Garcia golden for UCI

The children of San Luis, Ariz., nearly 90% Latino, grow up in the shadow of Mexico, where clinging to the shade is as much a function of circumstance as preference.

The crossing station to neighboring San Luis, Sonora, Mexico, around which the town was established in 1930, serves as a central metaphor for the borders, both real and imagined, that often separate maturing boys from their dreams.

But though his gaze most often fixed on his feet, where a tattered ball nestled nearly every waking moment it was not socially inappropriate, Irving Garcia, not long after he accepted soccer as his savior, allowed his mind’s eye to stray toward nearby California.

It was there, he heard others say, that the best players, best clubs and best competition cavorted upon plush, green fields along the Pacific Coast, where ocean breezes soothed the sear of the sun that regularly pushed temperatures in San Luis into triple digits.

Garcia toiled in the debilitating desert heat, learning at the knee of his father and men’s league regular Jesus Lopez, playing one-on-one with older brother Tony. He scrimmaged with neighborhood friends on surfaces more consistent with a parking lot than the lawns of the average Southern California park, shooting into overturned shopping carts and garbage cans as makeshift goals. All the while, he allowed himself to dream of playing, someday, in the Golden State.

Encouraged by his mother, Gloria Lopez, a native of Guatemala who, like her Mexican-born husband works in the fields to provide for Irving, the youngest and smallest of three children, Garcia, born in the United States, became versed in the value of education. A happy kid who loved to joke around with friends, and whose expressive play often brought joy to those who watched, Garcia covertly concealed his earnest desire to succeed beyond the confines of the sidelines.

“A lot of those guys in San Luis like to party and not take soccer too seriously,” Garcia said. “But soccer is my life. I take it seriously. You’ve got to have respect for the sport and you’ve got to know when to go out and do things not related to soccer and when to stay focused on soccer.”

Garcia’s focus, as well as his gifts, helped him lead San Luis High to the state title match his senior season. But at 5-foot-5, and with little exposure having played with a Yuma Golden Cats club program that lacked funding to frequent the club tournament circuit, Garcia’s recruiting options were limited to Yavapai Community College, a national JC power in Prescott, Ariz.

At Yavapai, he helped the Roughriders go 46-2-3 in two seasons, including a national title in 2007, after which Garcia was named All-American.

“I went to see Yavapai play and there was this little guy with long hair, who was just dancing,” UC Irvine Coach George Kuntz said. “He was like a water bug and no one could handle him. He was just nonstop, what we call a box-to-box player. He was in a whole different class. I came back to school and told [assistant] Chris Volk, I just saw this kid who was absolutely amazing, but we have no shot at getting him.”

Kuntz, however, did not know about Garcia’s California dreams.

“It was after winning nationals that I started getting calls from North Carolina, UNLV, a lot of D-I schools,” Garcia said. “But I wanted to play in California.”

Kuntz came calling, but braced himself for losing Garcia, whom he considered the most sought-after JC midfielder in the nation, to a more storied program.

“When I got a call from Coach Kuntz, I was really happy and excited,” Garcia said. “I couldn’t believe it, because for someone from San Luis to be going to a university like UC Irvine was a big, big deal. I just wanted to play for a Division I school in California and be near the beach. I was tired of the heat in Arizona.”

Kuntz couldn’t believe his luck. Then, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“The first day of training, you could see there was something different about Irving,” Kuntz said. “The deft moves, the vision, great touch, change of speed, ability to create and combine and the finishing ability. He was just a step ahead of every player.”

Garcia, who had played forward most of his career, started in the midfield. He also had to adjust to a new group of teammates, as well as a bit of culture shock.

“The first day here, I wanted to go home,” he said. “Where I’m from is such a small town, I felt I didn’t belong here. But then I started meeting the guys and they were really good people.”

Among those the social science major connected with instantly was Rafael “Pollo” Macedo, who had broken through some borders of his own, having come to UCI from Southgate.

But there was still the matter of his play.

“It took awhile for me to find my place [on the field] and it was hard,” said Garcia, who stood out early in the season, though not as much on the stat sheet.

Through 16 games, he had just one goal to go with five assists and he had a string of six straight games without a point, before Kuntz, hoping to shake his team out of an offensive slump, shifted Garcia to forward.

“Something had to change, because our forwards weren’t producing,” Kuntz said. “And once our team started finding Irving with the ball ...”

UCI tied UC Davis in the first game with Garcia at forward, then began a seven-game winning streak that included clinching the program’s first Big West Conference regular-season title, winning the inaugural Big West tournament and winning the program’s first NCAA Tournament game, a 3-0 second-round verdict over Big West rival Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Tuesday. Garcia scored two goals against Cal Poly.

The Anteaters (15-1-6), ranked No. 7 and seeded No. 14 in the NCAA field, visit No. 3-seeded St. John’s (17-2-3), today in the round of 16 at 2 p.m.

Garcia, who has five goals and two assists in the last six games, including a point in every contest, has electrified more than just the Anteaters, Kuntz said. His 20 points for the season rank third on the team, behind senior midfielder Matt Murphy (30) and sophomore forward Spencer Thompson (22).

“We see how the crowd reacts to him [a surging, anticipatory roar erupted at Anteater Stadium when Garcia got the ball in recent games, including the program’s first sellout of 2,500 Tuesday],” Kuntz said. “When this Orange County community that traditionally doesn’t come out to games stays through a torrential rain to give him an ovation when he leaves the field [against Cal Poly], it shows you that he’s the kind of player who creates excitement and who people want to go watch.”

Kuntz said professional scouts are among those taking notice.

“He can change games and every pro coach needs a guy who can change games,” Kuntz said. “I always want guys to finish school, but if I was coaching in the MLS, it would be crazy not to try to pick this guy up.”

Garcia, whose genuine humility is another trait that Kuntz and Garcia’s teammates admire, said news of his success has energized his home town.

“There are some kids there who, when they see me, they want my autograph,” said Garcia, who has taken to the nickname “Irvinho,” (pronounced Irveen-yo) first pinned on him by a Brazilian friend at Yavapai.

Garcia said his parents were stunned when he told them that the win over Cal Poly would mean a trip to the Big Apple against a school he had never heard of until this week.

“When I told them we were going to New York, that was surprising to them,” he said. “For a guy from San Luis to be going all the way to New York ... they are really proud of me.”

Kuntz said Garcia can be an inspiration to young Latino players beyond just those in San Luis.

“He doesn’t even realize what a great role model he can be,” Kuntz said. “We’re 10 minutes away from great soccer communities where there’s like a wall stopping kids from having the ambition to get good grades, go to a university, get a degree and play in a good program and be successful. [Garcia] is somebody who can mobilize those kids. The best way for kids to see what is possible, is to see someone achieving that success.”

In Garcia, they can see someone who has emerged from the shadows and the shade.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.