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Mustangs in CCS girls soccer semi's
Homestead, 'Tino each win, then lose
By DICK SPARRER
Sometimes records don't tell the entire story.
When the Homestead girls soccer team entered the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs last week, the Mustangs didn't even have a .500 record for the season.
But if the Leigh girls were looking at Homestead's record prior to Saturday morning's CCS opener at Cupertino High, the Longhorns were making a big mistake.
Because the Mustangs showed Leigh just what they could do on the soccer field as they pulled out a thrilling 2-1 win over the Longhorns in the battle of the two seeded teams.
Leigh was seeded No. 4 heading into the playoffs, with Homestead a notch back at No. 5. The clubs each earned a first-round bye and met Saturday in the CCS quarterfinals.
With the win, Homestead, now 8-8-3 for the year, advances to the section semifinals against No. 1 seed Santa Teresa (18-1-3) on Feb. 20, at 7 p.m., at Wilcox. The winner will meet the Gunn (11-1-3)-Carlmont (18-4-1) winner for the CCS championship on Saturday, at 3 p.m., at Valley Christian.
Gunn, the No. 6 seed, upset No. 3 seed St. Francis on Saturday, and Carlmont, the No. 7 seed, opened with a 2-0 win over Menlo-Atherton, then upset No. 2 seed Aptos 1-0 on Saturday.
Junior Wende Blasquez knocked in a first-half goal off an assist from sophomore Katie Wilcox to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead at intermission against Leigh last weekend.
The Longhorns scored in the second half, but so did the Mustangs. An unassisted goal by senior Dana Muhlfelder proved the game-winner, and Homestead would advance to the next round of the playoffs.
The Homestead boys, meanwhile, opened the CCS Division I playoffs with a 2-0 win over Menlo-Atherton, but the Mustangs lost a 2-1 heartbreaker in overtime to Bellarmine on Saturday.
A first-half goal by Jan Hejret off an assist from Brian Oliveira gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead over the Bells at intermission.
But Bellarmine tied it with a second-half goal, then scored in the first overtime period to take a 2-1 lead. After a second scoreless overtime, the Bells had clinched the win and a berth in the CCS semifinals against Santa Clara on Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., at PAL Stadium. The winner goes on to meet the Watsonville-Leland winner for the CCS title on Saturday, at 7 p.m., at PAL.
The Mustangs had earned a place in the section quarterfinals with the 2-0 win over M-A last Wednesday.
The clubs were locked in a scoreless tie at the half, but Hejret broke the tie when he scored off a Frank Tula assist. Oliveira added an insurance goal when he scored off a Chris Vargas assist, and Homestead had a CCS victory.
But the Mustangs finished the year with a 10-10-3 record after the loss to the Bells on Saturday.
The Cupertino girls opened the CCS Division II playoffs with a rousing 8-0 win over Lincoln, but the Pioneers lost 6-0 to Notre Dame-Belmont.
Rachel Anden and Jessie Frink combined for five goals and a couple of assists to lead 'Tino to the 8-0 win over the Lions.
Anden drilled three goals, two off of assists from Alison Dolera and Theresa Boyle and a third unassisted, to lead the Pioneers to the lopsided win.
Frink buried a pair of goals for the winners off assists from Anden and Ann Dolera.
Boyle scored off a Frink assist, Al. Dolera off an An. Dolera assist and Sheryl Cumine added a goal to round out the scoring for Cupertino.
The Pioneers finished the season with a 10-6-4 record following Saturday's 6-0 loss to Notre Dame. The Belmont squad, 24-1-3, will face Presentation in the CCS Division II semifinals on Feb. 21, at 4:30 p.m., at Wilcox. The winner meets the Harbor-Mitty winner for the CCS title on Saturday, at 10 a.m., at Valley Christian.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
