Amie Salfen will be playing soccer as a member of the Golden Bears in a little less than a year.
And no doubt, the UC-Berkeley coaches are happy with their decision to give the Los Gatos senior a soccer scholarship, at least if her performance last week was any indication of things to come.
Salfen knocked in four goals and dished off three assists to help the Los Gatos girls soccer team to three wins last week.
The victories helped the Wildcats clinch second place in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
St. Francis won the division championship, but Gatos secured second last Thursday with a convincing 5-1 win over Gunn. And it was Salfen's big day that sparked the Wildcats to that victory.
Salfen, a senior co-captain for the Cats, buried three goals and added an assist to lead her squad to the important win over the Titans.
Los Gatos and Gunn entered the final game of the season tied for second place with matching 9-3-1 records in the division. The win left the Cats 10-3-1 in league play and 15-4-1 for the season as they look ahead now to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Salfen scored off an assist from junior Megan Geldman to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead early; then it was a Salfen assist that set up senior sensation Marcia Wallis for a goal later in the half.
Los Gatos went up 3-0 before intermission when Salfen scored again, this time off an assist from sophomore Kristen Fumia.
A pass from senior co-captain Stacey Caro set up Salfen for her third goal of the day, and junior Bethany Peterson capped the scoring when she scored off an assist from soph Nicki Anderson.
The win was one of three important victories for the Wildcats in the final week of the season.
Gatos opened the week with a tight 2-0 win over Milpitas. Caro knocked in a penalty kick and Wallis scored off a Salfen assist to give the Cats a 2-0 lead by the half. They held on through a scoreless second half to clinch the victory.
The Wildcats set up the battle for second place with a convincing 5-1 win over Saratoga in the middle of the week.
Wallis dumped in two goals for the Cats, off assists from Caro and junior Katy Castenada, and Salfen had a goal and an assist.
Junior Lindsay Adams scored off the Salfen assist, and freshman Becky May scored the Cats' other goal off a Castenada assist.
Salfen to Cal
The CCS playoffs will mark the end of a brilliant high school career for Salfen.
She has been a four-year starter on the Los Gatos varsity squad, and committed to Cal prior to the 1998-99 season. She will join former Wildcats Stacey Mallison, Amy White and Natalie Stuhlmueller in Berkeley.
Salfen was the CCS freshman of the year in 1996 and is a three-time all-leaguer for the Wildcats. She has helped Gatos to two league titles, a CCS crown and three trips to the CCS finals.
She played for the Los Gatos Pumas when they won the state title in 1995, and she was named to the Olympic Development program for three straight years.
Off the field, Salfen is a 4.0 student who ranks in the top 10 percent of her class, and she's involved in many other activities.
Cats top Falcons
In boys soccer action last week, Los Gatos blanked Saratoga 1-0 to improve to 6-2-4 in the De Anza Division and to 8-3-7 for the year.
Senior Curt Wahlstrom broke up the scoreless tie when he scored off an assist from senior Ed Simmonds in the second half.
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