The boys and girls soccer teams at San Marcos have new leadership.
Daniel Torres, who recently guided the Laguna Blanca boys to the CIF finals, has been named the Royals boys coach. Edwin Portillo, a coach with the Santa Barbara Soccer Club, is taking over the girls program.
San Marcos athletic director Abe Jahadhmy announced the hirings on Wednesday.
Torres is coming off a history-making season at Laguna Blanca. The Owls went 14-2-3, won their first Condor League title in more than 30 years and advanced to their first CIF final. They lost to league rival Dunn, 2-1, in the Division 7 championship match.
Laguna Blanca was the second team Torres coached to a CIF runner-up finish in his six years as a varsity coach. In 2011, he took Carpinteria High to the Division 5 final. He coached four years at Carpinteria and won three Tri-Valley League titles and was named the league’s coach of the year three times.
At San Marcos, Torres will be returning to the Channel League. He played for Todd Heil at Santa Barbara High and later coached the Dons junior varsity team.
Torres played at SBCC and Westmont College. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish from Cal State Channel Islands.
Portillo has 12 years of coaching experience at the academy, club and high school levels. He currently coaches the girls under-15 and boys under-19 teams of the Santa Barbara Soccer Club.
He coached JV girls soccer at Edgewood High in West Covina for three years. His experience also includes head coaching duties with the Chivas USA Academy and San Gabriel Soccer Club, assistant coach with the Golden State Soccer Club and clinic coach with the L.A. Galaxy Soccer Camp.
Portillo played at Santa Ynez High, Hancock College and Cal Poly Pomona.
Portillo replaces Macie Berlin, who left to pursue other opportunities. Torres takes over for Rob Lauderdale, who left because of time conflicts with his own business.
