrate their defense. This was the first away win of the season for the Breakers!

5/5/07- 7:30 p.m. Santa Cruz Breakers - Sacramento Knights 1-1

Hogenhout scores first ever NPSL Breakers goal in front of more than 500 fans

On May 5th, more than 500 fans showed up for the first ever NPSL game at Carl Connelly at Cabrillo College. The Santa Cruz Breakers tied 2006 National Champions Sacramento Knights, a result that shows the Breakers will be competitive in its first year playing at this level. Coach Michael Runeare and assistant coach Mike Arzabal have been working very hard with the team to prepare for this opening game.

The first half of the game saw the Breakers in control of the game and creating the best scoring opportunities. The Breakers scored their first goal ever on a penalty kick converted by Marquee player, captain Hogenhout. The Sacramento Knights played better in the second half and showed more playing experience at this level. They kept composure and kept pushing forward, eventually scoring on a penalty kick as well to set the final score at 1-1. The atmosphere at Carl Connelly Stadium was a festive especially after the games, as youth players, families, and friends gathered on the field to meet players of both teams. The opening game was a success on and off the field.

Breakers Press Release: February 9th, 2007

Santa Cruz Breakers Announces NPSL Team Head Coach Michael Runeare

Playing its first year in the National Premier Soccer League, the Santa Cruz Breakers Soccer Club announced today the nomination of its coaching staff for the 2007 season. Michael Runeare, a resident of Santa Cruz has accepted the position of head coach of the NPSL Santa Cruz Breakers Soccer team for the 2007 season.

Michael is a former college player at the University of Massachusetts and a former semi-pro player with the Kalamazoo Kangaroos and Houston Dynamos. He is in his fourth year as Head Women’s Soccer Coach at UCSC. This year, Michael was voted the 2006 NSCAA Senior College Women DIII West Region Coach of the Year. Michael holds a NSCAA Premier Coaching License.

In 2006, Michael also coached the Breakers Super Y-League U20 Boys to the national tournament where they eventually lost against the New York Red Bulls of the MLS Youth program.

“We are very excited that Michael has agreed to coach this team. He is the perfect fit for the Breakers NPSL team. He well connected in the local community and is very familiar with this level of play ” said Paolo Carbone, Breakers Coaching Director

Mike Arzabal, former Santa Clara University assistant coach and current Cabrillo College Assistant Coach will join the Breakers NPSL coaching staff as well. General Manager Jay Gomez says, “Under the direction of this coaching staff, I am very confident that this year the Breakers can put a good product on the field. We will have a mix of the best players in the county with some players that will be coming in from all around the nation”.

Coach Runeare will announce the first 3 Breakers marquee players before of the end of February. Tryout dates have been set as well and players that are interested in trying out should check the tryout information posted on the NPSL Breakers website.

The Breakers NPSL season will kickoff against the National Champions, Sacramento Knights on Saturday, May 5th at 7:30 p.m. at Cabrillo College, in Carl Connelly Stadium.