For the past three years, the Chargers have either won or tied for the boys soccer championship in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. And they're out to make it four in row with a load of talented players returning in the 2003­04 season.

"If we don't win it, we will have a say in who does win it," said Leland coach Dave Gold.

Richard Mann, David Dally and Pat Davoudi are 2002­03 first team all-leaguers returning for more action this year. The Chargers also have '02­03 Sophomore of the Year Ryan Villalpando, who is out with an injury but should be back soon.

Leland throws a solid defense at opponents with Mann doing an outstanding job at keeping the ball out of the net from his goalkeeper position. He should receive strong support from senior sweeper Sean Connors, who is "solid in the back." Senior Arian Chehrshsa is a "solid player" and should provide "great defense" as well. Gold is also expecting strong leadership from seniors Davoudi and Richard Gharapetian.

The Chargers will receive much of their offensive punch from Martin Stacey and Dally. Gold describes Stacey as a "pure finisher in the box and very good at picking up loose balls and finishing strong." Dally's scoring trademark is "long range" shots and "most of his goals are spectacular," added Gold.

In the mix of players are several underclassmen that the Chargers are counting on to contribute this season, including junior Grant Robson, who is "exciting" to watch play, and sophomores Peter Rodriguez and Michael Dally.

The Chargers always schedule quality competition in the preseason so that they are prepared as much as possible for the competitive play in the Mt. Hamilton Division. Part of that competition is their annual participation in the Homestead Christmas Cup Tournament, which the Chargers have won the past two years.

The Chargers edged out Alisal 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the tourney as they worked their way towards another shot at the championship.

Leland did all of its scoring in the first half against Alisal. Davoudi broke the scoring ice when he netted the first goal with an assist from Chehrshsa. It was M. Dally who put Leland up 2-0 when he slammed one past the Alisal goalkeeper off a pass from Beltashour. The solid Charger defense went to work and allowed Alisal only one goal in the second half to preserve the victory.

Leland opened up defense of its league crown with two ties in its first two Mt. Hamilton games. The first was a 0-0 thriller against Overfelt, who Gold believes is a contender for the title along with Pioneer.

"Overfelt is a very good team," said Gold. "It was a very exciting and high-paced game."

The second tie came against Leigh when the Longhorns battled the Chargers to a 1-1 deadlock. Leland scored first in the first half on a goal by Beltashour with an assist from D. Dally.

"We totally dominated the game and should have scored more but we didn't," said Goal. "Then we made a mistake which they took advantage of and scored."

Leland finally got its first league win when the chargers shut out Mt. Pleasant 3-0, moving their league record to 1-0-2 and their season mark to 6-0-5. Leland scored three goals in the first half, then continued to play outstanding defense in the second to blank the Cardinals.

Stacey put together two fine efforts, finishing strong on each as he nailed two goals with assists from the brother duo of D. Dally and M. Dally. D. Dally got into the scoring act when he fired one in off an assist from Gharapetian.

The Chargers continued their Christmas Cup Tourney play by moving into the semifinals to face Gilroy on Dec. 22. The championship was scheduled for Dec. 23.

Pioneer

Like Gold, Pioneer coach Jeff Farro has "high expectations for this year" as he sends his Mustangs to the field in a similar quest for a league crown.

Pioneer was a co-champion in the Mt. Hamilton Division in 2001­02 but had what Farro would consider an off-year, finishing in the middle of the pack last season.

"We're off to a 3-0 league start," said Farro. "We're playing well together and also have excellent team chemistry on and off the field."

"But Overfelt is very tough this year and Leland is always there fighting for the championship," he added. "Anyone could sneak in because the competition in our division is always tough."

The Mustangs have nine returning starters from last year and seven of them are seniors, so they will have plenty of experience to draw from. Included in that group are seniors David vonStockhausen, Sean Lopes and Alvar Briceno, who all have been varsity players since they were freshmen. Briceno leads the team in scoring with five goals and two assists. Lopes and vonStockhausen are team captains.

The Mustangs have another good offensive threat in senior Cemal Ozemak, who is the second leading scorer on the team with four goals and two assists. "Cemal is playing well both offensively and defensively," said Farro.

The Mustangs have also received outstanding defensive play from sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Gall, junior Josh Lichtenstein and senior Aaron McCalmont.

Pioneer is currently in the middle of a six-game winning streak and has not allowed more than one goal in any of those games. Gall has recorded three shutouts in the streak.

The Mustangs participated in the Homestead Christmas Cup Tournament as they do each year and won two of three games. They claimed wins over Los Gatos and Homestead but fell to Live Oak. They did not advance in the tourney because they lost the tiebreaker.

Pioneer opened league play with a strong win, shutting out Leigh 3-0. Freshman Vincenzio Trevisano was the man of the hour, netting two goals for the Mustangs.

The first was a result of being in the right place at the right time. Sammy Flores fired a shot that bounced off the goal post and Trevisano poked the rebound in for the score with Flores credited with the assist. Trevisano also nailed a penalty kick for a score. Flores got in on the scoring action when Steve Laidlaw knocked a pass from inside out to Flores, who fired a blast into the goal. The Mustangs' strong defense did not let Leigh mount much of a threat.

Pioneer played host to Oak Grove in a league match and proved not very hospitable, sending the Eagles home with a 3-1 loss. It was Lopes with an assist from Trevisano who put the Mustangs on the board first this time. From his defensive position, Lopes trailed play as the ball moved up the field. Trevisano kicked out a pass back to Lopes, who drilled a shot home for the score. Pioneer's other two scores came off a pair of penalty kicks from Ozemek, who placed both shots perfectly into the back corner of the goal from 12 yards out.

Pioneer extended its unbeaten league mark to 3-0 with a 2-0 shutout against Santa Teresa. Both of the goals came off corner kicks. On the first goal, as the ball sailed toward the front of the goal, Ozemak went high and headed the ball towards the middle of the box where Trevisano got a foot on it to blast it into the net. The Mustangs struck again when Laidlaw lofted a corner kick toward the box where once again Ozemek went high to get his head on it for a goal this time.

Pioneer will face it toughest test yet when the Mustangs resume league play on Jan. 7 against Overfelt.

Branham

Branham's third-year coach Trenton Mol was a bit skeptical heading into the 2003­04 season, and who could blame him.

"We had eight seniors graduate from last year's team, and they were all starters," said Mol. "I didn't think we would do too well this year, especially since we have no true forwards and that concerned me."

"But the team moves the ball beautifully and there are no selfish players," he added. "Everyone works together." This is evidenced by the fact that the Bruins are off to a 7-1-4 start in the current campaign.

A highlight of their pre-season play was their performance in the Lavato Cup Tournament earlier this year. The Bruins battled Mt. Pleasant to a 2-2 deadlock as regulation play ended. The Bruins scored first and then dropped behind as the Cardinals put two up on the board. Branham fought back to put one in the net late in the game to tie it up. The tie had to be broken by penalty kicks to determine who would move on in the tournament. Eventually Branham succumbed to the Cardinals on the seventh penalty kick.

One thing that Mol is particularly encouraged about this year is that the Bruins do not have just one guy who is their scorer.

"From sweeper to forward, everyone is scoring—even the guys off the bench," said Mol. "That's especially good because our opponents can't focus on one player to shut us down."

Mol expects strong leadership from seniors Dean Pinole, Dan Scott and Jairo Carrera, who was a first team all-league selection last year as a junior. The Bruins also have a "dynamite goalkeeper" in Steve Wagner. Anthony Russell has been one of the leading scorers this season, even though he has been at the sweeper position most games.

Mol added that "the whole starting 11 is very interchangeable and versatile in their ability to play different positions. Since we have no real forwards, we use that strategy to take advantage of our opponents' weaknesses."

Branham plays in the BVAL's Santa Teresa Division. Although the Bruins have gotten off to a slow start in league play and have a tough road ahead with two losses already, Mol says "we can make a run for the championship but it depends on how healthy we can stay and how well we play."

In their first league match against Yerba Buena, the Bruins were hit by the flu bug and had three of their starters sidelined. The Bruins were able to put a score on the board when Russell fired one in. but they could not hang with Yerba Buena with their depleted forces.

In their second league contest they were still not at full force and once again it proved fatal as the Bruins were shutout by Westmont 1-0.

The Bruins hope to get back on track when league action resumes after the holidays and they host Gunderson on Jan. 7.