Shock and sorrow filled the Inland Empire sports community Tuesday as news spread that two popular soccer coaches and two former players had been killed in a Memorial Day crash in the Riverside County desert.
Matt Hodges, 30, of Corona and Murrieta residents Gabrielle “Gaby” Constante, 20, Marissa Garnica, 20, and Jessica Giraldo, 21, died in the head-on collision with a semi-truck on Highway 177 east of Joshua Tree National Park, authorities said.
Hodges and Constante coached girls soccer at Ayala High School in Chino Hills and for Legends Football Club. Constante, Garnica and Giraldo were teammates at Vista Murrieta High School who graduated in 2014 and gone on to different colleges.
Friends, colleagues and former players took to social media to mourn.
“RIP to one of the best coaches I had, Matt Hodges, thank you for shaping me into the person i am today and pushing me towards greatness,” Megan Whitley, 15, posted on Twitter Monday night. A follow-up tweet read: “RIP to Gaby, who also helped me on my path to greatness, two great coaches that will be missed, rest in paradise to the both of you.”
Hodges had just finished his fourth year at Ayala while Constante had wrapped up her second season there, athletic director Warren Reed said.
“Our heart is breaking for the Hodges family and the Constante family,” Reed said. “These are two young people that had just started their lives and it’s very, very difficult.”
Friends’ trip turns to tragedy
Constante, Garnica and Giraldo “were the best of friends from the time they were young and they remained close friends after they graduated,” Murrieta Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Karen Parris wrote in a statement.
Constante was enrolled at the University of La Verne, Giraldo was a student at Palomar Community College in San Marcos and Garnica was going to college in Utah, according to the statement.
Constante played on the La Verne soccer team in 2014, appearing in two games.
Hodges and Constante were dating, friends said.
The foursome was returning home from a river trip Monday when the crash occurred, Parris wrote.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Hodges was driving a 2012 Toyota Corolla south on Highway 177 at an undetermined speed when he veered into the northbound lane and collided head-on with a 1999 Freightliner.
The three women were pronounced dead at the scene just after 4 p.m., coroner’s officials said. Hodges was extracted from the wreckage and airlifted to a hospital, where he died just before 6 p.m. The semi driver was not hospitalized.
A legacy of love
Andy Plascencia, now head coach at Chino Hills High School, coached with Hodges for eight years between Legends FC and high school assignments, and was devastated when he heard the news.
Still trying to make sense of the loss, Plascencia said one of the things he would always remember about the couple was their commitment to their athletes.
“Matt loved his players with all his heart,” Plascencia said. “Matt and Gaby would both spend hours talking about their players. It was evident that both just wanted their players to be successful. I know both would want their players to know that they loved every moment they spent with them and that they must continue the love that Gaby and Matt showed. Their legacy will forever be one of love.”
At Ayala High, whose seniors will be graduating Wednesday, many students were in shock Tuesday, said Reed, the athletic director.
“They’re going through graduation practice right now and have to deal with the loss of two beloved coaches,” he said. “I’ve been here 18 years and this has probably been the hardest day.”
Reed said school counselors were on-site to help students. He also said a private lunchtime vigil was planned on campus Tuesday.
The Ayala softball team played a CIF Division 3 semifinal Tuesday afternoon at Hart High School in Newhall. Prior to the game, the team stood along the baseline, bowed their heads and observed a moment of silence.
Club soccer community mourns
Hodges’ brother, Josh Hodges, is a director with the Glendora-based Legends Football Club, which shared the news of his and Constante’s deaths early Tuesday on Facebook.
“The entire Legends staff is in mourning,” the post read.
In response, condolences poured in from players, parents and other football clubs from around the region.
Many people spoke of Hodges as an inspiring and dedicated coach who enjoyed a good laugh.
“Matt meant a lot to me, he has been my coach for little over a year and he was an amazing person, he was very sarcastic and witty and made sure that I had a good time playing soccer,” Whitley, who attends Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Eastvale, said in a direct message exchange on Twitter. “(Gaby) coached me when Matt couldn’t be there and she was such a nice person and always made sure people were doing OK. Both were mentors of mine and I aspired to be just as successful as the both of them and to be a great person like the both of them.”
Marcie Amaro of Highland said her 15-year-old daughter, Phoëbe, was on the Legends FC team. Both were devastated by the news.
“(Phoëbe) wore all her Legends gear to school today,” Amaro said in a direct message exchange. “I think she is mostly in shock. We cried a lot yesterday.”
She called Hodges “an amazing young man” who pushed his athletes to reach their potential.
His signature bucket hat was a subject of lighthearted fun and jabbing, Amaro recalled.
“When he came out with this hat, it was too funny!” she wrote. “Phoëbe loved it and said if she scored she wanted his hat! He never gave it up though! He always made the girls laugh!”
Alexis Vera, who just graduated from Chino Hills High School, said of Hodges, “He made me feel wanted and important as a player. I remember my freshman year he tried getting me to go to Ayala. He would try to bribe and tease me about the rivalry between Chino Hills and Ayala. He was taken from us too soon and I’m still in shock that he’s gone but he’s in a better place now with Papa Hodges.”
Staff writer Michelle Gardner and City News Service contributed to this report.
