Two months removed from a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the University of Charleston in the final four, Adam Reeves, who held the role of acting coach during the season received the full-time position last week.
Two minutes away from overtime, a seemingly harmless shot rolled toward senior goalkeeper Jason Trejos. Trejos did not collect the ball cleanly, reached out to recollect but, in the process, turned the ball into his own net.
“It’s unfortunate and it will always stick with me, but it’s not like I haven’t moved on, it’s part of the business,” Reeves said.
The only evidence of men’s soccer’s run to the final four sits on a grey filing cabinet in Reeves’ office in the form of the West Region Championship trophy.
The remnants of schedules and tactics from last year’s run are scribbled on a large white board in dry erase marker.
Coaches are considered faculty at California State schools, so the position had to be publicly posted despite Reeves’ success last season. Reeves applied for the position and was the only candidate interviewed.
Reeves has no interest in leaving Cal Poly Pomona anytime soon. Oregon State University and Dominican University were the only two positions open on the west coast at the Division I and II level.
“This is where I want to be,” Reeves said. “From a family perspective, from a personal perspective this is where I’ve found happiness for the time being.”
According to Reeves, he signed a two-year contract, but the position is reviewed each year by the department.
The challenge now is to rebuild a team that is losing 10 seniors including leading scorer and All-American Sergi Monso. According to Reeves, this year’s recruiting class is being finalized and will include 10 players who are freshmen, four-year transfers and junior college transfers.
“Recruiting is the life blood of any program,” Reeves said. “As we have individual meetings with the guys, we want to make sure they understand where they stand, and their roles and responsibilities and they understand we have a lot of replacing to do from within and recruiting.”
Reeves rejected the idea that only a replica of last year’s team could compete for another national title.
“Two years ago, we lost in the regional final scoring almost half the goals we did this year,” Reeves said. “Which tells me we can get there without being as offensively threatening as we were this year.”
Building for next season is already underway as the 45-day spring segment started Friday. In this segment, the team can practice every day.
Prior to Friday, the team was allowed eight hours of Countable Athletic Related Activity each week according to NCAA rules. That time is split into two hours with the ball and six reserved for weight training and conditioning.
In the spring, the team is scheduled to play three Division I and two junior college teams.
The spring segment lasts until April 21 when the team breaks for summer.
“We have what we think is a good schedule to prepare us for the fall,” Reeves said. “The seniors are no longer with us they’ve obviously moved on, this is the time to develop what’s in house.”
Partially covered by papers and notebooks on Reeves’ desk is The Manager: Inside the Minds of Football’s Leaders by Mike Carson.
Reeves reads books by and about the top coaches across multiple sports including college basketball legends Geno Auriemma and John Wooden and soccer coach Sir Alex Ferguson.
“You always have to want to soak in information whether it’s tactical information, soccer information, whether it’s leadership information,” Reeves said.
“If I take one section, paragraph of this book and I’m able to incorporate it in a certain way to mold it to me and my style and my philosophy then it was probably worth my time.”
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