By Dick Sparrer
A Friday evening visit to Togo's meant more than a bag full of sandwiches for the Los Gatos girls' soccer team; it meant a guest spot on Channel 36's "High School Sports Focus."
The Wildcats were special guests on the Friday evening high school sports highlights show, and for good reason--they had just beaten St. Francis in a match-up of two Central Coast Section powers.
The Cats, three-time defending CCS champions, met up with the Lancers in a key game in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. And it was a clutch second-half goal by Amie Salfen that sparked the Wildcats to an important 1-0 win over the Lancers.
The Cats and Lancers figure to be two of the top teams in the division and the CCS this winter, and they were both unbeaten when they locked up in the first week of the league season.
The clubs battled through a scoreless first half, but Salfen broke the tie when she knocked one past the St. Francis goalkeeper for what would prove the only goal of the day.
Los Gatos, champs of the Wildcat Classic Invitational Girls' Soccer Tournament in December, opened league play with a 2-0 win over Mountain View earlier in the week.
Marcia Wallis scored a pair of goals for the Wildcats, one off a Salfen assist, to lead Gatos to the victory.
The Cats and Spartans were scoreless at intermission, but Wallis scored twice in the second half to help Gatos clinch the win.
Los Gatos pushed its league record to 3-0 last weekend with an impressive 2-0 win over Gunn.
Salfen scored off a Lauren Proctor assist to give Gatos the early lead, then Natalie Shutlmueller scored an insurance goal unassisted to put the Cats up 2-0 before intermission. That was all the Wildcats could get, but it turned out to be all they needed.
The Cats, 5-0 for the year, opened the season with two wins in the Wildcats Classic.
Los Gatos blasted Mission San Jose 3-0, but it was a tight 3-2 win over Mater Dei that helped the Cats secure the tournament championship.
Wallis knocked in an unassisted goal and Stuhlmueller scored off an assist from Melissa Schmidt, but the Cats and Mater Dei were tied 2-2 late in the game.
Schmidt snapped the tie when she scored off an assist from Christy Filice to lead the Wildcats to the important win.
Wallis, Shuhlmueller and Salfen each scored goals, and Adrianne Busi, Tyler Holcomb and Giselle Sylvester added assists in the 3-0 win over Mission San Jose.
St. Francis beat San Ramon 1-0 and edged Buchanan 3-2 to post two victories in the tourney, but Gatos clinched the crown by virtue of its number of goals scored.
Teams were awarded six points for a win, three points for a tie, one point for a shutout and one point for each goal up to three per game. Los Gatos finished the tournament with 19 points, compared to 17 for the Lancers.
Rounding out the championship team, coached by Khalida Al-Rasheed and Dawn Chandler, are Lina Biber-Ferro, Stacey Caro, Katy Castaneda, Laura Destro, Erika Duggins, Kim Fredkin, Kelly Lumby, Stephanie Pearson, Bethan Peterson, Lauren Proctor, Carrie Walsh, Anne Zuparko, Megan Geldman and Sunny Vizzusi.
Leigh wins Del Mar Classic Tournament
The Leigh girls' soccer team is also a tournament champion this winter. The Longhorns finished first in the Del Mar Classic, clinching the title with a 1-0 overtime win over Washington of Fremont last weekend.
Emily Patterson knocked in the game-winning goal off a Cassie Doubrava assist to lift the Longhorns to the title-clinching victory.
Doubrava had scored off a Patterson assist to life the Longhorns to a 1-0 win over Piedmont Hills in the semifinals.
Patterson was picked the tournament's most valuable player and Doubrava, Jessica Intrator, Heidi Rawson and Michelle Lawrence were each named to the all-tournament team.
Leigh opened the tourney with a 4-1 win over Lynbrook. Doubrava drove home three goals and Stephanie Vieler added a goal and an assist. Lawrence had a pair of assists for Leigh and Candise Leven added an assist.
Lawrence and Intrator drilled two goals apiece, and Vieler, Doubrava, Rawson and Nikki Hartz also scored for Leigh in an 8-1 win over Willow Glen. Patterson supported with three assists and Lawrence and Leanne Reuss had one each.
Leigh, now 10-1-1 for the year, split in league play last week. The Longhorns lost 7-0 to Presentation before beating Oak Grove 3-0 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Doubrava had two goals and an assist to lead the Longhorns to the win over the Eagles. Chelsea Reda also scored a goal for the 'Horns, and Patterson and Intrator added assists.
The loss to Presentation came as little surprise to Leigh head coach Ken Padia, who expected the Panthers to be the league powerhouse this season.
Seniors Intrator and Rawson led the charge for a young Leigh team this year. Patterson is just a sophomore, and Doubrava is only a freshman.
"We plan to return to CCS with a very young team," said Padia, whose club was 16-3-3 a year ago and the runner-up in the CCS Division I tournament.
Leigh boys take second in Homestead Christmas Cup Tournament
The Leigh boys' soccer team finished second in December at the Homestead Christmas Cup tournament.
More recently, the Longhorns beat Del Mar 1-0 in a game in the SAnta Teresa Division of the BVAL last week. Scott Gellman knocked home a first-half goal off a Rooz Tahamtanzadeh assist and that was all the Longhorns needed to beat the Dons.
Leigh coach Steve Bryant is expecting big things from his squad this season.
"We expect to have a strong finish, top one or two in the league," he said. "We've beaten Prospect, Pioneer and Willow Glen and tied Monta Vista, all CCS-ranked teams."
Senior Nolan Ray, a returning first-team all-leaguer, leads Leigh into action this winter along with seniors Tahamtanzadeh and Kasey Krall and sophomores Gellman and Kelly Gray.
Leigh, now 2-1 in the division and 8-3 for the year, dropped a tough 1-0 nod to Sequoia in the Homestead Christmas Cup final.
Forwards Hector Sorto and Ray and midfielder Gray were each picked to the all-tournament team for the Longhorns.
Gatos beats Lynbrook, ties Mountain View
The Los Gatos boys' soccer team battled Mountain View to a scoreless tie and beat Lynbrook 2-0 to open the season in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL. The Cats are 5-0-1 for the year.
Ryan Nyquist knocked in a pair of goals, one off a pass from Andy Pierce, to lead the Wildcats to the win over the Vikings. Nyquist scored a goal in each half in the Gatos victory.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 15, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved .