Saratoga News
Sports
Two more tough defeats for Saratoga boys soccer
By Dick Sparrer
It's been a long time since anyone has knocked in a goal for the Saratoga boys soccer team.
Senior midfielder Kristopher Clark did it back on Jan. 23 against Milpitas, but ever since the Falcons have been held scoreless in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
First came a 1-0 loss to Los Altos, then a 1-0 loss to Los Gatos and then one more ... a 1-0 loss to Santa Clara.
The three losses dropped Saratoga to 2-9 in division play and 6-13-1 overall, and they upped the number of times the Falcons have been shut out in 11 league games to six. But then, goals have been tough to come by for Saratoga this winter. Saratoga has scored just 24 goals in 20 games, and has scored only five in league play.
It's been a frustrating year to say the least for the Falcons, who have lost seven times in league play by just a single goal.
That was the case three times for Saratoga last week. The Falcons lost to the Bruins (4-2-4 in league, 12-2-4 overall) 1-0 on a second half goal, to the first-place Wildcats (6-0-3, 12-1-4) 1-0 on a second half goal and 1-0 to the Eagles (4-5-1, 10-7-1).
The Falcons got off seven shots in the game against Los Gatos, but couldn't find the inside of the net.
Clark, who will sign a National Letter of Intent on Feb. 6 to play soccer at Creighton University in the fall, is the team's scoring leader this season with seven goals and five assists. Junior forwards Hoffman Hibbett and Chris Chung each had six goals and an assist apiece.
The Saratoga boys will close out their season at home on Feb. 6, 3:30 p.m., against Palo Alto.
The Saratoga girls, meanwhile, are trying to secure a place in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The Falcons boast a nifty 6-2-3 record in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, and are neck-and-neck with Cupertino in the race for the division title.
The Falcons opened last week with a 1-0 win over Lynbrook, but stumbled in a 2-1 loss to Cupertino. Saratoga came back to blank Santa Clara 2-0, though, and 'Tino tied 1-1 against Milpitas to throw the race into a jam heading into the final week.
Saratoga has just one game left, but it's a tough one. The Falcons head to Santa Clara to visit Wilcox on Feb. 6, 7 p.m. The Chargers are still very much in the race for the division title with a 7-3-1 mark.
Cupertino, 5-0-5, has two games this week against winless Fremont and a tough Lynbrook club.
Kelly Seago drilled a first-half goal to lead the Falcons to a 1-0 win over those Vikings last week.
The Falcons lost 2-1 to Cupertino a game later, the only goal for the locals scored by Jackie Gragnola, but battled back to shut out Santa Clara 2-0. Nicole Sabes scored off an assist from Julie Seago, then assisted Kelly Darchuk on the goal that proved the game winner.
