JOSE DE LA TORRE
Citrus Hill, Senior, Forward
It’s not just the goals — and there were a lot of them — or the league titles. It’s about the respect of your opponents.
After compiling an Inland-best 50 goals and leading his team to a third straight undefeated Mountain Pass League championship, Citrus Hill senior Jose De La Torre is the IE Varsity Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
“Other teams, like, they respect me, and I like that feeling,” De La Torre said. “It means a lot to me. It really does. Like, a lot, a lot.”
The 5-foot-8 attacking talent holds the top two goal scoring marks in Citrus Hill’s history after topping his previous record (41) set as a junior.
“I really wanted to leave my mark and leave a huge legacy, and I did,” De La Torre said. “I want to thank myself, too, for having the strength and the ambition to go higher.
“To be honest, it all came from my hard work and dedication to beat my own record and with the help of my teammates, obviously, I got a lot of great passes, but the goals came from me and all the training and all the hard work,” De La Torre said. “I pushed myself to do this because I wanted to beat my record that I set last year — 41 — and I did it. I got 50. I surpassed it by nine goals. I did the best I could.”
De La Torre and Citrus Hill coach Aram Najar talked in the preseason specifically about setting a new goals record.
“He set that goal when the season began and we put him in a situation where he got an opportunity a little higher up the pitch so he could receive the ball in more dangerous positions,” Najar said. “But he set the goals and got the goals.”
De La Torre scored three or more goals nine times and four or more goals five times this season, as Citrus Hill (19-4-2 overall) advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and finished with the second-most victories among Division 1 teams.
“Jose is the man,” Arlington coach Kevin Watson said. “He’s got everything it takes to be a next-level player.”
Despite losing his freshman season, which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, De La Torre finished his career with exactly 100 goals after scoring four times in a 4-2 win over Long Beach Cabrillo in the first round of the postseason.
“Ever since I joined sophomore year, there was one player I looked up to: Manny Talevera,” De La Torre said. “He set the previous goal record (25) and I looked up to him a lot, but I told him, ‘You know what? Next year I’m going to leave my own mark. I’m going to lead everything. Assists, goals scored, everything.’
“And to set the new goals record twice, I’m really happy for that,” De La Torre said. “I’m not sure if I can explain how important it is. It just means so much to me to have left my story.”
De La Torre currently lists scholarship offers from Cal State Fullerton, San Diego State and California Baptist University, so the story and the goals will continue.
“Any college program he goes into, I think they’re in for a surprise,” Najar said. “He’s going to come in and without saying too much, just his actions on the field, he’s going to deserve to be on the pitch and I think he’s going to be Freshman of the Year at any college, and I’m not surprised if he’s drafted into MLS. He’s going to put numbers up and have a lot of heads turning wherever he plays.”