Goalkeeper Damonn Ronsville was the catalyst in Leland's first score in the Overfelt game. Ronsville threw the ball to midfield where Ryan Villalpando simply flicked it on to Grant Robson who began a great run toward the goal. He approached the goal from a very narrow angle but was able to knock in the shot for the score.

The Chargers put two more on the board in the second half to nail down the win. The first one came as a result of the shear tenacity of Danny Jones. Andrew Perez sent a cross to Jones, who went charging toward the goal. He fired a shot that hit the cross bar and rebounded back toward him. Jones controlled the ball and fired again. The goalie was unable to catch the ball and it was loose in front of the net. Jones battled two defenders before he was able to get off a third shot that finally went into the net for a 2-0 Leland lead.

Villalpando and Roheet Sen teamed up on the final goal. Villalpando dribbled in and placed a perfect pass to a racing Sen who punched the ball in for the score.

All of the scoring in the Mt. Pleasant game came as the result of penalty kicks. Villalpando blasted one in for Leland in the first half for a 1-0 Charger lead. Mt. Pleasant was awarded one in the second half, allowing the Cardinals to tie things up.

"It was a very frustrating day for us," Leland coach Dave Gold said. "We missed chance after chance and should have put them away."

The tie dropped Leland (7-1-3) three points behind division leader Oak Grove (9-2-0) at the end of last week with three games left in the regular season for both teams. Leland met Leigh on Feb. 1 and is scheduled to travel to Santa Teresa on Feb. 3 and then host Pioneer on Feb. 8. Even if the Chargers win all three games, they will need some help in order to catch Oak Grove.

Branham began last week sitting atop the BVAL West Valley Division with a slim lead over Piedmont Hills and solidly in front of third place James Lick. After the Bruins let a 1-0 decision slip away to James Lick and settled for a disappointing 1-1 tie with Silver Creek, they suddenly found themselves in a three-way deadlock with James Lick and Piedmont Hills for the division lead at the end of the week.

Piedmont Hills (6-1-2) has a slight advantage with three games to play while Branham (6-2-2) and James Lick (6-2-2) have only two division games remaining.

Branham got shut out by a hot James Lick team that has been playing exceptionally well in recent weeks. The Comets took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half and then played strong defense to hang on for the win.

"We had several good chances to at least tie the score and pretty much dominated play in the second half," Branham coach Danny Kadah said. "But we were unable to break through."

"Our best chance to score came on a header by right back Jeff Johnsen early in the second half that was cleared off the line by a defender," the coach said. "Another close one came on a shot by forward Craig Hertler very late in the game that went just wide right."

The Bruins ran into some tough luck in the match-up with Silver Creek. Branham gave up a deflected goal in the final minute of the first half to fall behind 1-0 at the intermission.

However, the Bruins fought back to tie it at 1-1 midway through the second half. Josh Lawler got the play moving off a free kick. He booted the ball to David Hernandez who went high to head the ball across the middle to Brian Bonsall for the tap in.

"We had several great chances for a game winner, but just weren't able to finish," Kadah added.

Branham hosted Piedmont Hills on Feb. 1 and has a bye on Feb. 3. The Bruins finish the regular season on the road at Del Mar on Feb. 8.

Pioneer (3-6-2) has been mired in the middle of the pack of the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division and last week's competition didn't help matters. In fact, the Mustangs sunk even deeper, suffering two losses.

They were shut out 7-0 by Oak Grove and then let Independence grab a 3-1 win. The two losses place Pioneer in danger of not qualifying for a Central Coast Section playoff berth. Time is running out for the Mustangs, who have only three regular season games left. The top four teams in the Mt. Hamilton Division receive automatic berths in the playoffs and the Mustangs can still climb back into it but will need some help along the way.

Pioneer hosted Overfelt on Feb. 1 and will host Mt. Pleasant on Feb. 3. The Mustangs finish on the road against rival Leland on Feb. 8.