That's been the story for the Leland boys (7-1-5) over the past few weeks in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

After claiming a dramatic win over division leader Oak Grove on Jan. 18, the Chargers won one and tied four in their next five games, including deadlocks of 2-2 against Santa Teresa and 1-1 against Leigh last week. At the same time, Oak Grove (11-2-0) continued to pile up the wins, nailing down six in a row to clinch the division crown.

During that span, in addition to whatever opponent it faced, Leland also battled the injury bug with two of its key offensive stalwarts. Ryan Villalpando has not been at full strength due to an ailing back and Steven Beitashour has been watching from the sidelines with a bum ankle. Coach Dave Gold is anticipating that both will be back on the field for the playoffs.

The Chargers are guaranteed a second-place finish in the division and an automatic berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs. They closed out the regular season against rival Pioneer on Feb. 8 with nothing on the line but this year's bragging rights.

The Chargers got in a 2-0 hole in the first half against Santa Teresa and had to resort to drastic measures to fight their way back. With about 12 minutes left in the game, Gold moved everyone forward including his goalkeeper, who moved into a sweeper position at midfield, leaving the goal open.

"We kept the pressure on and did not give them a chance to counter," Gold said. "Eventually it was too much pressure for them and they cracked. We were able to score two late goals, including a penalty kick."

The Chargers first score came off an assist from a huge throw-in by Adam Mjolsness. He fired the ball in toward the goal and it actually hit the far post and bounced toward Andrew Perez. He capitalized on the unusual play and punched the ball into the net for the score.

The penalty kick was awarded when the Chargers played the ball nicely over the defense where Stevie Munoz was ready to field it. However, he was knocked down and the penalty resulted. Roheet Sen blasted the kick in for the score and a 2-2 final.

Peter Rodriguez and Grant Robson teamed up for the only Leland score in the Leigh match. Robson picked up the assist and Rodriguez knocked in the goal. The game was knotted 1-1 at the half and turned into a defensive struggle after the intermission. Neither offense was able to get the upper hand and the final score remained1-1.

Pioneer had hopes of climbing back into the playoff hunt last week but continued its up and down season by splitting a pair of games. The Mustangs started off the week by dropping a disappointing 3-2 decision to Overfelt.

They were down 2-1 at the half and could not muster enough offense to pull out the win. Josh Lichtenstein knocked in the first score for the Mustangs with an assist from Flavio Huato. Goal number two came from Sina Samkhaniani and Brian Velez picked up the assist.

It was a different story when Mt. Pleasant visited the home of the Mustangs later in the week. It was as if the frustrations of an entire season came bubbling to the top of the pot and Pioneer erupted for a 9-1 thrashing of the Cardinals. The scoring bonanza saw the Mustangs put three on the board in the first half to take a 3-1 lead and then explode for six more after intermission.

Huato was the man of the hour with a busy afternoon, powering in four goals and assisting on another. Serafin Arreguin blasted in two goals and picked up an assist. Lichtenstein, Salvador Tlazola, and Horacio Garcia booted in one each and Tlazola contributed two assists as well. Tyler Winslow and Velez chipped in with two assists each and Everson Dominguez picked up one assist.

At the end of the week, Pioneer was sitting at 4-7-2 in Mt. Hamilton Division play and stuck in the middle of the pack with no playoff hopes. The Mustangs closed out their season with a match against rival Leland on Feb. 8 with only pride on the line.

The perch at the top of the BVAL West Valley Division was pretty crowded as last week began with Branham (6-2-2), Piedmont Hills (6-1-2), and James Lick (6-2-2) locked in a three-way tie for first. Unfortunately, it did not end that way for the Bruins.

Both Piedmont Hills and James Lick picked up a pair of wins while Branham suffered a 4-0 loss to Piedmont Hills in its only game. That loss ended the Bruins hopes for a league title and any chance of qualifying for the CCS playoffs. The Bruins outshot Piedmont by a 17-11 count but could not get any of them to find the net.

The Bruins closed out their season with a match against Del Mar on Feb. 8.