On offense, Simas wanted his team to get the ball to attacking midfielder Chris Deal. And the Vikings did that often. Four times Deal scored two goals a game—on two other occasions, he scored three goals. In all, the strong, speedy senior tallied an extraordinary 17 goals.

On defense, if in a game which Simas believed "it was important to not give up any goals," he adjusted his lineup. He would sacrifice Deal's uncanny scoring knack by moving him to center fullback. Such a game was against Homestead during the last week of the season.

After a scoreless tie, which at the same time boosted Lynbrook's title hopes and all but erased Homestead's, Mustangs coach Luis Comesana said, "Deal is the MVP of the league. He is such a force. He does so much; he makes the other kids better."

Comesana's post-game remarks that Saturday afternoon obviously made sense to the other coaches in the league, as Deal recently was named the Most Valuable Player of the SCVAL El Camino Division.

Cupertino junior Vito Tanton was declared the Most Valuable Offensive Player in the division, and Monta Vista senior David Hodges was named the Most Valuable Defensive Player.

Lynbrook and Monta Vista both had four players picked to the all-SCVAL first team. Senior Taimur Khan and juniors Greg Adams, Steve Khong and Tim Nicholas were tabbed from the league champion. Matadors selected were seniors Kevin Laumann, Nick Bedell and Donald Chang and junior goalkeeper Ben Lovelace.

Other members of the 19-player first team are Michael Roos, Jason Anthony and Craig Moberg of Homestead, Yuki Minematsu, Tristan Egusa and Ardy Barger of Cupertino, and Kevin Courtoy and Kevin Lee of Saratoga.

The second team includes James Lustanader and Ken Douglas of Saratoga, Danny Hawanini and Michael Charrier of Homestead, Kevin Jin and Yuki Tomimitsu of Cupertino, Morgan Katz and Brendan Hummel of Lynbrook, and Kevin Camilleri and Nat Hamada of Monta Vista.

The girls coaches of the SCVAL De Anza Division honored four Homestead players. Katie Kimure and Katie Wilcox were picked to the first team, while Michelle Grabau and Jenny Phan were named to the second team.

Brittany Liedstrand of Fremont was a first-team pick in the El Camino Division.

Knights honored

The King's Academy, which rolled through the Private Schools Athletic League competition and won a CCS Division III playoff game during its 16-5-1 season, was rewarded by PSAL coached with many individual honors. Eleven Knights earned all-PSAL accolades.

Junior midfielder Kim Mitchell, the league Most Valuable Player in 2003, received the honor again this winter. Other first team selections were senior midfielder Rebecca Sedillo, junior fullbacks Heather Hays, Amey Dunaway and Claire Westwood, sophomore forwards Claire Gill and Laura Vinnicombe, freshman midfielder Lauren Carr and freshman forward Faith Tucker.

Goalkeeper Krista Althausen and midfielder JoLynn Boice, both seniors, were named to the second team.