Saratoga News
Sports
Falcons rolling in field hockey preseason
By Dick Sparrer
It's important for teams to build up momentum in the preseason if they hope to be successful in league play, and no one knows that better than the field hockey players at Saratoga High School.
The Falcons play in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, a division where many of the top teams in the Central Coast Section reside.
Saratoga posted a 3-7-2 record to finish fifth in that division last fall, but a solid 4-1 non-league record helped the Falcons secure a No. 10 seed in the CCS playoffs.
This year, the Falcons are off to a similar start, and they're hoping for an even better finish.
Saratoga is 4-0 in non-league action in 2006, and the Falcons will take that mark into the Mt. Hamilton campaign that begins on Sept. 21 when they host St. Ignatius at 3:30 p.m. The Falcons will then entertain Leland on Sept. 26, 3:30 p.m., in a league game.
Saratoga is hoping to improve on an 8-9-2 overall record that pushed them into the second round of the CCS playoffs a year ago. The Falcons opened the tourney with a 2-1 upset win over No. 7 seed Lynbrook before losing 2-0 to No. 2 St. Francis. The Lancers went on to tie Mitty for the CCS championship.
Gone from last year's squad are all-leaguers Caroline Charles, Alex Block and Katie Barco, but returning to lead the Falcons in their quest for a division championship are Maddie Block, Laura Barrett, Julie and Kelly Seago and Nicole and Rachel Sabes.
Block, whose sister Alex is a starter this season as a freshman at Wheaton College, has been the leader for Saratoga in the first four games of the season. The Falcons have scored eight goals thus far, and Block has been involved in seven of them with three goals and four assists.
Saratoga opened the season with a 3-0 win over Lynbrook, the team the Falcons knocked out of the section playoffs last year. Block had a goal and an assist in the win and Ava Amundsen and Clare Marsh also scored. Kelly Darchuk and Katie Marsh added assists.
Block scored a first-half goal to lead the Falcons to a tight 1-0 win over Del Mar, and it was Block's assist that set up Julie Seago for a first-half goal in a second 1-0 win over the Dons.
The Falcons also handled Homestead 3-1 behind a goal and two assists from Block. Nicole Sabes and Kelly Seago also scored goals and Laura Barrett had an assist.
Panthers win one of three
The Prospect field hockey team has played three games so far this year, and all of them have been shutouts. Only one, though, has ended up in Prospect's favor.
The Panthers, 1-2 in the young season, blanked Sobrato 3-0 thanks to the scoring efforts of Teresa Kullick, Lizzie Conner and Rachel Kullick. T. Kullick knocked in a pair of goals off assists from Connor and R. Kullick and Connor scored off an R. Kullick assist to lift the Panthers to the victory.
Things didn't go as well for Prospect against CCS powerhouses Los Gatos and St. Francis. The Wildcats shut out Prospect 7-0, and the Panthers were whitewashed 8-0 by the Lancers.
Prospect will be looking for better days ahead as the Panthers drop down from the Mt. Hamilton Division to the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL this fall. The Panthers were to open against Live Oak on Monday and will visit Cupertino on Sept. 21 and host Presentation on Sept. 25 in a pair of 3:15 p.m. games.
Warriors win a pair
Westmont, meanwhile, won two games last week--both by shutout--to even its non-league record at 2-2. The Warriors blanked Homestead 1-0 and shut out San Jose Academy 5-0.
Returning all-leaguers Nicole Bayley and Courtney Schembri teamed up for the lone goal in the win over the Mustangs. Bayley, a second team all-league pick in the Santa Teresa Division last fall, scored in the second half off an assist from Schembri, last season's Junior of the Year in the division.
Bayley had two goals and two assists and Schembri had a goal and two assists to lead the Warriors to the 5-0 win over San Jose.
Westmont will head into Santa Teresa play this week. The Warriors, who were to open against Presentation on Monday, host Los Altos on Sept. 21 and Lynbrook on Sept. 25 in a couple of 3:15 p.m. starts.
