Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by Skye Dunlap Los Gatos sophomore Alyssa Gordon controls the soccer ball in last week's match against Monta Vista. The Wildcats ended up losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Matadors. Tough week for Los Gatos girls Cavanagh leads boys to victory By Dick Sparrer It wasn't exactly what soccer coach Khalid Al-Rasheed had in mind for his Los Gatos girls soccer team. The Wildcats had opened the league season with back-to-back victories over Gunn and Mountain View, and they were looking at even more good fortune last week when play resumed in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League following winter break. But the young Wildcats experienced as dismal a week as they have in many years under Al-Rasheed's leadership. The Cats suffered through two losses and a tie to slip to 2-2-1 in division play. Gatos dropped a 2-1 hearbreaker to Milpitas, then lost a tough 1-0 nod to Monta Vista. The Wildcats salvaged a tie to finish off the week, coming through with an impressive performance to deadlock powerful St. Francis 2-2. The Lancers entered the match perfect in the division at 4-0, and a solid 8-1-2 for the year. St. Francis scored in each half, but Gatos matched the two goals to clinch the tie. Senior co-captain Amie Salfen scored off an assist from junior Becca Bradley to send the Wildcats in at the half locked in a 1-1 draw. The Lancers scored again in the second half, but so did Gatos. Stacey Caro, another senior co-captain, drilled home a penalty kick to secure the tie for the Wildcats. Los Gatos improved to 7-2-1 for the year with the tie, and pushed its league mark to 2-2-1. The Cats will try to improve on that mark when they host Los Altos on Jan. 12 and visit Saratoga on Jan. 14 in a pair of 3:30 p.m. matches. The losses to Milpitas and Monta Vista were tough setbacks for the Wildcats last week. Caro scored a second-half goal off an assist from junior Bethany Peterson, but the Trojans picked up goals in each half to nail the 2-1 victory. Two days later, Monta Vista broke up a scoreless tie with a second-half goal, and that turned out to be the margin of victory for the Matadors. Boys Soccer In boys soccer play last week, Chris Cavanagh knocked in a pair of goals to lead Los Gatos to an impressive 3-0 win over Monta Vista. Cavanagh scored off assists from Ed Simmonds and Jedd Martin to spark the Cats to the victory. Simmonds scored off a Ben Frazier assist to round out the scoring for Los Gatos. Los Gatos evened its record at 1-1-1 in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL with the win. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 13, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.