Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Leigh upsets Los Gatos to move into semifinals

By Kevin Sparrer

During the Central Coast Section soccer playoffs it's win or go home, and most of the boys and girls teams participating have had to go home unsatisfied, ending the season on a loss.

The Leigh boys team, though, is hoping for something different. The Longhorns have managed to battle their way into the CCS Division I semifinals.

Leigh, 13-5-4 for the year, has fought hard in its first two games to win in overtime. The No. 7 seed Longhorns upset No. 2 Los Gatos 8-7 in a shootout on Feb. 16 after regulation ended in a 2-2 tie. Colby Roberts and Shaun Kaefer each had a goal and an assist in regulation for Leigh.

The Longhorns, who bested Milpitas on Feb. 13 in the first round 1-0 in overtime, earned a trip to Milpitas High to face No. 3 Overfelt (17-3-1) on Feb. 19 in the semifinals. The winner of that game will face the winner of the No. 1 Bellarmine (24-1-2)-No. 4 Alisal (16-1-5) for the CCS championship on Feb. 22 at Milpitas at a time yet to be determined.

Westmont (10-6-4) was one of the teams that went home earlier than it might have hoped, falling 2-1 to top seeded South San Francisco on Feb. 16 in the first round of the CCS Division II boys playoffs. Paul Silva scored the only goal in the contest for the Warriors with Brian Nocera on the assist.

In the outbracket round of the tournament, Westmont defeated Pacific Grove 2-0 on Feb. 12 with Silva scoring again, his goal assisted by Zanin Mahic, while Chris Pantalion scored the second goal with Aharon Huff assisting.

Also ending its season in Division II was the Lincoln boys team. The Lions fell to Pajaro Valley 1-0 on Feb. 16 in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

In the first round of the playoffs, Lincoln had defeated Los Altos 1-0 on Feb. 13. The Lions finished their season with a 9-7-6 record overall.

Branham's boys also participated in the playoffs, but fell in the first round to Terra Nova 5-3 on Feb. 13. David Pitzen knocked in two goals and had an assist for the Bruins, Mario Garcia had a couple of assists and Shane Hovorka popped a goal.

The loss dropped Branham's record to 7-6-7 overall.

Girls' soccer

Leland's girls, who were seeded 10th, fought hard to upset No. 7 Watsonville in the CCS Division I playoffs and won 3-0 in the first round of the tournament on Feb. 13. Scoring the goals for Leland were Jessica Man with Brooke Beylin on the assist, Ana Farrington with Tanya Khaledi assisting and Sara Chehrehsa with Kaitlin Anzalone on the assist.

The Chargers were unable to overthrow St. Francis and fell 3-1 on Feb. 16, completing Leland's season at 13-8-2 overall. Scoring the only unassisted goal for Leland was Chehrehsa.

No. 1 seed Leigh was upset in the quarterfinal round of the Division I playoffs after receiving a bye in the first round. Leigh fell 2-1 to Carlmont in the second overtime on Feb. 16.

The loss finished Leigh's season at 15-5 overall.

Pioneer had some success in Division II of the CCS finals, defeating its first opponent but falling in the quarterfinals.

The Mustangs began the tournament win a 1-0 over Aptos on Feb. 13, but fell 1-0 to St. Ignatius on Feb. 16. Laura Spanko scored a second-half goal off an assist from Shannon Righetti to lift Pioneer to the win over Aptos.

The split left Pioneer's overall record at 10-6-5.

Senior showcase

The Blossom Valley Athletic League will hold its fifth annual Senior Soccer Showcase on Feb. 29 at Piedmont Hills High School. Top senior girls will take the field at 5:30 p.m. with the senior boys scheduled to play at 7:30 p.m.

Teams will include seniors from Andrew Hill, James Lick, Oak Grove, Santa Teresa, Branham, Leigh, Overfelt, Silver Creek, Del Mar, Leland, Piedmont Hills, Sobrato, Evergreen Valley, Lincoln, Pioneer, Westmont, Gunderson, Live Oak, Prospect, Willow Glen, Independence, Mt Pleasant, San Jose and Yerba Buena high schools.

Youth soccer

Tryouts for boys under-14 and under-15 Class 3 (comp) soccer teams are now being held. For more information, call 408.391.6664 or 408.451.5741 or e-mail schrick@ pacbell.net or alex@assoccercoach ing.com.

The West Valley Legends, a girls under-14/under-15 soccer team, is holding tryouts for the 2008 season. For more information, contact Andrew Hadidian at 408.243. 0612.