On Friday, October 10, Jonny Gutierrez made history by becoming Morgan boys soccer’s all-time leading scorer.
Gutierrez’s record-breaking 91st career goal came during a tough 2-3 road loss to Old Saybrook. Although the Rams spoiled the celebration by handing Morgan its first defeat of the season, Gutierrez cemented his legacy with this accomplishment, adding yet another achievement to his standout career.
Juan Avila, a member of the Morgan graduating class of 2018, previously held the record of 90 goals for seven years. Avila had an illustrious four-year varsity run, culminating in leading Morgan boys soccer to their first state title in 53 years during his senior campaign. Along the way, he served as a team captain for three years, while being selected to All-Conference four times, All-State three times, and All-New England twice.
Gutierrez has had a sensational four-year journey himself to surpass the number that Avila set. However, his progression has not always been linear, and he has overcome several setbacks along the way.
As a freshman, Gutierrez got off to a slow start offensively, scoring just 2 goals in his first ten games. He recalls, “I was one of the smallest kids on the team, and for the first ten games, I basically didn’t score any goals.” At that point in time, he never would have imagined being in the position he is in today.
That is until he remarkably turned his season around, ending his freshman year with 22 goals. When asked what he would tell his freshman self, Gutierrez said, “To not doubt myself because I started off the season really bad, but Coach still had his trust in me, and if Coach didn’t trust me I wouldn’t be here breaking the record.”
What makes Gutierrez’s second half of his freshman season even more unbelievable is the fact that he was playing through a sprained ankle. He even claims that he has dealt with at least one injury every year of his high school career. “Sophomore year my ankle was still not 100%. Junior year I basically broke my right and left foot, I got the bones out of place. This year in the beginning of the season I had to recover from a pulled hamstring,” Gutierrez explained.
Gutierrez credits his drive and motivation to continue playing through all of this adversity to two things, his family, and his will to win. According to himself, his family serves as his motivation every time he steps on the field. “My family pays a lot of money for me to play club and for me to get better. So knowing that they did all of this for me just pushes me to be better each day,” Gutierrez said. On his passion for winning, “I play through the injuries because I want to help my team win all the time.”
More than anything, what has helped Gutierrez reach this point where he has become the all-time leading scorer is all of the time he spent growing up with a soccer ball. To this day, he is always practicing throughout the week, year round.
His co-captain, senior Liam Totten has grown up with Gutierrez on and off of the soccer field. When asked to speak on his growth, he said, “He’s grown as a player not only by the improvement of his skills but his newfound leadership qualities.”
Gutierrez is well regarded by his teammates for leading by example, and despite his exceptional skill set, he plays unselfishly and looks to distribute the ball to his teammates. His 46 career assists is the most in school history, a record he shattered in his junior season.
With the record now his, Gutierrez turns his focus to leading Morgan to both a conference and state championship title. “That’s always been the goal instead of the goal record.”
