Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by Scott Lechner Battling for the ball against Saratoga is Iming Lin (right) of the Los Gatos field hockey team. The Wildcats beat the Falcons 2-0, then came back to beat Lynbrook 2-0 in the CCS championship match. Wildcats win CCS title By Dick Sparrer It seemed almost inevitable. Los Gatos and Lynbrook had dominated everyone else all season long in girls field hockey. And when they played each other, all the Wildcats and Vikings could manage were a pair of ties. So when it came time for the Central Coast Section hockey playoffs, everyone expected the two teams to play for the championship. But no one really knew what to expect once they got there. The Vikes and Cats didn't disappoint anyone, except maybe their CCS opponents. They played their way into the section title round, then battled it out for the championship. But after two scoreless ties during the regular season, there were goals scored in this one... and both of the goals were scored by the Wildcats. Los Gatos pulled out a thrilling 2-0 victory over the Vikings to clinch the CCS championship. The win helped the Wildcats get a little revenge for a CCS championship loss to Lynbrook a year earlier. Heather Kottmeier knocked in a first-half goal off assists from Iming Lin and Anita Reyes to give the Wildcats an important 1-0 lead early in the championship match with the Vikings. Courtney Radonich's shot was blocked by Lynbrook goalie Tiffany Swinford, but an alert Alison Carabetta knocked home the deflection to give the Cats what would become an overwhelming lead. Gatos would go on to shut out the Vikings. It was the third shutout of the tournament for the Wildcats, who had blanked Willow Glen 2-0 and Saratoga 2-0 to open the playoffs. Los Gatos had opened the playoffs with the 2-0 win over the Rams. Juli Fomenko broke up a scoreless tie when she knocked in a goal in the second half against Willow Glen. Reyes scored an insurance goal later in the half off assists from Lin and Carabetta. The Wildcats moved into the CCS championship match with a 2-0 win over Saratoga. Reyes scored a first-half goal off a Cortney Kelly assist, and a Reyes pass set up Sasha Cichowski for a goal in the second half. Los Gatos finished its championship season with an impressive 16-1-3 record. Other members of the championship squad included Nicole Roderick, Zoe Segnitz, Emily King, Sasha Cichowski, Jessica Eagen, Nicki Anderson, Katya Dara, Kristen Zahrenholz and Gissler Sylvester. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 25, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.