High school soccer playoffs: Wednesday’s top storylines, surprises, more
Los Gatos boys beat Menlo School in match for the ages. Mitty, St. Francis to meet for CCS boys, girls titles. In NCS, Dougherty Valley, Berkeley boys, San Ramon Valley, Carondelet girls among winners.
TOP STORYLINE: ST. FRANCIS VS. MITTY, RUBBER MATCH
St. Francis and Archbishop Mitty’s girls teams were Nos. 1 and 2 in the Bay Area News Group rankings for the entire season. They also were the top seeds in the Central Coast Section Division I bracket. It’s only fitting that the West Catholic Athletic League powers will meet in the final for the section title. Mitty handed Leigh its first loss of the season in one semifinal. St. Francis romped over Sequoia 5-2 in the other. The Lancers and Monarchs will face off at Santa Clara University on Saturday.
SURPRISES
No. 1 Amador Valley was thumped 5-1 by No. 4 San Ramon Valley in the North Coast Section Division I girls soccer semifinals. Amador Valley had allowed just four goals in 14 matches before SRV erupted on Wedbesday. … In NCS Division I boys, No. 6 Berkeley took down No. 2 Monte Vista 1-0. … No. 5 Maria Carrillo gave No. 1 Newark Memorial its first loss to deny the Cougars a shot at an NCS Division II boys title. … In CCS Division III boys, No. 4 Alvarez beat No. 1 Pioneer 1-0. In CCS Division IV, No. 4 Monterey beat No. 1 Del Mar in a wild 5-4 result. … No. 6 Homestead shut out No. 2 Leland in the CCS girls D-II semifinal.
GAME DETAILS
CENTRAL COAST SECTION
Division I boys
No. 1 St. Francis 2, No. 4 Burlingame 1: St. Francis remained undefeated on the season, scoring two second-half goals to turn back visiting Burlingame in a semifinal. David Hernandez Escobar scored his 22nd goal on the season and also assisted on Jake Bloyd’s goal. Lukas Ramans also had an assist for St. Francis, which will play Archbishop Mitty for the championship on Saturday at Santa Clara University. St. Francis goalkeeper Tomas Santa Gadea finished with six saves. St. Francis improved to 20-0-2. Burlingame slipped to 15-4-1.
No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 2, No. 2 Mountain View 1: It was a hard-fought game that went to overtime but Mitty came out on top with an overtime goal from Manuel Portillo, assisted by Daniel Mendoza. Portillo assisted on the Monarchs’ first goal which was scored by senior Guiseppe Sigala.
Division I girls
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 2, No. 3 Leigh 1: Tvesa Vathulya scored in the first half and Jordan Geis padded the lead with a goal in the second half, giving Mitty enough breathing room to hold off visiting Leigh in a semifinal match. Taylor Eagleson assisted on both goals. Elisabeth Bray added three saves in goal as Mitty (18-1-1) advanced to play top-seeded St. Francis for the championship game on Saturday at Santa Clara University. Malia Kakes scored a late goal for Leigh on an assist from Maggie Currie. Leigh fell to 18-1-1.
Division II boys
No. 3 Los Gatos 4, No. 2 Menlo School 4 (Los Gatos wins PKs 12-11): In perhaps the wildest game of the entire playoffs, even wilder than Serra’s win over Aptos on Saturday, Los Gatos survived on the road in an epic penalty-kick marathon after the teams played to a 4-4 tie through regulation and overtime. Keegan Mctighe scored two goals for Los Gatos before the PKs. Shlok Shrivastava had a goal and two assists, and Max Lees also put the ball past the goalkeeper. Mike Vick assisted on one of Los Gatos’ goals. For Menlo, Alessandro Velazquez scored two goals, giving him 21 on the season, and Andre Gonzalez Lombera and Gabriel Gil each had one goal. Los Gatos (14-2-4) will play eighth-seeded Hollister for the championship on Saturday. Menlo dropped to 15-4-3.
No. 8 Hollister 2, No. 5 Serra 1: After upsetting second-seeded Aptos on the road to advance to the semifinals, Serra was unable to win on its home field against Hollister, which stunned top-seeded Westmont in the previous round. Hollister scored two goals in the first half. Edward Velazquez had one goal for Serra after intermission. Hollister (10-9-2) moves on to play Los Gatos in the final on Saturday. Serra dropped to 11-6-5.
NORTH COAST SECTION
Division I boys
No. 4 Dougherty Valley 4, No. 8 Clayton Valley Charter 2: The Wildcats got two second-half goals from Tristan Casella to salt away a high-scoring victory and clinch their spot in the NCS Division I championship. Matas Drevinskas scored once, as did Ricky Feliciano. Dougherty Valley will host No. 6 Berkeley on Saturday.
No. 6 Berkeley 1, Monte Vista 0: The Yellow Jackets pulled off the upset. Senior defender Marlow Buettner scored the game-winning goal in penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation period.
Division I girls
No. 4 San Ramon Valley 5, No. 1 Amador Valley 1: San Ramon Valley scored all five goals in the first half as the Wolves wasted no time locking up a berth in the NCS Division I title game against Carondelet. Lauren Healy scored once and had two assists, Ella Beardslee scored once, and Sammy Schulze scored twice and had one assist. Midfielder Hailey Tyacke put one past the keeper and also had two assists. Angel Akanyirige scored Amador Valley’s only goal.
No. 2 Carondelet 2, No. 3 Monte Vista 1: Gianna Giusto tallied two assists for Carondelet as the Cougars secured their spot in the NCS Division I title game. Taylor Juroff scored the first goal, and Victoria Alessandrini scored the other one. Goalkeeper Anna Gustafson had three saves for Carondelet, which will play what is essentially a home game at De La Salle for the title.
Division II boys
No. 5 Maria Carrillo 2, No. 1 Newark Memorial 2 (MC wins 5-3 on PKs): Maria Carrillo pulled off the biggest upset in the Division II bracket, beating No. 1 seed Newark Memorial. After an entire regulation and overtime period with no score, the game was decided on penalty kicks. Senior striker Landon Ruggles scored two goals in PKs to lift Maria Carrillo to the win. Noel Cabrales and Sean Rante scored Newark’s penalty kick goals. Maria Carrillo will face No. 2 Las Lomas in the final on Saturday.
Central Coast Section
Wednesday’s semifinals
BOYS
Division I
No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 2, No. 2 Mountain View 1
No. 1 St. Francis 2, No. 4 Burlingame 1
Saturday’s final
No. 3 Archbishop Mitty (16-2-4) vs. No. 1 St. Francis (20-0-2) at Santa Clara University, 5:30 p.m.
Division II
No. 3 Los Gatos 4, No. 2 Menlo School 4 (Los Gatos wins PKs 12-11)
No. 8 Hollister 2, No. 5 Serra 1
Saturday’s Final
No. 4 Los Gatos (14-2-4) vs. No. 8 Hollister (11-9-2), TBA
Division III
No. 2 Christopher 4, No. 3 Seaside 0, 7 p.m.
No. 4 Alvarez 3, No. 1 Pioneer 0, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s final
No. 2 Christopher (17-2-2) vs. No. 4 Alvarez (10-9-2), TBA
Division IV
No. 2 King City 0, No. 6 North Salinas 0 (King City wins PKs 4-3)
No. 4 Monterey 5, No. 1 Del Mar 4
Saturday’s final
No. 2 King City (11-6-4) vs. No. 4 Monterey (14-5-1), TBA
Division V
No. 2 The King’s Academy 3, No. 3 North Monterey County 1
No. 1 Stevenson 1, No. 4 Milpitas 0
Saturday’s final
No. 2 The King’s Academy (14-4-3) vs. No. 1 Stevenson (14-3-5), TBA
GIRLS
Division I
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 2, No. 3 Leigh 1
No. 1 St. Francis 5, No. 4 Sequoia 2
Saturday’s final
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty (18-1-1) vs. No. 1 St. Francis (17-1-2) at Santa Clara University, 3 p.m.
Division II
No. 6 Homestead 2, No. 2 Leland 0
No. 1 Mountain View 2, No. 4 Woodside 1, 5 p.m.
Saturday’s final
No. 6 Homestead (13-5-2) vs. No. 1 Mountain View (14-3-4), TBA
Division III
No. 2 Los Gatos 3, No. 3 Valley Christian 1
No. 1 Piedmont Hills 1, No. 4 Hollister 0
Saturday’s final
No. 2 Los Gatos (12-6-4) vs. No. 1 Piedmont Hills (13-7-1), TBA
Division IV
No. 3 Soledad 1, No. 2 Willow Glen 0
No. 1 Alvarez 1, No. 4 Gunn 1 (Alvarez wins PKs 4-2)
Saturday’s final
No. 3 Soledad (17-3-2) vs. No. 1 Alvarez (14-6-1), TBA
Division V
No. 2 Nueva 4, No. 3 York 1
No. 1 Crystal Springs Uplands 2, No. 4 Rancho San Juan 1
Saturday’s final
No. 2 Nueva (15-4-1) vs. No. 1 Crystal Springs Uplands (18-1-1), TBA p.m.
North Coast Section
Semifinals
BOYS
Division I
Wednesday
No. 4 Dougherty Valley 4, No. 8 Clayton Valley Charter 2
No. 6 Berkeley 1, No. 2 Monte Vista 0
Saturday’s final
No. 6 Berkeley (22-2-2) at No. 4 Dougherty Valley (17-4-4), 5 p.m.
Division II
Wednesday
No. 5 Maria Carrillo 2, No. 1 Newark Memorial 2 (Maria Carrillo wins in PKs)
Tuesday
No. 2 Las Lomas 0, No. 3 Richmond 0 (Las Lomas 6-5 PKs)
Saturday’s final
No. 5 Maria Carrillo (13-4-5) at No. 2 Las Lomas (20-2-2), 7:30 p.m.
Division III
Tuesday
No. 4 Ukiah 3, No. 9 San Rafael 0
No. 7 Archie Williams 2, No. 3 Analy 1
Friday’s final
No. 7 Archie Williams (11-6-4) at No. 4 Ukiah (15-3-4), 7 p.m.
Division IV
Wednesday
No. 1 Cardinal Newman 3, No. 4 Lick-Wilmerding 0
No. 2 University-SF 3, No. 6 Salesian 2
Saturday’s final
No. 2 University-SF (17-5-2) at No. 1 Cardinal Newman (21-2-2), 7 p.m.
GIRLS
Division I
Wednesday
No. 4 San Ramon Valley 5, No. 1 Amador Valley 1
No. 2 Carondelet 2, No. 3 Monte Vista 1
Saturday’s final
No. 4 San Ramon Valley (17-3-2) vs. No. 2 Carondelet (17-4-4) at De La Salle, 7 p.m.
Division II
Tuesday
No. 4 Tamalpais (13-4-5) 2, No. 1 Casa Grande 1
No. 2 Las Lomas (17-1-4) 0, No. 3 Branson 0 (Las Lomas 5-3 PKs)
Final
No. 4 Tamalpais (14-4-5) vs. No. 2 Las Lomas (18-1-4), TBA
Division III
Tuesday
No. 1 Miramonte 3, No. 4 Petaluma 0
No. 2 Cardinal Newman 3, No. 3 Marin Academy 0
Final
No. 2 Cardinal Newman (11-0-4) vs. No. 1 Miramonte (16-2-2), TBA
Division IV
Wednesday
No. 1 University 3, No. 4 Sonoma Academy 0
No. 3 Marin Catholic 3, No. 2 Urban 2
Saturday’s final
No. 3 Marin Catholic (14-2-4) vs. No. 1 University-SF (17-1-4) at Paul Goode Field, 2 p.m.