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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Homestead's Samuel Krow-Lucal gets his head on the ball in last week's 4-1 win over Leland. Krow-Lucal had an assist in the Homestead win.
Mustangs reach soccer semi's
Homestead boys win, then lose
By Dick Sparrer
What a difference a day makes.
Or, in the case of the Homestead, Cupertino and Monta Vista soccer teams, three days.
Because when the Central Coast Section soccer playoffs opened last Wednesday, the Homestead boys and the girls teams at Cupertino and Monta Vista were celebrating first-round victories ... big first-round victories.
But when it came time for the quarterfinals a few days later, all three squads faced elimination.
Not the Homestead girls, though. The Lady Mustangs drew a first-round bye, thanks to an 18-2 season record and a championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Mustangs played their first CCS game on Saturday against Gunn, and Homestead pulled out a 1-0 victory on penalty kicks to advance to the CCS Division I semifinals.
Homestead pounded Leland 4-1 to open the boys CCS Division I event, but the Mustangs lost 2-1 to powerful Bellarmine a game later to drop out of the tournament.
The Monta Vista girls blanked Leigh 3-0 in the first round of the CCS Division I playoffs. But the Matadors lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Live Oak on Saturday to fall out of the competition.
And Cupertino blasted North Monterey County 5-0 in the first round of the CCS Division II tournament, but the Pioneers were turned back 5-1 by Carlmont on Saturday to drop out of the finals.
Still, the players on the three teams have no reason to hang their heads. All three teams came through with outstanding efforts in the 1999-2000 campaign.
Homestead plays on
The Homestead girls will face Live Oak in the CCS semi's on Feb. 24, 7 p.m., at San Jose PAL Stadium. The Mustangs take a 19-2 season record up against the Acorns, who are 17-1 following the 1-0 win over Monta Vista last Saturday.
Live Oak is the tournament's No. 2 seed and Homestead was seeded No. 3. Top seed St. Francis (22-1) will face No. 4 seed Piedmont Hills (16-4-1) at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday with the winner to meet the Homestead-Live Oak winner for the CCS championship on Feb. 26, 3 p.m., at PAL.
The Mustangs and Titans played through four scoreless periods last Saturday before Homestead pulled out the win on penalty kicks.
Mustangs are champs
The Homestead boys claimed a co-championship in the rugged De Anza Division of the SCVAL to earn a place in the CCS playoffs.
The Mustangs finished the league season 6-2-4 to tie Palo Alto for the top spot.
Senior forward Owen Kennedy knocked in two goals and gave away an assist, and senior midfielder Omar Gusmao had a goal and an assist to lead the Mustangs to a 4-1 win over Leland in the CCS opener. Passes from Scott Alexander and Samuel Krow-Lucal set up Justin Bocchino for the fourth goal in the Homestead victory.
The Mustangs opened up a 2-1 lead by intermission, then pumped in two more unanswered goals in the second half to claim the lopsided victory.
An-Yen Hu, a senior defender, knocked in a first-half goal off a Kennedy assist to help the Mustangs fight unbeaten Bellarmine to a 1-1 tie through the first half. But the Bells scored a goal in the second half to pull out a hard-fought win.
The Bells, 21-0-2 for the year, will now advance to the CCS semifinals against Willow Glen (18-1-3). Homestead finished the season with a solid 14-7-4 record.
Monarchs are 'Dynamite'
The Mitty girls soccer team opened the CCS Division II playoffs with a rousing 7-0 win over San Lorenzo Valley, thanks in no small part to the play of five girls who are former members of the De Anza Dynamite select championship team.
Monika Sola, Kate Morgan, Heidi Spink, Lana Bowen and Mari Gomes, all players for the powerful De Anza Dynamite team for six years, are members of the Mitty squad that will play in the CCS semifinals on Feb. 22, 2:30 p.m., against Harbor at West Valley Community College in Saratoga.
Mitty, 19-1-1 for the year, opened the playoffs with a lopsided win over SLV. Gabriella Olivares had two goals and an assist and Gomes knocked in two goals to lead the Monarchs to the victory.
Morgan had a goal and three assists, and Sola and Jacquelyn Bettencourt drilled goals. Heidi Spink added two assists for Mitty and Charlene Killebrew had one.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
