The Willow Glen Resident

Rams, Panthers claim soccer titles

By Dick Sparrer

The weather wasn't all that much better last week than it's been in recent weeks in the Santa Clara Valley. It was good enough, though, for area high school soccer teams to finish up their league seasons.

But then, it had to be--because the leagues are entering Central Coast Section play this week, and they had to determine where they stood in the regular season before they could figure out which teams would advance to the postseason.

They did, and the Presentation and Willow Glen girls' soccer teams have each earned CCS berths. In fact, both the Panthers and Rams clinched berths in the postseason in impressive fashion--by winning league championships.

Presentation won three games last week to wrap up a 12-0 record in the tough Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. The Panthers finished well ahead of runner-up Leigh in the race for the division crown.

Willow Glen, meanwhile, put together convincing back-to-back wins over Andrew Hill and Silver Creek to tie for the title in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.

The Rams entered the week tied for first place with Mt. Pleasant and needed the two victories to insure a co-championship. Willow Glen won both games to wrap up the division season with a 13-1 mark, matching the record posted by the Cardinals. The clubs had split decisions during the league season, and so settled for a title tie.

Freshman forward Colleen Wozny hammered home eight goals, and junior midfielder Amy Johnson added three to help the Rams to the two important wins last week.

Wozny buried four goals and added two assists to spark the Rams to an 8-0 win over Hill to open the week.

Johnson supported with a pair of goals, and junior forward Melissa Ybarra had a goal and an assist in the win. Freshman Lindsey Rovai popped a goal, Kristen Rovai had two assists and Kellie Arnone chipped in with an assist.

Wozny came back with four more goals, and Johnson and L. Rovai had one apiece in a 6-0 win over Silver Creek to wrap up the regular season. K. Rovai, Arnone and Kristina Gerard supported with assists for the Rams.

Willow Glen ended up 13-1 in the division and 14-6 for the year with the two wins. The Rams will now enter the CCS Division II playoffs on Feb. 21 at the Morgan Hill Sports Complex. Willow Glen is seeded No. 5 and will challenge No. 4 seed Gunn (12-4-3) in the quarterfinals.

Presentation will also open postseason play in the CCS Division II quarterfinals, but as the No. 1 seed. The Panthers are 15-1 for the year and will face the winner of the first round game between Lincoln (14-3-4) and Aragon (9-2-4).

The Panthers clinched the top seed with a couple of impressive wins to wrap up the regular season. Presentation pounded Piedmont Hills 6-0 and blanked Santa Teresa 4-0 to complete a perfect finish in the Mt. Hamilton Division.

Breana Boling drilled two goals and passed out an assist, and Krista Boling added a goal and an assist to lead the Panthers to the easy 6-0 win over the Pirates.

Jacy Giles, Shaelyn Fernandes and Rachel Neustadter also popped goals for the Panthers in the win, and Danielle Slaton had two assists.

B. Boling came back with two goals and an assist, and Neustadter and Lyda Velez had one apiece in the 4-0 win over the Saints to wrap up the regular season. K. Boling, Slaton and Megan Gurney also had assists for the Panthers.

In boys' soccer action, Willow Glen opened the week with a 4-3 win over Valley Christian, but the Rams were blanked 5-0 by division champion Oak Grove. Willow Glen ended the year 4-6-2 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. The Rams were 8-8-3 overall.

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