Photograph by Jeff Kearns
Westmont's Lauren Luque (right) battles for the ball in CCS soccer action against Live Oak. The Warriors ended up losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Acorns.
Panthers kicked out of playoffs
But Prospect teams show well at CCS
By Dick Sparrer
It was a quick trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs for a couple of soccer teams from Prospect.
But it's not that the Panthers didn't have their moments.
Prospect sent boys and girls teams into the postseason to compete in the CCS Division II playoffs. The girls opened with a 4-3 overtime win over San Mateo before getting eliminated by No. 2 seed Mitty, and the boys lost their first-round game, but game No. 4 Gunn all it could handle before falling 3-1.
Senior forward Shani Armstrong came through with a goal and an assist to lead the Prospect girls to a tournament-opening 4-3 win over San Mateo.
The clubs were locked in a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation and through two overtime periods before sophomore forward Brooke Madsen scored off an Armstrong assist to give the Panthers the thrilling 4-3 win.
Prospect had taken the early lead in the game with a pair of unanswered goals in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Randy Gillespie drilled a goal off an assist from senior midfielder Janet Long, and junior midfielder Natalie Kiyama buried a penalty kick to put the Panthers on top 2-0 at intermission.
Armstrong scored in the second half off an assist from junior midfielder Vicky Eustace, but San Mateo came through with three goals in the second half to tie the game.
That just set the stage for the overtime and the thrilling game-winner by Madsen.
Madsen came back to score off a penalty kick, but that would be Prospect's only goal in a 4-1 loss to Mitty on Saturday.
The loss left Prospect 13-6-3 for the year, but it was still an impressive finish for the Panthers. They had entered the tournament as the No. 10 seed, but opened the tourney with a 4-3 win over No. 7 seed San Mateo. Mitty, though, proved too much for the Panthers.
Seniors Armstrong, JoNina Cross, Long and Kate Rainey played their final career game for the Panthers against the Monarchs, but Madsen and Gillespie will head up a talented crew of young returners for Prospect next winter.
The Prospect boys, meanwhile, lost 3-1 to Gunn in the first round of the CCS Division II tournament. The Panthers were the No. 13 seed in the tourney and Gunn was seeded No. 4. Still, Prospect battled the Titans to a 1-1 first-half deadlock, only to lose on two second-half goals by Gunn.
Prospect finished the season with a solid 8-8-3 record behind the outstanding play of Jason Hawthorne and Julian Sam.
In CCS Division I play, the Westmont girls opened CCS with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Live Oak. The Warriors, the No. 5 seed in the division, finished the year 14-4-1 with the loss.
Megan Gurney, Megan Clapp, Lauren Luque and Kim Rossi were leading players for the Warriors in the recently completed season.
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