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Falcons, Panthers open soccer playoffs
By Dick Sparrer
The regular season may have ended last week for most high school soccer teams in the Santa Clara Valley. But not for the Saratoga and Prospect boys teams.
Nope, the Falcons and Panthers will play on.
The Saratoga boys, co-champions in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and the Prospect boys, champs in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, have each earned places in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The Falcons, 8-1-3 in division play and 10-5-4 for the year, will open play in the CCS Division II event this week when they host Harbor (13-2-3) on Feb. 16, 2:30 p.m., in a first-round game. The winner advances to the CCS quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Burlingame (15-3-2) on Feb. 19, noon, at Cupertino High School.
The Panthers, 9-2-1 in the division and 14-5-1 for the year, open the CCS Division II playoffs at home against Capuchino on Feb. 16, 2:30 p.m., with the winner to meet the Los Gatos-St. Ignatius winner on Feb. 19, 2:30 p.m., at Sequoia High in Redwood City.
The Falcons and Panthers both clinched their league championships last week, Saratoga by tying Santa Clara and Prospect by beating Leigh.
The Falcons and Bruins fought to a scoreless tie, and that left both clubs with matching 8-1-3 records in division play.
Saratoga kept its title hopes alive by beating Wilcox 5-1 and Fremont 5-3, and Santa Clara opened the door for the Falcons when the Bruins were tied 1-1 Fremont.
Defense has been a key to the success of the Falcons with senior co-captains Dan Morse and Andrew Bosworth leading the effort.
Bosworth is the goalkeeper for Saratoga and Morse plays on the defense line with seniors Jonathan Shih and Tim Moore.
Prospect all but clinched the Mt. Hamilton title with a 2-0 win over Leland to open play last week. Then the Panthers secured the crown with a 5-3 victory over second-place Leigh.
Jose Ruiz knocked in two goals, and Myles Forman handed out two assists to lead the Panthers to the win over the Longhorns. Russell Ortiz, Kris Hamilton and Julian Sam also scored goals for the Panthers, and Francisco Martinez added an assist.
Raul Pastrana had a goal and an assist to lead the Panthers to the win over the Chargers earlier in the week. Ruiz also scored in the win, and Martinez had an assist.
The Panthers had set themselves up to win the title with a tight 2-1 victory over Pioneer a week earlier. Pastrana had a goal and an assist, and Martinez also scored for the winners. Hamilton added an assist.
Senior goalkeeper Josh Hawthorne and senior defender Eric Bembry led the defensive effort for the Panthers.
The Prospect girls finished off the season with a couple of victories last week.
Lindsay Spanek scored off an assist from Shani Armstrong in a 1-0 win over Independence, and Kristina Gillespie scored twice and Armstrong once in a 3-0 win over Lincoln.
Prospect finished the year 5-8-1 in the Mt. Hamilton Division and 9-9-4 for the year.
The Saratoga girls ended the year on a winning note with a 2-0 victory over Milpitas. Jessica Cone scored on a penalty kick, and Nicole LaMore scored off a Cone assist to lift the Falcons to the victory.
The win left the Falcons 4-7-3 in the De Anza Division and 9-9-4 for the year.
Saratoga had dropped a tough 5-3 nod to Gunn earlier in the week despite two goals by Cone.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
