One of the top junior college men's soccer teams in the nation is being led by several all-state players from Hawai'i.

Freshman forwards PJ Egloria and RB Bibilone, freshman midfielder Brady Nunes, and freshman defenders Kimo Ballesteros and Holden Lau have all clocked valuable playing time for Santa Rosa Junior College, about an hour north of San Francisco.

"During tryouts, I heard people saying (head coach Marty Kinahan) likes the Hawai'i kids," Nunes said.

Santa Rosa advanced to the third round of the NorCal playoffs, beating Contra Costa, 2-1, in double overtime Nov. 22. Santa Rosa hosts American River Saturday. The winner of that match advances to the final four in Fresno, Calif., Dec. 9 to 11.

The team completed its regular season 20-0-0, the first time in program history it went undefeated with no ties. It ranked second in the nation in the final regular-season NSCAA/adidas National Rankings for Junior College Division III men.

Egloria (Mililani) was an Advertiser All-State first-team selection in 2004. Ballesteros (Baldwin) was a second-team selection that same year.

Bibilone (Leilehua), who also plays in the midfield, and Nunes (Baldwin) were first-team members in 2005, when Lau (Roosevelt) received second-team honors.

"Having people on the team that you know makes it that much easier, because there is a bond," Nunes said.

And Baldwin's Blake Nunes and Ian Pascua, first- and second-team 2004 All-State selections, respectively, are redshirting this season, along with Kellen Ganiko (King Kekaulike), a Maui Interscholastic League all-star.

The team's assistant coach is Brent Nunes, Brady's and Blake's older brother.

"It helps us out a lot, because when you first come up here, you are playing with people you haven't seen and you don't know their style," Bibilone said. "It's good to play with people you know.

"Having other Hawai'i guys here with me made living on my own a lot easier; it's just like home. It isn't as hard as I thought it would be. If there wasn't Hawai'i guys, I think the transition would have been a lot harder."

They all live within minutes of one another, and hold barbecues, with Egloria the main chef.

"We all go to each other's houses and cook lots of rice," Lau said.

Brady Nunes, Lau, Bibilone and Egloria also had the added comfort of playing on the same club team in Hawai'i, the Mililani Soccer Club, now the Hawai'i Rush Soccer Club.

"When we first got up here, playing with the other guys was different," Lau said. "I knew how to play with RB and PJ, and it was a lot easier to play with guys I could turn to and relate to."

Egloria has four goals and nine assists, and Bibilone has four goals and five assists.

Ballesteros has two goals and two assists, and Lau has two assists. Both are mainstays of the defense, and Ballesteros cleared a ball away from an open net at the 15-minute mark in last week's game.

Brady Nunes, who tore ligaments in his ankle in September and returned for the game against Contra Costa, scored two goals and added three assists before his injury.

With so many Hawai'i players on the team, people began to question the recruiting of the coaches, who are not allowed to recruit players out of the area. The Hawai'i players found their way to Santa Rosa through word of mouth and recommendations from one another.

Egloria said he decided to go to Santa Rosa after talking to another Hawai'i player, Damien's Lokahi Bounds. Bounds ended up at Yavapai College in Arizona.

"I would have wanted to go to a Division I school more," Egloria said. "But coming here, it isn't as big of a jump. I get to see what is in between. I get to develop my skills more. I think it's cool. I know so many people, like Holden especially, I know he can make it to Division I."

The players said having other options increase their chances of playing.

"When I was in high school, if I wasn't going to play Division I (in college), I wasn't going to play at all," Lau said. "But other smaller schools open doors to other opportunities."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.