Saratoga News Panthers, Saints playing for division soccer title By Dick Sparrer Prospect and Santa Teresa have a score to settle. And that score will mean the difference between first and second place in the boys soccer race in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. The Panthers and Saints enter their 3:15 p.m. game on Feb. 10 as the top two teams in the division. Prospect beat Piedmont Hills and Leland last week to move into sole ownership of first place at 7-2-1, but Santa Teresa is close behind at 5-2-3. The Panthers could secure at least a share of the division championship with a win or a tie when they host the Saints on Wednesday. Santa Teresa needs a win to get back into title contention. Two wins last week helped the Panthers jump out to a lead in the division race. Prospect edged Piedmont Hills 2-1 and blanked Leland 2-0, while the Saints were stung with a 1-1 tie by Pioneer in their only game last week. Russell Ortiz scored off an assist from Francisco Martinez, and Martinez scored off a Kris Hamilton assist to lift the Panthers to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Pirates to open the week. Piedmont had taken a 1-0 lead with a first-half goal. But Ortiz tied the game with his goal in the second half, then Martinez broke the tie. Prospect knocked Leland right out of title contention with a 2-0 win later in the week. Martinez scored twice for the Panthers, once off a Martinez assist and again off passes for Martinez and Raul Pastrana. In other local boys soccer action, Westmont split in the West Valley Division of the BVAL, losing 3-2 to Silver Creek before beating San Jose 3-1, to push its league record to 3-6-2. Saratoga lost a 4-1 decision to Palo Alto in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, but the Falcons battled back to fight Milpitas to a scoreless tie. A second-half goal by Per Eksted was all Saratoga could manage in the loss to the Vikings. The Falcons are now 0-8-3 in division play. In girls soccer action, Prospect won twice to push its record to 4-3-5 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. Mariko Yoshihara scored twice off assists from Sarah Yarnell to lead the Panthers to a 3-1 win over Leland to open the week. Kristel Munch also scored off an assist from Alison Prehn. The Panthers, 10-4-5 for the year, edged Santa Teresa 3-2 later in the week. Yoshihara came back with two more goals, and Shani Armstrong added a goal and an assist. In the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL, Laura Gurney and Megan Gurney each scored goals to help Westmont to a 2-2 tie with Lincoln, and L. Gurney came back with a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over Pioneer. The Warriors are 5-3-4 in the division and 7-5-6 for the year. Saratoga, meanwhile, won one of three games last week in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL. Meghan Miyamoto knocked in a second-half goal off assists from Brie Wilson and Keala Meyer to lead the Falcons to a thrilling 1-0 win over Mountain View. The Falcons, 3-8-2 in the division and 5-10-3 for the year, had opened the week with a 7-0 loss to unbeaten St. Francis and finished the week with a tough 2-1 loss to Milpitas. Jenni Cohen scored the lone Saratoga goal against the Trojans. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 10, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.