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It's called the Central Coast Section field hockey semifinals, but it looks more like the West Catholic Athletic League semi's with private school teams nailing three of the positions in the final four.
Of course, there is no WCAL in field hockey--Mitty, St. Francis and St. Ignatius all played in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. But if not for No. 5 seed Gilroy, it would be an all-Catholic school semifinal.
No. 6 seed SI (9-7-1) knocked No. 3 Leland (13-3-3) out of the playoffs with a 1-0 win last Saturday, and No. 1 Mitty (15-1-2) dropped No. 9 Leigh (9-4-3) 1-0.
No. 2 St. Francis (12-2-4) pulled out a 2-1 win over No. 10 Saratoga (8-9-2) and Gilroy (17-1-2) edged No. 4 Los Gatos (11-5-1) 3-1 on penalty strokes.
Gilroy had opened the playoffs by blanking Del Mar (9-4-4) 3-0 in the first round. In other first-round games, SI blasted North Salinas (9-5) 6-0, Saratoga bumped off Lynbrook (8-3-4) 2-1 and Leigh blanked Presentation (10-5-3) 3-0.
Ram JVs get 2nd
The Willow Glen field hockey team finished fifth in BVAL's West Valley Division behind Presentation, Branham, Homestead and Del Mar, so the didn't reach the CCS tournament. But the school's junior varsity team came through with an impressive showing in the 2005 season.
The Rams, coached by former Willow Glen standout player Erin Booth, finished second in the West Valley Division with a 12-2 record. The young Rams scored 45 goals while allowing only 10.
"The girls did a fantastic job this season," Booth said. "They worked really well together on the field. Team chemistry is not something you can teach or coach--it's something that the players have to find within themselves and each other with time and experience. And these girls definitely found it."
The Rams lost their opener 4-1 to eventual division Del Mar, then reeled off six straight victories. The second time around they played the Dons closer, but dropped a 3-2 nod. Then they finished the year with six consecutive wins.
Team members included junior Medya Ansari; sophomores Kalen Bigger, Fiona Herse-Woo, Byanka Quinonez and Sarah Yang; and freshmen Brittaney Benton, Yasmin Gasca, Ashley Haight, Jamie Han, Vanessa Justo, Taylor Lundquist, Odette Overton, Samera Poorkhomami, Elizabeth Rubio, Brooke Vanderweken, Alli Williams and Danielle Yaconelli.
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