Saratoga News

Sports

Sabes, Seago sisters lead Falcons to victory

By Dick Sparrer

The season opened in grand fashion for the Saratoga field hockey team last week, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Nicole Sabes and the Seago sisters.

Sabes and Julie Seago each knocked in goals and Kelly Seago added an assist to lead the Falcons to a season-opening 2-1 non-league victory over Del Mar.

Sabes drilled an unassisted goal in the first half, and that 1-0 lead would stand up through intermission for the Falcons. The Dons scored in the second half when Christina Vermy socked home a goal off an assist off the stick of Katherine Peterson, but Saratoga matched it on a goal by J. Seago off an assist from her sister, Kelly.

Saratoga competes in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and will open league play on Sept. 18, 3:30 p.m., at home against St. Ignatius. Leland, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Mitty and St. Francis round out the division.

In other non-league games the same day, Westmont blanked Sobrato 4-0 thanks to three goals by Nicole Bayley and three assists by Doreen Stern, and Lynbrook blanked Homestead 3-0 on a goal and an assist by Emily Masad and solo goals by Theresa Dhillon and Kyla Hunts.

Westmont and Lynbrook are preparing for the Santa Teresa Division, where they will be joined by Cupertino, Live Oak, Monta Vista, Presentation, Prospect and Willow Glen. Westmont opens the division season on Sept. 19, 3:30 p.m., at home against Prospect, 0-2 after losing 4-0 to St. Francis and 6-1 to Leigh. The same day, Lynbrook hosts Cupertino.

Girls water polo

The Saratoga girls water polo team, after a solid 13-9 season and a trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs, is off to a strong start this year.

The Falcons whipped Fremont 10-5 last week to finish seventh in the Los Altos Invitational.

Saratoga senior standout Hayes Hyde, who led the 2006 squad with 50 goals, 20 assists and 59 steals, tossed in three goals to drive the Falcons to a 5-2 win over Aptos in the tournament. Alison Norris and Megan Nolet, other key players on last year's team, also scored goals in the win.

The Falcons lost an 8-3 decision to eventual third-place finishers St. Ignatius despite getting three goals from Norris, who had 27 goals, 25 assists and 20 steals last year.

In the seventh-place game, Saratoga got two goals each from Norris, Kimi Hosseinian, Amanda Murabito and Stephanie Borsum as the Falcons swamped Fremont 10-5. Nolet and Lauren Opatrny also scored in the win.