KEEP AWAY—Simi Valley High’s Diego Fontes, right, protects the ball from Royal’s Oscar Alvizo during a 2-0 Pioneer victory. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers Diego Fontes kept grinding it out through the entire rebuilding process.

The senior midfielder for Simi Valley High’s boys’ soccer team is now in his fourth season with the varsity squad. In that time he’s seen the Pioneers go from talent deprived to talent laden, from meager pretenders to confident contenders.

“My first year we had one win,” Fontes said. “The second year we were one win from making the playoffs. Last year we were in first place with three games to go but finished third.

“To go from a team that couldn’t win to maybe finishing my senior year on top would be a great experience, something I’d be very proud of.”

With a 2-0 victory at home last weekend over rival Royal, the Pioneers improved to 8-0-2 overall and 5-0-2 in the Marmonte League.

Simi Valley’s two league ties were against Agoura and Newbury Park.

Following a week without matches due to school finals, the second half of Marmonte play begins in earnest tonight, with SVHS playing host to the Calabasas Coyotes at 6.

Atop the league standings and halfway toward their goal of claiming the team’s first Marmonte crown in more than a decade, the Pioneers have no intention of easing off the accelerator.

“We don’t want to get too cocky or anything like that,” junior goalkeeper Matt Hoffman said.

“We’re definitely looking forward to these remaining games because we feel like we’re a strong contender, but anybody in the top half of the standings is good enough to win it.”

Pioneer third-year head coach Mike Popp, who’s in his second stint with the school’s soccer program—he coached from 2003 through 2004—gives a simple explanation for his squad’s success.

“The boys, they don’t want to lose,” Popp said. “They do not want to lose.”

Simi Valley’s 4-4-2 attack is predicated on speed, rhythm and ball control.

Senior forwards Alan Rovira and Salvador Orozco fuel the offense and are the Pioneers’ primary goal-scorers along with senior midfielder Tony Herrera and junior Andres Herrera.

Joel DeLeon, a first-team allleague member as a junior, is versatile enough to play all over the midfield. Fontes is another force in the center of the pitch. Both DeLeon and Fontes scored goals against Royal.

On defense, junior Joe Membrila keeps everything organized in the backend. Andrew Vu, also a junior, has been another steady force defending the box for SVHS.

Hoffman, the first-year varsity goalkeeper, has impressed his coach since Day 1 of the season.

“He’s doing fantastic,” said Popp, who also teaches math at the school.

“I call (Hoffman) my little spider monkey because he has courage and can jump all over the place. He’s tough, and he’s not scared to come out and make saves. The guys feel very comfortable with him back there.”

Brent Kruse, Matt Abraham, Chase Ruesga, Kevin DeLaRiva, Andrew Mapes, Alonso DelCastillo, David Cabrera, Marcelo Duffau, Brian Ferrer and CJ Meeker round out the Pioneers’ roster.

According to Popp, a big reason Simi Valley has improved in recent years is because of the youth club programs in the area.

The players rise through the ranks together and learn how to gether for so long that they start to read each other’s minds sometimes,” Popp said.

There’s also a big-time soccer buzz taking shape at Simi Valley.

In addition to the Pioneer boys, the girls’ varsity squad remains undefeated with a 13-0-3 overall record and a 4-0-3 mark in the Marmonte.

Popp and his players both said the two varsity teams get along well and push each other to succeed.

“It energizes our school and it energizes the kids,” Popp said of the teams’ winning ways. “None of them want to fall down from the top of that hill because they like being there.”

And who could blame them? The view is outstanding.