For the second year in a row, Cerritos College women's soccer coach Ruben Gonzalez has been named the NSCAA Division III (non-scholarship) National Coach of the Year. Gonzalez, who led his Falcons to their second straight National Championship and CCCAA State Championship, has now won three national and four state titles in his nine season as the head coach. Additionally, Gonzalez has led his teams to eight straight South Coast Conference championships and a remarkable 194-17-14 record, which included a 24-0-1 mark in 2013.

"It's very humbling to receive this great honor," said Gonzalez, who will be traveling to Philadelphia in January to receive his team's National Championship trophy, as well as his Coach of the Year placque. "I owe all of it to my coaching staff and players who make me look better."

After winning the title in 2012, Gonzalez landed a couple of great recruits, who stepped in and helped the team go unbeaten in 2013. They escaped an overtime playoff game against San Diego Miramar College to advance to the Final Four and then posted a 7-0 win over Foothill College in the semi-finals and capped off the season with a 3-0 win over Santiago Canyon College, which is the second year in a row they defeated the Hawks for the championship. It's also the third time they faced Santiago Canyon in the finals, as they won their first state title in 2007 with a pair of last-minute goals for a 2-1 win.

"This journey to repeat started back in the summer with our recruiting," added Gonzalez. "We knew we had a good core group of players returning, and when they saw who we were able to add, they felt that repeating was a strong possibility. Once the returners saw the talent that was coming in, that served as our motivation to try and repeat. It's a year-round effort to try and maintain what we've been able to accomplish and as a result, the expectations have continued to grow. Just like last season, we have a good group coming back and we're actively looking to fill some spots of graduating players."

During his time with the Falcons, Gonzalez has led his team to the Southern California Regional Playoffs each season, while they have concluded ever year ranked nationally.

Photo courtesy of Sebastian Echeverry