Menlo girls hoping for return to CCS playoffs Menlo girls hoping for return to CCS playoffs (January 24, 2003)

by Keith Peters

For Lesley Pruzansky and Honora Huntington, it may seem like a lifetime since they played in a Central Coast Section playoff soccer match.

Actually, the two Menlo School seniors haven't reached that plateau since 2000, when as freshmen they helped the Knights to the Division III finals - only to fall to Santa Cruz in the finals. In sudden-death overtime, no less.

Since then, Menlo has failed in its quest to return. This season, however, could be the one. The Knights are 4-2-2 in the PAL Bay Division (9-3-3 overall) following Tuesday's big 3-0 victory at Menlo-Atherton, which moved Menlo to within one point of the third-place Bears (5-3, 8-7) and Burlingame to open the second half of division play.

The top three finishers in the division will earn automatic berths into the CCS playoffs next month.

While the Knights might not stack up with some of the best Division I and II squads, they certainly deserve a shot in Division III. They possess decent speed and exceptional passing skills, which they exhibited against the Bears this week. In fact, Menlo controlled play with its passing and aggressiveness to reverse a first-round loss to M-A.

Junior Michal Oda-Burns, who missed the first M-A match due to an early season injury, showed why her addition has made Menlo a better team by scoring in the first five minutes. Pruzansky got credit for the second goal when she blasted a shot off an M-A defender, and freshman Erica Swanson made it 3-0 just after halftime when she knocked in a header off a cross from Kelley Finch.

At this point in the season, five teams have a legitimate shot at one of the three CCS berths. Menlo-Atherton, however, did suffer its third-straight loss and had to place Burlingame on Thursday while Menlo faced winless Terra Nova.

The Knights, though, will be tested next week by fellow contenders Burlingame (Tuesday) and Aragon (Thursday) in key home matches.

The Palo Alto girls, meanwhile, opened up the second half of the SCVAL De Anza Division like the first - with a victory. The Vikings (5-0-1, 11-0-3) got one goal and one assist apiece from Austinn Freeman, Kacy Buchin and Lindsay Stirrat to overwhelm visiting Saratoga, 4-2. Paly is still using a patchwork lineup due to injuries and illness, but the team's bench has responded well while moving the Vikings closer to the division title.
Boys

Menlo-Atherton (4-3-1, 7-5-2) strengthened its grip on third place in the PAL by winning its third straight match, 1-0, over visiting Half Moon Bay on Wednesday. The surging Bears got a second-half goal from Armando Valencia, who followed in a blast by fellow junior Javier Hil that was first tipped by the keeper. The goal came with barely a minute to play and just moments after Bears' keeper Anthony Nikolchev had made a sensational save on a point-blank shot.

Menlo-Atherton is now 3-0-1 in its past four matches heading into today's big rematch at Sequoia (3 p.m.). The teams battled to a 2-2 deadlock last week in a makeup match, which has proven to be the turnaround point in the Bears' season. M-A coach Juan Camahort moved Hil from attacking midfielder to forward in that match, switching him with Salvador Lopez.

Since the switch, Hil has been more productive offensively (six goals, one assist) and the Bears haven't lost.

While M-A stepped forward Wednesday, Menlo (3-3-1, 7-5-3) stepped backward with a 1-0 loss to visiting Carlmont.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto (2-2-2 , 7-3-3) stayed in the thick of the playoff race with a 4-2 win at Saratoga. Durell Williams scored two goals while Matt Nolan and Estevan Guerrero added the others, keeping the Vikings solidly in fourth place heading into today's big home match against third-place Santa Clara (4-1-1) at 3:15 p.m.

First-place Gunn (6-1, 13-2-1) is off until next week, but the Titans' title hopes received a boost this week when second-place Mountain View settled for a pair of ties and fell to 4-1-3.

Gunn keeper Garrett Herfkens, who suffered three broken bones around his left eye following a collision last week against Gunn, underwent successful surgery Monday. He had a plate inserted in the damaged area in addition to a temporary balloon to hold up his cheekbone, according to Gunn coach Simon Weffer-Elizondo.

"It's still unclear how long he's out for," Weffer-Elizondo said of his All-CCS keeper. "Most likely until CCS, at best."