Record-setting duo makes Coronado boys soccer heavy favorite in 5A
Coronado’s boys soccer team set a high bar in 2024 that would have seemed tough to top in 2025.
A 28-0 record, a second straight Class 5A state title and eight state records. Among those were 169 goals — a state-record 60 scored by Gavin Flickinger and 38 by Dylan Flores — the most scored by a team in the season.
Some of those records didn’t even last a year.
Led by Flickinger and Flores, Coronado raised the bar in 2025 with a 23-0 record and state record of 179 goals scored by a team. That has made the Cougars the heavy favorites for a third consecutive 5A title.
The 5A state tournament begins Friday at Hug High School in Sparks. Coronado, the Southern Region champion, plays Sparks, the North’s No. 2 seed, in a state semifinal at 6 p.m. Palo Verde, the South’s No. 2 seed, plays Northern champion Hug at 4 p.m. in the other semifinal.
The state title game is at noon Saturday at Hug. Coronado is trying to become the first team in the top classification (5A/4A) to win three consecutive state titles. The Cougars have won a state-record 53 straight games.
Breaking records is a lot easier with your top two goal scorers back. Flickinger, a senior and Fordham commit, leads the state with 64 goals and is second with 24 assists. Flores, a senior, leads the state with 49 assists and is second in goals with 45.
“It’s great for them. They’re just winners. They know how to win,” Coronado coach Dustin Barton said. “It’s going to be great if we can get that third championship and set some records. It’ll mean the world to them, and it means the world to me, too, that they’re getting it.”
Flickinger’s 64 goals are a state record for goals scored in a season by a player in the top classification, breaking the record he set last year in 28 games. He has 124 total goals, tied with former Liberty High standout and current Seattle Sounders FC forward Danny Musovski for most goals in a career in the top classification.
Flores is the all-time state leader in assists with 102, and his 49 this year are a state record for most assists in a season. But there’s only one record Flickinger and Flores are worried about this weekend.
“The best way for us to go out our senior year is to just get a state championship and have everyone feel at the top and have everyone congratulated for the season we had,” Flores said.
Flickinger agrees.
“That’s definitely the most important part for us to win the state championship as a team and gives everyone credit and not focus on a single person, more of a team effort,” he said.
‘At our peak’
Flickinger and Flores, like many of their Coronado teammates, play for the same club, Heat FC. Flickinger (07 club team) and Flores (08 team) don’t play on the same club team, but they’ve known each other since they were 10.
“We always knew each other and how good one another was, respected each other,” Flickinger said. “Now, getting to play together in high school, we realized and are seeing what we’re both capable of doing together is just cool to see.”
That’s what happened in 2024. Flickinger joined the team and had 60 goals and 36 assists, and Flores scored 38 and added 34 assists to help Coronado become the second team to win consecutive boys soccer state titles and the second to have an undefeated season with no ties.
“We just went into the season with a lot of confidence, and knowing what we did last year, we knew we can do it again,” said Flores, who scored 19 goals and had 18 assists as a sophomore for Coronado’s 2023 title-winning team. “We had a lot of the same guys, and we built up a lot of chemistry over the past couple years, so we’re at our peak right now.”
‘That’s what we do’
The rest of Coronado’s 5A competition had to face that this year. When teams try to double team and focus on Flickinger or Flores, that opens up opportunities for the other.
“What we like to do here at Coronado is score goals. That’s what we do,” Barton said. “It was great to have two guys coming in, and we knew that both could score. … (Gavin) stepped up and came in his junior year and scored a ton of goals, and Dylan’s always been there. (Flores) has the assists, too. They play off each other so well that it’s a lethal attack.”
It’s also easy with Coronado having most of its seniors starting for the past three seasons. That chemistry from on and off the field is a significant reason for the Cougars’ dominance.
“We’re super close off the field, which brings us closer on the field, and we don’t get mad at each other on the field,” Flores said. “We’re always having connections, and we know how each other plays. A lot of us have known each other since we’re like, 5 years old, so it comes easy for us.”
Flores said Saturday’s win in the region title game against Palo Verde felt “a little weird” because it was the group’s last game at Coronado. Should Coronado win Friday, the state title game Saturday could register some other emotions to the end of one of the most dominant runs by a high school team.
“It’s bittersweet for sure. It’ll be sad to see everybody go, but hopefully we go off on a good note,” Barton said. “It’s hard to single anybody out. They’re great players. Every player on this team is great. You’re only as good as your weakest player and our weakest player is excellent.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
