By Dick Sparrer
The past wasn't especially sparkling, but the future looks bright for the girls' soccer at Saratoga.
And the present? Well, that doesn't look too bad, either.
Put it all together, and it appears that there is a dramatic turnaround on the soccer field at Saratoga High as the Falcons hope to return to their glory days of years gone by.
There wasn't much glory for the Falcons last year when they finished the year with a dismal 2-14-1 record. But six talented freshmen on this season's varsity squad have head coach John Richer looking hopefully to the future.
"The team is rebuilding this year with six freshman on our 20-player squad," he said. "The freshman class has some high-quality players backed by an excellent goalkeeper."
But that bright future may not be far away. The Falcons are off to a solid start this year despite their youth. And Richer figures Saratoga could contend for the title in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Richer rates Fremont and Milpitas as top contenders in the division, but sees his Falcons finishing first or second in the league.
They're certainly off to that kind of start. The Falcons are 3-0-1 in the early stages of the league season, and they boast a 5-3-2 season mark.
A first-half goal by senior co-captain Shannon Moore helped the Falcons battled Wilcox to a 1-1 tie last week after Saratoga opened the league season with three straight victories.
Freshman midfielder Lisa Kalmus knocked in a pair of goals off assists from Courtney Williams and Ashlee Zimmer to spark the Falcons to an important 2-0 win over Fremont to open league play.
S. Moore knocked in a pair of goals off assists from Williams and senior co-captain Malea Doore, and Kathy Aanenson scored off a Mary Moran assist in a 3-0 win over Santa Clara.
The Falcons blanked Milpitas 2-0 on goals by Brie Wilson and S. Moore off of assists from Erin Marsh and Moran.
Sophomore goalkeeper Marisa Moore was in the net for those three shutouts to open the year. She has allowed just three goals in the last eight games and has blanked five opponents this season.
Aanenson buried two goals, and Kalmus had one in Saratoga's 3-1 win over Carlmont to close out the preseason. Zimmer, Meghan Miyamoto and Jessica Reikes each had assists for the winners.
Seniors S. Moore and Doore are top returners this season for the Falcons along with junior midfielder Kristen Fellner.
M. Moore and Miyamoto are top sophomore newcomers for Saratoga along with talented freshmen Kalmus, Moran and Wilson. Erin Leach, Erin Marsh, Williams and Jennifer Ramos are other top freshmen on the Saratoga varsity.
The Prospect girls, meanwhile, pulled to 3-2-1 in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League last week with a win, a loss and a tie.
Lyndsay Spanek knocked in three goals to lead the Panthers to a 3-1 win over Westmont in a league game earlier in the week.
Just a week earlier, Spanek had earned a place on the all-tournament team at the Del Mar Classic after helping the Panthers to a team sixth.
The Panthers lost a tough 2-0 nod to Piedmont Hills later in the week, then battled Pioneer to a 2-2 tie.
Prospect is now 8-3-3 for the year.
Westmont came back from the loss to Prospect early in the week, and a 1-0 loss to Lincoln a few days later, to beat Willow Glen 2-1.
The Warriors trailed 1-0 at the half, but Rita Salgado drilled a pair of second-half goals, one off a Kelly Larrus assist, to lift Westmont to the victory.
Westmont is now 2-4 in division play and 4-6-3 for the year.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 22, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.