| A little local history is being made this week at the Central Coast Section soccer playoffs. For the first time ever, the Gunn and Palo Alto boys' and girls' teams have advanced to the semifinals.
Only one previous time have Gunn and Palo Alto met at thus juncture, when the boys' met in the 2005 semifinals with Gunn winning on penalty kicks following a 1-1 deadlock.
Thus, it will be a special time when the boys compete in Tuesday's Division I semifinals at Milpitas High and the girls take the field at Valley Christian (San Jose) on Wednesday. Since all of the Gunn-Paly teams are in opposite brackets, the possibility exists that all four could advance to championship matches on Saturday, at their same respective locations.
The No. 11-seeded Gunn boys (11-6-5), the lowest remaining seed in the Division I tournament, takes the field first on Tuesday (4:30 p.m.) against No. 2 Bellarmine (16-3-5). The top-seeded Paly boys (20-1-2) will follow at 7 p.m. against No. 4 Watsonville (20-4-2).
Gunn advanced with 2-0 victory over No. 3 Mt. Pleasant on Saturday in the quarterfinals at Gilroy High, while Paly moved on with a 1-0 triump over No. 9 Alisal at Valley Christian.
On Wednesday at Valley Christian, the No. 5 Gunn girls (14-5-3) will face No. 1 Monta Vista (16-3-2) at 4:30 p.m. The No. 6 Paly girls (11-7-4) will follow against No. 2 Woodside (15-2-4) at 7 p.m. The Gunn-Monta Vista match pits the SCVAL El Camino Division champion (Gunn) against the De Anza Division champ.
Gunn eliminated No. 4 Gilroy, 2-0, in one quarterfinal on Saturday while Paly bounced No. 3 Leland, 5-2, in another.
For the Paly girls, meanwhile, their season began with high expectations but as time went by and the Vikings sank in the De Anza Division race, the only question that remained was whether the Vikings would even make the CCS playoffs.
Fortunately for the Paly seniors, the team did. Now, the Vikings are making the most of their second chance with two big victories in the Division I playoffs. Suddenly, Palo Alto is a victory away from reaching a CCS championship match for the first time since 1989 and two wins from winning the program's first section title since 1980.
"It's definitely a reachable goal," said Paly junior Kelly Jenks, of possibly reaching the title match. "We're just really excited. It's great to get past the second round."
Jenks, meanwhile, helped make things happen in a big way Saturday as she scored five goals. She now has seven goals in two CCS matches and 23 goals on the season. Not too surprisingly, Jenks was named Junior Player of the Year in the SCVAL De Anza Division this season.
Jenks spread the credit around for her five goals, the most she's ever scored in a high school match.
"Sammi (Bengston) and Jessie (Duller) did a really good job of setting me up on some of those goals," Jenks said of her fellow co-captains. "It was a joint effort."
Since Duller was moved to center-midfield late in the season from her normal defensive position, Palo Alto's offense has warmed up and allowed Duller to help create more offense opportunities along with Bengston, both of whom are also club teammates.
"Moving Jessie to center-mid really worked out," Jenks said. "We're just jelling really well right now."
Jenks was pushed from behind by a Leland player in the 11th minute of Saturday's match. Paly was awarded a free kick, with Duller (a first team all-league selection) sending the ball from right to left across the field. Jenks ran from the left and into the kick, connecting for the first goal.
The second of five goals for Jenks was a nice setup of passes, starting with junior Maeve Stewart feeding the ball to Duller, who crossed the ball to Jenks in front of the net. Jenks got her head on it and for a 2-0 lead. Jenks' third goal came at the 18-minute mark of the first half with an unassisted effort.
While the match appeared well in hand, Jenks wasn't done. She tallied her fourth goal at the 39th minute with the assist going to Bengston, another first team All-De Anza Division selection.
Jenks started the second half with a goal in the first few minutes. Bengston fed Jenks a beautiful and long through-ball. Jenks was racing the Leland keeper to get to the ball first and did, getting her foot on it and tapping the ball to the side. Once past the goalie, Jenks finished the play for a 5-0 match.
Paly sophomore keeper Alex Kershner had three big saves in the first half, one where she dived in mid-air to knock away a shot headed for the far corner of the net -– saving a sure goal. Kershner eventually lost her shutout, one goal coming on a loose ball at Paly's defensive end and the other off a well-executed corner kick.
Kershner finished with eight saves while sophomore outside backs Gracie Marshall and Gracie Cain had standout games, helping to keep the Paly defensive line strong.
The Gunn girls will join Paly in the semifinals following their big win at Gilroy. Erin Robinson scored Gunn's first goal in the first half. Ina the second half, it was Kelly McKenna scoring on a header off a corner kick from Eleanor Greely. Gilroy scored with 12 minutes left but Gunn hung on for the victory. This will be the Titans' first appearance in the semifinals since 1999.
Gunn had to travel to Gilroy for essentially a home game for the Gilroy Mustangs, but the visiting Titans were undaunted and attacked from the start. Their efforts were rewarded in the 16th minute, when back Emmiliese von Clemm served a dangerous ball into the penalty area from the right flank. Robinson took advantage of the great service by collecting the ball and striking a driven shot past the Gilroy keeper for a 1-0 lead.
Gilroy had several dangerous runs from its skilled right forward, who had tremendous pace and speed in penetrating the right side. The combined efforts of Gunn defenders Diana Wise and Mariah Cannon prevented Gilroy from converting those runs into goals. Halftime ended with the Titans holding a 1-0 lead.
Gunn doubled its lead in the 51 minute, when the Titans were awarded a corner kick. Eleanor Greely served a perfect ball from the left side to midfielder McKenna, who finished with a precise header into the goal.
Gilroy finally scored in the 68th minute, with a blistering breakaway run on the left side that forced Titans' keeper Jessie Belfer to come out to challenge. Belfer forced the shot wide left, but a Mustangs' player making a weakside run finished the ball to spring new life for Gilroy.
With only 12 minutes left, Gilroy threw all of its players into the attack to try to get the equalizer, creating anxious moments as Gunn players defended under tremendous pressure.
Thanks to tough defending by midfielders Megan
Clendenin, Sabina Sood, Melissa Sun and the threat of a counterattack by forward Taylor Gardiner, Gunn was able to withstand the onslaught, run out the clock and complete a 2-1 victory.
Girls Division III
The Priory saw its season end in a 4-2 penalty-kick shootout with top-seeded Santa Cruz on Saturday at Watsonville High. The No. 8-seeded Panthers (15-5-2) grabbed the lead in the second half on a goal by senior Sarah Montgomery off an assist from senior Leslie Barkmann, but the Cardinals tied it 15 minutes later off a free kick that was headed in.
"It really could have gone either way," said Priory coach Armando Del Rio, who had two starters injured, two starters sick and one missing due to injury. "Things were against us, but we battled."
Senior Zoe Ciupitu and freshman Molly Simpson both were sick, but played. Junior Adriana Cortes had a pulled hamstring, that forced her to the sideline on occasion. Montgomery played despite not practicing for the past two weeks due to shin problems.
The big loss, of course, was last season's scoring leader Massiel Castellanos, who missed most of the season with a stress fracture. Del Rio said he was tempted to use her in the penalty kicks, but finally decided against it.
Castellanos isn't supposed to healthy enough to play until mid-March at the earliest.
"I was proud of them," Del Rio said. "After it was tied, it was anyone's game."
Barkmann, goalie Dani Boross, Montgomery and defender Courtney Lee will be big losses to graduation for Priory, which beat Santa Cruz last season in the semifinals and lost to the Cardinals the year before.
At Harker School, No. 2 Sacred Heart Prep (14-3-5) advanced after sophomore Abby Dahlkemper drilled a free kick in the 70th minute to break a deadlock with No. 7 Menlo (14-5-5) and give the Gators a 2-1 victory.
Sacred Heart Prep grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute when senior Kira Abe took a cross from Dahlkemper and scored. In the 57th minute, Menlo senior Madi Shove knocked in a penalty kick for a 1-1 match.
The victory sends SHP into a semifinal on Thursday against No. 3 seed Notre Dame-Belmont at Valley Christian High at 4:30 p.m. Notre Dame-Belmont advanced with a 1-0 win over defending section champ Scotts Valley.
Sacred Heart Prep and ND-Belmont previously faced each other in the West Catholic Athletic League.
-- Keith Peters | |
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