The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by Scott Lechner A Leg Up: Willow Glen's Nicki Garcia battles for the soccer ball in action against Lincoln last week. The Rams lost 5-2 to the Lions, then dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to Del Mar. Panthers tough in soccer play WG basketball teams come up winners By Dick Sparrer Mani Hernandez expected his Presentation girls soccer team would face a tough road if the Panthers hoped to repeat as champions in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this winter. But you know what they say about such things. Yeah, it's that old theory that the tough get going when the going gets tough. And the Panthers were certainly going last week... going to the net for seven goals and two victories in division action. Presentation blanked Leigh 5-0 and shut out Prospect 2-0 to improve to 4-0 in the division and to 8-2 for the year. Hernandez looked to Leigh, Mitty and his own Panthers as the title favorites in the division race this fall. But Presentation made short work of Leigh last Tuesday afternoon. Senior Stephanie Neustadter, a returning all-leaguer for the Panthers this year, pumped in three goals to lead Pres to the easy win over the Longhorns. Erica Timiraos and Stacey Field also scored goals for the Panthers, and Field, Julie Stamps, Alison Berthold and Katie Murphy added assists. It was more of the same later in the week against a solid Prospect squad. Prospect entered the match with a 6-2-1 season record, but Presentation scored two goals in the first half and rolled from there to the 2-0 win. Sophomore Jamie Moore had a goal and an assist to lead the Panthers to the victory. Timiraos also scored a goal, and Berthold chipped in with an assist. The return from winter break wasn't so great for the girls at Willow Glen, though. The Lady Rams lost a pair of games to slip to 1-3 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. Willow Glen dropped a 5-2 nod to Lincoln, then lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Del Mar. Melissa Ybarra scored off a Kristen Rovai assist, and Allison Lake scored off an assist from Kellie Arnone to account for Willow Glen's two goals against the Lions. But the goals could only match Lincoln's two second-half goals. The Lions had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. Things were much closer later in the week against the Dons. The Rams and Dons matched goals in the first half, Willow Glen scoring on a goal by Arnone off an Ybarra assist. But Del Mar broke the tie with a goal in the second half to win it. Willow Glen, now 3-5-1 for the year, will visit Mt. Pleasant on Jan. 13 and host Oak Grove on Jan. 15 in a pair of 3:15 p.m. starts. In boys soccer action, Willow Glen slipped to 0-2 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL and to 1-9 for the year after a tough 2-0 loss to Del Mar. The Rams will visit James Lick on Jan. 13 and Independence on Jan. 15 in a pair of 3:15 p.m. starts as they chase their first league win. Betancourt fourth Fernando Betancourt was an outstanding junior varsity wrestler at Willow Glen a year ago. But the junior has made the jump to the varsity this winter, and he's picking up right where he left off last year. Betancourt, a junior varsity league champion in 1998, rolled to a solid fourth-place finish at the rugged Lone Star Invitational at Live Oak in Morgan Hill last weekend, topping a list of four Willow Glen placers in the tournament. Betancourt dropped a tough 10-7 decision to Jon Kellerer of Serra in the battle for third place. Daniel Lopez clinched fifth place at 114 pounds with a 5-2 win over Rolly Delfin of Aptos in his final match, and Lupe Duran knocked off Yuichi Kurosawa of Saratoga 6-2 to wind up fifth at 121 pounds. Henry Chavez finished sixth at 137 pounds, losing his final match 11-2 to Jarad Usher of Saratoga. The Rams will be back on the mat this week when they visit Prospect on Jan. 13, 6:30 p.m., for a league match. They'll head to West Valley Community College on Jan. 16 to compete in the Jim Root Classic. Rams win It was a perfect week for Willow Glen basketball. The Rams won in both girls and boys action in league action last week. The Willow Glen girls opened the year with back-to-back victories in the West Valley Division of the BVAL, edging San Jose 38-36 before blasting Silver Creek 64-51. Juniors Kelly McCloskey and Mary Bennett pumped in 12 points apiece, and freshman Andrea Rojas added 10 to lead the Rams to the win over the Raiders. Christine Ha, Angel Ocampo and Courtney Livak supported with nine points each in the win. Melissa Allen had two points, and Sandra Corpus hit one. The Rams had opened league play with a two-point win over the Bulldogs. Rojas led WG with eight points, and Ha and Bennett popped six apiece. Corpus and McCloskey dropped five points each, and Ocampo, Livak, Allen and Brigitte Boney added two each. The Rams, 4-8 for the year and 2-0 in the division, will visit Lincoln on Jan. 12, 5 p.m., and Pioneer on Jan. 14, 7 p.m. The Willow Glen boys, meanwhile, opened play in the Santa Teresa Division with wins over Santa Teresa, 45-38, and Prospect, 68-50. Ben Fuller poured in 22 points, and Manny Myers hit 20, including four three-pointers, to lead the Rams past the Panthers. Nick Holt supported with 14 points, and Guy Beahm had 11. David Macchi added one point. Beahm went for 16 points and Holt for 12 in the win over the Saints earlier in the week. Fuller added nine points and Myers eight. Beahm and Holt each dropped three-pointers. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, January 13, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.