Bright future for Corsairs’ Medina

After teammate Kevin Alonso went down with an elbow injury, Danny Medina knew that his time had come. Medina started out the season as a second string goalkeeper for the Santa Monica College men’s soccer team. Ever since Alonso suffered a dislocated elbow a few weeks ago, Medina has had to step up to the plate.

“My coaches keep telling me it’s my time,” said Medina. “They always told me if you work hard, your time will come, and it finally has.” Medina’s hard work in practice has been reflected in his recent games, with many team victories ending in shutouts.

Medina, a sophomore at SMC, suffered an injury to his MCL while warming up before a game against the Santa Barbara City College Gauchos. While still not up to full strength, he still takes his place on the field. “My knee is better. I still feel some pain, but I take some ibuprofen before the game and play through it.”

Head coach Tim Pierce has been impressed by Medina’s play. “He’s been great in practice,” said Pierce. “He’s working hard and doing much better. He’s also been training hard with our goalkeeping coach. I think he’s gotten much better throughout the season.”

“Every practice I watch the defenders. They’re always talking to each other, training hard, and improving. It really motivates me to be better. My defense being there for me is why we had our shutouts; it’s not just me,” said Medina.

Alonso, the original starting goalie, is returning to the team this week. Alonso and Medina will both have to prove they are deserving of the starting spot to their coaches and teammates.

“I don’t know if I’ll be starting goalie,” said Alonso. “The coaches want me to play forward, but I could be switched back to keeper throughout the game. While I was out, Danny really stepped up to the plate and played well. When he tries, he does really well.”

Medina wishes to pursue soccer after leaving SMC. He has high hopes of either transferring to UCLA, or perhaps moving to Mexico to play soccer at the professional level. This past November, he was invited to go to Brazil to play soccer, but since SMC will be in playoffs at that time, so he couldn’tant attend.

He has one more year at SMC to impress the scouts. Medina is hopeful that a future in professional soccer awaits him.