Publication Date: Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Gunn boys clinch league soccer title,
Gunn boys clinch league soccer title,
(February 09, 2005)but lose momentum in loss to Paly
by Keith Peters
When the Gunn High boys' soccer team took the field last Friday against visiting Santa Clara, they were well aware what was at stake. A victory meant a league title. A loss meant perhaps losing that crown.
"They understood the message," said Gunn coach David Burgee. "They understood it, loud and clear."
That message was: Win, clinch and get ready for the postseason. Gunn did all of that with a 2-1 victory over the Bruins, giving the Titans the SCVAL De Anza Division championship and the league's No. 1 seed into the Central Coast Section playoffs that begin Feb. 15.
"We did what we had to do, get the win," said Burgee. "We're ready to move on to that next stage - that four-game season. I truly believe we have a very good shot at this (CCS title)."
Gunn (9-1-2, 18-2-3), however, closed its regular season on Monday with a 2-1 loss at second-place Palo Alto (8-2-1, 12-4-3). The question now is, which team is better prepared for the postseason?
Burgee hopes the loss to Paly will be a wakeup call for his team.
"Hopefully, we can take that defeat and turn it into a positive," he said.
As for the Vikings, who still have to host Mountain View on Wednesday to finish league play, they'll head into CCS with perhaps a number of players injured.
While they did get David White back (he was believed to have fractured his shin last week against Gunn), the Vikings lost Estevan Guerrero (possible broken wrist), goalie Harrison Newkirk (concussion) and Patrick Alonis (deep thigh bruise) during Monday's win over Gunn.
Paly also played shorthanded when senior Pierre Meloty-Kapella received a second yellow card ejection, leaving the Vikings with just nine field players in the 61st minute. Paly coach Don Briggs said the loss of Meloty-Kapella seemed to challenge his team even more.
Paly senior Manny Barragan certainly responded, scoring the winning goal in the 68th minute. Gunn's Alex Guzinski had given his team a 1-0 lead on a first-half penalty kick and Paly's Jean Choi answered in the second half with his own penalty kick.
"I'm proud of the way they hung in there," Briggs said of his players. "They met the challenge."
In Gunn's win over Santa Clara, the triumph was secured on a second-half goal by junior Ian Barnett and fine goalkeeping by senior Brian Weinstein. Both received game balls from Burgee, "one for the game-winner," he said, "and the other for preserving it."
Barnett's goal, which came after teammate Doug Simpson had rolled one under the hands of Santa Clara's keeper in the first half, further exemplified just how deep the Titans are this season.
Paly, meanwhile, routed Fremont by a 6-1 score. Danny Duarte scored two goals, Meloty-Kapella and Peter Lenke each had one goal plus an assist and Barragan added two assists.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo (7-5-1, 11-5-3) goes into Wednesday's regular-season finale match at Menlo-Atherton (3 p.m.) with an outside shot at earning an automatic CCS berth. If the Knights win and first-place Westmoor beats third-place Sequoia (7-3-3), Menlo will overtake the Cherokees for the third and final berth.
The Knights put themselves in this favorable position by beating both Sequoia (3-2) and Westmoor (1-0) last week to stretch their winning streak to four matches. Ryan Cavan's goal (off an assist from Art Heidrich) midway through the second half stood up against Westmoor. Prior to those victories, Menlo beat Burlingame for the first time ever in PAL action.
No matter what happens Wednesday, Menlo still has a good shot at an at-large CCS berth with anywhere from 36-39 points. Menlo-Atherton, which got a goal from Charlie Beavis to beat Burlingame last week, is primed to play spoiler Wednesday. The Bears are 2-1-1 in the past four matches.
Girls soccer
Palo Alto (6-1-3, 11-2-6) began this week with a chance to overtake first-place Los Gatos (7-0-4) and win the SCVAL De Anza Division crown, but the Vikings saw their title hopes virtually disappear in a 1-0 upset loss at Gunn (3-7-1, 5-8-3) on Monday.
Los Gatos likely will finish with 28 points. The best Paly can total now is 27 with wins over Mountain View (Wednesday) and Gunn (Thursday). If Paly wins twice and Los Gatos ties or loses to Los Altos, the Vikings still can win the crown.
Gunn's Emi Sullivan scored the game-winning goal Monday, with an assist from Becky Ngoon. Paly is missing scoring leaders Lindsey Stirrat and Austinn Freeman, both out for the season with injuries.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton (6-5-2, 10-8-3) needed to beat Terra Nova on Tuesday and have Aragon (7-5-1) either lose or tie in order to take third and get an automatic CCS berth. The Bears set themselves up for that scenario by toppling San Mateo last Thursday, 4-1, as senior Katherine Daiss scored two goals.
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