Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Soccer teams at Willow Glen get off to good starts in league

By Dick Sparrer

They may be undefeated, but the Willow Glen Rams have won only two of five games to open the boys soccer season in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this winter.

How is that possible? Tie, tie, tie.

The Rams fought James Lick to a 1-1 stalemate last week to run their record to 2-0-3 in league play. It was also the third tie of the league season for the Comets.

Carlos Correa popped home a first-half goal, but that could only match a goal scored by Lick before intermission. The clubs battled through a scoreless second half before settling for the 1-1 tie.

Willow Glen, 6-3-3 this season, had opened the week with a tight 2-1 victory over Independence. A goal by Jose Cervantes helped the Rams jump out to a 1-0 lead by the half, then Victor Zarate scored off a Martin Balderas assist to match a second-half goal by the 76ers.

It was only the second league win for the Rams, who had beaten Piedmont Hills 4-2 on Dec. 14. Willow Glen also tied Branham 1-1 and Mt. Pleasant 2-2 before winter break.

The Rams opened the year with a lopsided 8-0 non-league win over Gunderson, then split in the Homestead Christmas Cup tournament--beating Los Altos 5-1 and Fremont 3-0, but losing to Oak Grove 2-1 and Pajaro Valley 3-1.

Willow Glen dropped a tough 3-2 non-league decision to Overfelt, but blanked Del Mar 3-0 two days after Christmas.

The Rams will be looking for wins, not ties, when they return to the field this week. They were to host Santa Teresa on Jan. 9 before hitting the road to visit Andrew Hill on Jan. 11 and Branham on Jan. 16. Both games begin at 3:15 p.m.

Girls are 4-1

The Willow Glen girls, like the boys, are off to a strong start in league play, winning four of their first five games.

The Rams shut out Westmont 1-0 and blanked Overfelt 2-0 last week to improve their record to 6-4 overall and to 4-1 in the Santa Teresa Division.

Sophomore forward Danielle Yaconelli scored a goal in each half--one off an assist from sophomore defender Taylor Lundquist and the other off a pass from freshman defender Dominique Ross--to lead the Rams to the 2-0 win over the Royals.

It was a second-half goal by Lundquist off of assists from senior midfielder Chelsey Sikk and senior midfielder Kathryn Cremer that broke up a scoreless tie and lifted the Rams to the 1-0 win over the Warriors.

Willow Glen lost three of its first four games this season--beating Silver Creek 4-0 but losing 2-1 to Notre Dame-San Jose, 1-0 to Branham and 4-0 to Piedmont Hills--before winning straight over Wilcox (4-0), Prospect (2-0) and Oak Grove (5-2). The Rams followed up a 2-1 loss to Lincoln with two straight wins last week to open the new year.

Willow Glen will try to continue its winning ways this week when the Rams host Del Mar on Jan. 10 and Andrew Hill on Jan. 12 in a couple of 3:15 p.m. starts.