The Beverly Hills High School (BHHS) Men’s Soccer team is building on a culture of cohesion and togetherness to achieve new heights.
Coming off a second-round loss last season against Silverado High School in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division 7 playoffs to cap off an 11-12-1 record, the Normans are looking to compete at the top of the table in the 2025-26 campaign.
Coach Emilio Lari, in his third year as head coach of the program, said his current squad of players has been developing together for years.
“This will be my third year as head coach at BHHS, and what makes it meaningful is watching our long-term development model take shape,” Lari said. “Our current senior class was the very first group we began building at Beverly Vista Middle School (BVMS), and seeing their growth from sixth grade to varsity soccer has been incredibly rewarding. With a unified coaching staff across BVMS and BHHS, we’ve built a connected system that focuses not only on technical development, but on character, culture and life lessons. Our mission is to develop talented players, but more importantly, to develop exceptional people.”
Due to CIF realignment last season, Santa Monica, Culver City and Lawndale high schools rejoined Beverly’s division, upping the competition level on a weekly basis.
“We fought our way into the postseason again, meeting expectations in league play. While we’re proud of reaching the second round of CIF for the second straight year, falling short of advancing further was motivating,” Lari said. “Before I took over, the program had never advanced past the first round. Now, we’ve made back-to-back second-round appearances. That progress shows we’re close, and it’s fueled the belief that this year’s group can break through and make a deeper run.”
Lari said he is relying on the returning top players from last season, Noah Mussry and Noam Baruch, as well as this year’s captains to lead the team.
“[Mussry] drives our attack with relentlessness, aggressive pressing and creativity. He’ll continue to be a focal point in leading the front line and setting the tone with his work rate,” Lari said. “Noam Baruch leads through his composure. He draws pressure, yet consistently finds outlets and creates attacks with intelligence and vision. His calmness allows the entire team to play with clarity and confidence in possession.”
“Our captains, Nico Vallejo, Levi Sasson and Jesse Painter, will lead not only through ability but passion,” Lari added. “Each brings a different leadership quality, but together they set the emotional tone of our squad. Their standard of effort, accountability and love for the game is contagious. We believe this team is successful because of its passion. Talent wins games; passion and unity win seasons.”
To make that deeper run into the playoffs, Beverly players take part in a rigorous preseason program designed to help players meet the highest fitness levels while learning to play together cohesively.
“Every athlete must pass program-wide fitness standards, including the mile run, beep test and Man U test,” Lari said. “Once teams are formed, our focus shifts to shape, tactical intelligence, decision-making and culture. We schedule friendlies and scrimmages against teams of varying difficulties. Some matches we expect to win, others push us against top-division competition to build mental toughness. The objective is simple: enter the season cohesive, disciplined, fit and fearless.”
Though the Normans have started 1-2 on the season, with losses to New West Charter High School and Windward School, Lari said he was encouraged by the team’s tactical style in a dominant 7-0 win against Verbum Dei Jesuit High School and during a preseason scrimmage against Crossroads High School. He added that the team was not at full strength during the season-opening loss to New West due to CIF restrictions.
“We play a team-based, possession-oriented style built around movement, involvement and patience,” Lari said. “Instead of relying on one or two individuals, we emphasize collective play and trust in every line of our formation. Our base structure is a 4-3-3, but we’re flexible and adjust based on personnel and opposition.”
Lari emphasized that his team’s fluidity is their strength and relies most on the midfield to set the tempo.
“We build out of the back and look to progress through the midfield, which operates as the engine of our system,” he said. “The goal is to control tempo, stretch the field, and create high-percentage scoring opportunities through combination play, not just direct balls forward.”
Beyond building a cohesive system, Lari said that Beverly’s advantage is investing in players since they were young through a program that begins in middle school and retains the same players until they graduate high school. This sense of cohesion and togetherness, Lari said, is what will allow the team to compete against top programs like Santa Monica and Culver City, and make a deep playoff run.
“Beverly Hills soccer is unique because it’s a true community program. We develop players through a linear pathway, middle school to high school, allowing us to strengthen fundamentals, identity and culture from a young age,” he said. “Our players compete for the school and for the city, but more importantly, they compete for each other. We’ve earned league title contention and reached the second round of CIF in back-to-back seasons, yet we stay humble. We don’t rely on attention or spotlight; our drive comes from the family within the program and the standard we hold ourselves to.”
