The Cupertino Courier
Sports
Matadors advance to CCS soccer semifinals
By Mike Barnhart
What a difference a game makes!
After scoring eight goals in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division I soccer tournament, the Woodside girls must have figured they could get at least one in the quarterfinals against Monta Vista.
They didn't.
Instead, the Matadors recorded their sixth shutout of the season, 1-0, Feb. 16 at Gilroy, and advanced to the Division I semifinals for the third straight year. It was the 13th game in a row in which Monta Vista (11-4-5) held an opponent to one goal or less. In fact, no team has scored as many as two goals against the Mats since early December.
The No. 3-seeded Matadors' semifinal match is set for Feb. 21, 4:30 p.m., at Valley Christian, against No. 2 St. Francis (17-4-4), a 3-1 quarterfinal winner over Leland. Thursday's other semifinal will feature No. 5 Los Gatos (13-8-2) and No. 9 Carlmont (11-5-3) at 7 p.m.
Los Gatos beat No. 12 Overfelt 2-0 in the first round and Evergreen Valley 2-1 in the quarterfinals, while Carlmont whipped No. 8 Gilroy 4-1 before surprising top seed Leigh 2-1 in double overtime.
Division II semifinalists include No. 6 Presentation (16-6-4) and No. 2 Archbishop Mitty (16-2-6), who will collide on Feb. 20, 4:30 p.m., at Valley Christian.
Semifinal winners will return to Valley Christian's turf for championship games on Feb. 23.
Monta Vista scored its goal against Woodside midway through the first half. Senior midfielder Kasha Sang banged in a shot after the Woodside goalkeeper blocked sophomore Cheryl Kute's attempt. Freshman forward Sandra Ley started the scoring sequence with a good lead pass to Kute.
Woodside (17-5-2) came out after halftime determined to even the score. Although the Wildcats kept the ball on the Matadors side of the field for much of the final 40 minutes, their energy did not translate into many shot attempts.
"Woodside did a great job in the second half controlling the ball, but our goalie [senior Kendra Roseberry] only had to stop four shots all game," Monta Vista coach Alan Kute explained.
Monta Vista's hard-working pair of center backs, junior Shandon Rovetta and senior Rosa Ahn, repelled repeated runs by the Wildcats in the second half. Senior Leah Davis and freshmen Zohar Liebermensch and Jackie Pedrazza hustled throughout the game, clearing balls from their outside back positions.
While Monta Vista's playoff success continued, three local league champions were eliminated from CCS tournaments. The girls' teams of Cupertino and The King's Academy and Fremont's boys all dropped first-round contests.
Palo Alto 4, Cupertino 0
No. 10 seed Cupertino, the El Camino Division girls champion, had its best scoring opportunity shortly after the kickoff, but a centering pass in front of Palo Alto's goal did not yield a score. After that, the No. 7 Vikings dominated and won the Division II match on Feb. 12 at Santa Clara High.
The Pioneers (10-3-7) could not overcome a barrage of shots and stifling defense by Palo Alto, the De Anza Division's fourth-place team. The Vikings (14-6-2) later lost to Mitty in the quarterfinals.
Paly scored twice in the first half and threatened early in the second, but Cupertino goalie Erin Hammond made two huge saves to keep the game close for the first 20 minutes of the second half.
Trying to get some offense, Cupertino coach Kent Fogleman moved outstanding sophomore sweeper Katie Boyle up to midfield. Boyle definitely made an impact, but the Pioneers were unable to score.
Alisal 2, Fremont 1
Junior forward Jerry Ayound gave No. 13 Fremont an early lead in a Division I boys game at Alisal of Salinas, but the No. 4 Trojans rallied and advanced with a 2-1 triumph. Alisal (16-1-5) won its quarterfinal match with Gunn by the same score, earning a semifinal date with top seed Bellarmine.
Ayound scored in the eighth minute for the Firebirds, receiving a throw-in, dribbling untouched and driving a shot passed the Alisal goalkeeper.
Fremont, in its first playoff game since 2002, shut out the Tri-Counties League champion until late in the first half. The Trojans (16-1-5) scored the tying goal with three minutes left in the first half.
The Firebirds (10-6-3) did not get many scoring chances in the second half. Perhaps their best one, seven minutes into the period, was a two-on-one breakaway, which they could not convert into a goal.
Seconds later, an Alisal player got free for a shot, but Fremont sweeper Huy Hoang knocked it away. Unfortunately for the Firebirds, nobody was able to knock away Alisal's decisive shot with about six minutes left in the first-round match.
For Fremont, the CCS defeat marked the end of an excellent season. Coach Jose Garcia's Firebirds lost only once during El Camino play, posting a 9-1-2 record and nosing out Monta Vista for the division championship and automatic entry into the CCS playoffs.
Fine MV team left out
Monta Vista was left out of the 33-team boys field, despite a 9-2-1 record in the El Camino Division and an overall mark of 12-6-3. With 25 automatic qualifiers, including Fremont and a trio of De Anza Division squads, only eight other teams were needed to complete the brackets. Monta Vista's power point total was not quite enough to earn an at-large bid.
Two one-goal losses to Fremont and a scoreless tie with Mountain View were the only blemishes on Monta Vista's El Camino record this winter. After a Jan.16 loss at Fremont, coach Mia Onodera's Matadors went 5-0-1 down the stretch, while outscoring opponents 19-6.
Monta Vista, with 17 of 21 players eligible to return, could be the team to beat in the El Camino circuit next season. The team's four seniors were Kenta Akaogi, Jeff Boman, Justin Bui and Michael Chuang. Juniors included goalie Matt Irvin, Drew Constant, Florian Winkler, Tamer Ashkar, Curtis Upton, Nadav Caspi, Casey Sakima, Max Ratkovich, Sakthi Nagaraj, Max Andrews, Max Feit, Erik Romelfanger and David Kucera. Sophomores Christian Chu and Tsuk Haroush and freshmen Alex Onishi and Josh LeFevre also contributed to the Matadors successful season.