Almasin has every intention of taking his Panthers into postseason play in the Central Coast Section tournament. The thing is, the Panthers have to win the West Valley Division championship to do it.

But following a big 4-1 win over league rival James Lick last week, Prospect seems to be on track to do just that.

"We're in first place, and we're planning on winning our division," said Almasin, whose club is 5-0-2 in league and 6-1-3 for the year. "We're looking forward to the CCS tournament."

Of course, San Jose Academy may have something to say about that. The Bulldogs are 5-1-2 in the division and will face Prospect in that Feb. 11 match—possible for the division championship.

The win over Lick last week was a big one for the Panthers, though. The Comets came out of the game with a 4-2-1 league record.

"They had their opportunities, but we controlled the game more than they did," said Almasin.

Sophomore Ferid Celosmonovic knocked in a pair of goals, one on a penalty kick and another off an assist from junior Abel Atlaw, and Atlaw scored off an assist from junior Hector Rivera. Atlaw also assisted on a goal by senior Abduselam Abdella.

Senior co-captain Ben Hines led the defensive effort along with junior defender Shaw Wakayama. Senior Galileo Vargas was a standout in the goal for the Panthers and midfielders Celosmonovic and Zlatan Sahmonovic also played well, according to Almasin.

Vargas and Hines are currently the only senior starters for the young Prospect team. Senior co-captain Muharem Hamulic is sidelined with an injury.

Almasin, a first-year varsity coach, is hoping to "bring Prospect back up" to the high level of play the Panthers once enjoyed.

Prospect will visit Piedmont Hills on Jan. 28 before hosting Silver Creek on Jan. 30 in a couple of 3:15 p.m. league games this week.

The Prospect girls soccer team, meanwhile, slipped to 0-5-3 in the Mt. Hamilton Division after losing 2-1 to Pioneer and tying Piedmont Hills 0-0 last week.

Warriors split

Both the Westmont boys and girls soccer teams split in BVAL play last week.

Senior Matt Schembri came through with a big assist on Wednesday and he scored a key goal on Jan. 23, but the Westmont boys team could manage just a win and a loss in two games in the Santa Teresa Division.

Senior Miguel Flores scored off a Schembri assist in a tough 1-0 win over Lincoln to open the week.

But the Warriors slipped to 5-2-1 in division play when they lost 3-2 to Willow Glen two days later. Senior Luis Peña scored off an assist from sophomore Reishi Nakata and Schembri scored an unassisted goal to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead at the half. But Willow Glen scored a pair of unanswered goals in the second half.

The Westmont girls also split last week. The Warriors lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Branham to open the week, but came back to whip Lincoln 4-2.

The Warriors and Bruins locked up on Tuesday in battle for first place in the Santa Teresa Division. The clubs were locked in a scoreless tie at the half, but Branham scored an unanswered goal in the second half to claim the win.

Westmont had beaten Branham 2-1 in the first round of the league season, starting the Warriors on a streak of winning six and tying one and finishing the first half of division play alone in first place at 6-0-1. The lady Bruins went on to play solid soccer themselves, losing only one other game leaving them at 5-2 and tied for second place with Lincoln. So the stage was set for the rematch, and Branham needed a win to keep its title hopes alive.

After their first loss to Westmont, Branham coach Ron Smare had nothing but good things to say about the Warriors, but felt like his Bruins would be able to turn the tables when Westmont traveled to Bruin country. He proved to be correct when Branham battled their way to the 1-0 victory, handing Westmont its first division loss of the season. The victory, combined with a Lincoln loss to Overfelt, put the Bruins in sole possession of second place.

"It was a very good game, fairly played by both teams and very competitive," said Smare. "Both teams had good opportunities to score and we did."

Good defense by both teams dominated the first half as it ended in a scoreless tie. Branham got the break it was looking for about midway through the second half. Westmont committed a foul, awarding Branham an indirect free kick.

Freshman Jaimie Lindlow tapped the ball to junior Amanda Drasny, who blasted a very strong shot on goal. The kick was hard and difficult to handle, resulting in the Westmont keeper being unable to control the ball. It bounced around in front of the goal where senior Ashley Allison punched it into the net for the score.

The Bruins were able to make that good enough for the win due to some solid defense. Smare noted that "our entire back defensive line of Drasny, Carlie Peck, and Megan O'Keefe played outstanding defense as well as our goalkeeper Jessica Whittemore."

Westmont took out its frustration on Lincoln later in the week. The Warriors poured in three first-half goals on the road to the 4-2 win. Senior Denise Picard drilled a couple of goals, one off an assist from freshman Courtney Schembri, and she also dished off an assist on Vanesa Tapia's second-half goal. Freshman Molly Lopez scored on a penalty kick in the first half.

Westmont is now 7-1-1 in the division and 9-4-1 for the year.

Falcons win, tie

The Saratoga girls soccer team nailed a win and a tie in action last week in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

The Falcons, 3-3-1 in the division and 10-2-3 for the year, had opened the week by fighting Los Gatos to a 1-1 draw, then blanked Cupertino 3-0.

Alex Block, Nicole Franchi and Amy Alekfic led the scoring for the Falcons in the win over the Pioneers to close out the week.

Block gave the Falcons the early lead when she scored off an Alekfic assist, then Alekfic made it 2-0 before the half when she booted home a goal off a Franchi assist.

Franchi got in on the scoring with a second-half goal to close out the scoring for Saratoga.

The Falcons had opened the week by fighting Gatos to the 1-1 tie. Allie McAllister scored a first-half goal to match a goal by the Wildcats, and the clubs had to settle for the draw when they battled through a scoreless second half.

The Saratoga boys, meanwhile, lost twice last week to slip to 1-5-1 in the De Anza Division. The Falcons lost 2-1 to Cupertino and were shutout 3-0 by Wilcox.

Saratoga nets win

The Saratoga boys and girls basketball teams each pulled out wins last week. The Falcon boys outlasted Los Altos 58-53 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, and the Saratoga girls topped Milpitas 49-38 in De Anza Division play.

Senior guard Aron Mitsunaga poured in 14 points and junior center Danny Wallace added 12 to lead the Saratoga boys past the Eagles. Mitsuanga had a pair of three-pointers among his three goals and he added six points at the free-throw line.

Adam Sato added eight points for the Falcons and Nima Rad popped a pair of threes and ended up with eight points. Justin Kemp had five points, including a three, and Ben Coggins ended with five points. Kenny Baba and Chris Etterman chipped in two points apiece and Irving Chien had one.

The Falcons are now 4-1 in division play.

Bryte Nielsen tossed in 13 points to top a list of four Falcons in double figures as the Saratoga girls beat Milpitas by 11. The Falcons are now 3-2 in division play and 12-5 for the year.

Julia Anderson and Victoria Liu chipped in 12 points apiece in the win and Hannah Gladwell had 10. Tiffany Tan rounded out the scored with two points. Lui drilled two three-pointers in the game.