Photograph by George Sakkestad
Los Gatos soccer player Melissa Schmidt battles for the ball in last week's clash with St. Francis.
By Dick Sparrer
The Los Gatos girls' and boys' soccer teams started things the same way last week--with victories.
And they finished the same way--each team winning a second game.
But in between, things were much different for the two Gatos teams.
You see, the boys played only two games last week and won them both. The girls, on the other hand, ran into perrenial powerhouse St. Francis and dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker.
The Los Gatos girls opened the week with a tight 2-1 victory over Mountain View, but a second-half goal cost the Wildcats a 1-0 decision against St. Francis in the battle for first place in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Cats and Lancers are annual rivals for league honors in the division, and St. Francis managed to nudge ahead in the standings with last week's win. The Lancers now share the division lead with Los Altos, and Gatos sits a game back.
The Cats returned to their winning ways when they edged Monta Vista 3-2 on Saturday. Marcia Wallis pounded home two goals to lead Gatos to the victory and Anne Zuparko had a goal and an assist. Melissa Schmidt and Natalie Stuhlmueller also added assists in the win.
Los Gatos improved to 6-2 in division play with the win. The Cats are 8-2 for the year.
The Los Gatos boys pushed their record to 3-1-2 in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL with two wins last week.
Ryan Nyquist's second-half goal off a Jed Martin assist lifted the Wildcats to an exciting 1-0 win over Homestead to close out the week.
The Cats, now 7-1-2 for the year, had opened the week with a tight 2-1 win over Mountain View. Pierce knocked in a goal for Gatos and a Nyquist assist set up Scott Pine for a goal.
The boys' soccer team at Leigh nailed a pair of wins last week to improve to 6-1-1 in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and to 12-3-3 for the year. The Longhorns host Oak Grove on Feb. 7, 3:15 p.m., in their only game this week.
Hector Sorto came through with a goal and an assist, and Scott Gellman knocked home a goal to lead Leigh to a 2-0 win over Piedmont Hills to open the week. Andy Marvin also had an assist for Leigh.
Sophomore Kelly Gray had a goal and an assist to lead the Longhorns to a 5-0 win over Del Mar later in the week. Sorto, Kasey Krall, Matt Oliver and Chris Merkt added goals, and Gellman, Lee Wilcox and Shamim Samadi chipped in with assists.
The Leigh girls split a pair of games in the Mt. Hamilton Division of BVAL to move to 4-3-1 in the league and 14-3-1 for the year.
Goals by Jessica Intrator, Emily Patterson and Kassie Doubrava sparked the Longhorns to a 3-0 win over Independence to open the week. Kathy Oliver and Leanne Reuss had assists for the 'Horns.
The Longhorns dropped a 3-0 nod to unbeaten Presentation to close out the week.
Leigh will host Oak Grove on Feb. 5 before visiting Santa Teresa on Feb. 7 for a pair of 3:15 p.m. league games.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, February 5, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.