By Bill Sheehan

A week ago, Jose de la Torre Jr. told an interviewer he had two goals: helping Cal State Fullerton win a Big West Soccer Championship and earning conference Midfielder of the Year honors.

It's one down and one to go.

On Tuesday, the Cal State Fullerton sophomore won Big West Conference Midfielder of the Year award.

De la Torre is Fullerton's fourth Midfielder of the Year in as many years. Sebastian Cruz was named the top midfielder in 2022, and Erick Serrano won the award in 2023 and 2024. "We are turning into Midfielder U," said Fullerton head coach George Kuntz. "I think we've shown we can recruit and develop elite midfielders."

De la Torre, who was born and raised in Moreno Valley, said he was inspired by Serrano. "Erick was my roommate, and I looked up to him. I'm very happy I could follow in his footsteps," said de la Torre,

"I really wanted the award. I'm still in shock because I didn't think I would win it," he said. "I never put myself above other people. I put myself at the bottom so I can work myself to the top," said de la Torre, who led the Big West regular-season leader in assists (7) and shots (65) and tied for the lead in points (15) and shots on goal (22). He also tied for sixth in goals with four.

The 19-year-old de la Torre will begin zeroing in on his other goal Wednesday at Titan Stadium, when No. 4-seed Fullerton (8-6-5 overall, 5-3-1 in conference) squares off with No. 5-seed UC Davis (4-8-5, 4-3-2) in a Big West Championship first-round game at Titan Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

The winner will face No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara (6-4-8, 4-0-5) in a semifinal match Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Gauchos' Harder Stadium.

The Titans' last two conference games were losses to Davis, 2-1, at home and to UC San Diego, 1-0, on the road "Against Davis, we started quickly with good attacking and defending, but our play dropped off. On Wednesday, we need to exploit them as much as we can, take advantage of opportunities, finish and play together as a family," said del la Torre.

"Our guys have been good about bouncing back and are confident they can play well against any team in the conference," said George Kuntz, who is in his 11th year as Fullerton head coach. "Davis is a formidable opponent. We need to be clinical. When we have opportunities, we need to finish. And we need to stop them from creating dangerous situations in the box."

Kuntz said De la Torres' skills stood out to Fullerton coaches during his recruiting process a year and a half ago. "Jose shoots with both feet, which is a huge asset. He can get shots off while dribbling and has a quick release that is hard to stop. He doesn't have a big windup, which defenders have difficulty with. And he's really good on his initial passes."


Jose del la Torre Jr. dribbles past defenders while playing for his Albion soccer club. 

As a freshman last season, the 5-foot-7 de la Torre started four games and played in all 20 contests, scoring four goals and two assists.

"Early in that season, George said the team was going to need me and that I needed to play like a big-time player who has been here for years. I finished well, having three goals and two assists in conference games," he said."

De la Torre has somewhat of a sophomore jinx at the outset this year. He missed a month of workouts because of a right ankle sprain, which lowered his confidence level. "The team needed me, but I wasn't showing up early in the season.

A 9-2 loss at LMU on Sept. 11 was a turning point. "A light switch went on. After that, I started attacking and creating chances," said de la Torre, who had two assists in a 3-3 tie against Seattle two games later.

The Titans lost their Big West opener, 1-0, to UC Santa Barbara at Titan Stadium despite outshooting the Gauchos, 17-9. Fullerton then won 2-1 at Sacramento State, launching a six-game undefeated streak that ended with two losses to finish the regular season.

Junior forward Fitz Williams, a key member of the Titans' front-line attack, suffered a torn ACL at Sacramento State and was lost for the season. "I felt really bad. He was a big piece on team," said de la Torre of Williams, who is expected to return next season.

On a positive note, de la Torre formed a power 1-2 offensive punch with senior forward Mario Carlos, a 6-foot senior from Torrance. Named the Big West Offensive Player of the Year, Carlos scored seven goals, which tied him for the most in conference. He also tied for second in points (14) and tied for third in shots (46) and shots on goal (20).

"I love playing with Mario. We connect well on the left side. We do a lot of combinations. When I get the ball, I always try to find him," said de la Torre. "He's strong one-on-one, and his shooting technique is really good. He's a goal-scoring machine."

"Jose and Mario both have big upsides and have a shot of playing professionally," said Kuntz.

De la Torre began playing soccer at age 3, when he joined a youth league his uncle organized in San Jacinto. "It was like AYSO for beginners. There were no goalies, just dribbling and shooting." He played on different local soccer clubs growing up.


Jose de la Torre Jr. Began playing soccer at age 3 and competed for several different soccer clubs. He is 5 in this photo. 

At Citrus Hill High School in Perris, a back injury prevented him from playing soccer as a freshman. But he excelled for the next three years, leading his team to three straight Mountain Pass League championships. De la Torre was the league Offensive MVP and an All-League selection as a junior and a senior.

His soccer coach doubled as the school's tennis coach and convinced de la Torre to join the team. As a sophomore, he and a partner finished as the league co-champions in doubles and qualified for the CIF playoffs. The team won the league all three years he played.

De la Torre, who holds the Citrus Hill High soccer record for most goals in a single game and a single season, said choosing Cal State Fullerton was an easy call. His chief recruiter was Titans assistant coach Enrique Cardenas.

"I was playing for the Albion Soccer Club at the time, and one of my coaches said that Fullerton had expressed an interest in meeting me. During my visit, I got to see the training facility, the video cameras, the campus and everything else. I especially liked the fact that the coaches had given young guys a chance to play."

An undeclared major, de la Torre is considering a career as a high school teacher and coach.

He credits his parents, Jose Sr. and Jenny, for his success in soccer. "They have always encouraged me to develop my skills, and they spent so much time driving me back and forth to club practices and games."

De la Torre's father specializes in laying concrete at large construction sites. Jenny works at a Ross Dress for Less warehouse.

He has an older sister, Ana, and a younger brother, Brayan. His brother plays soccer for Citrus Hill High and the Los Angeles Soccer Club's team in Covina. The brothers played together on the Citrus Hill soccer and tennis teams when de la Torre was a senior and Brayan was a freshman.


Celebrating Jose de la Torre Jr.'s graduation from Citrus Hill High School in Perris are his father Jose Sr., brother Brayan, sister Ana and mother Jenny. 

Del la Torre enjoys listening to a wide range of music from Spanish- and English-speaking performers, including Alejandro Rauw Alejandro and Daniel Ceasar. He also likes to binge-watch streaming shows. The crime- drama series "Snowfall" on Hulu is one of his favorites.

He lives with roommates in an off-campus apartment. "Jose is very laid back and mellow off the field," said teammate Alex Lugo, a freshman midfielder from Inglewood. "He is shy and not the first one to speak. But when he gets out of his shell, he becomes talkative."

Another teammate, Julian Borja, believes de la Torre has a chance to advance to the professional ranks. "He has amazing talent and has a very dynamic passing range. We can rely on him to come through in the big moments," said Borja, a sophomore defender from Ontario

"If he can improve and get better, he can get to the next level."

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