Publication Date: Friday, February 11, 2005
PREP SOCCER
CCS playoffs are up next
CCS playoffs are up next
(February 11, 2005) Gunn, Paly boys plus Palo Alto girls are set; M-A girls, Menlo boys on bubble
by Keith Peters
The Menlo School boys and Menlo-Atherton girls are sitting on the bubble for next week's Central Coast Section soccer playoffs. Whether those bubbles burst will be determined Saturday at the section seeding committee.
Both teams came so agonizingly close to securing automatic bids for the tournament, which begins Tuesday at the sites of higher-seeded teams. All they had to do was finish third in their respective PAL Bay Division races.
Menlo controlled its destiny heading into Wednesday's regular-season finale at Menlo-Atherton. All the Knights had to do was win. That would have forced a tie for third with Sequoia, with each team holding a win over each other this season.
That scenario, however, went out the window when the Bears (4-7-3, 5-10-4) handed the Knights (7-6-1, 11-6-3) a 2-0 defeat on goals by Matt Wheeler and Jackson Slavik.
Menlo now awaits word whether it will receive an at-large berth for the CCS playoffs. The loss to M-A ended a remarkable finishing charge by the Knights, who won four straight (knocking off eventual co-champ Westmoor and third-place Sequoia) before falling to the fired-up Bears.
In their first meeting, Menlo had posted a 3-0 win over M-A as Kevin Brege scored twice. Menlo-Atherton's first-year coach Alberto Luna, however, missed that match but was informed what happened. Luna made some defensive changes for Wednesday's showdown, having senior Nathan Mazonson mark Brege. The strategy worked, with Brege being held scoreless. Senior stopper Josh Moffett also stood out for the Bears, along with sophomore defender Joe Cain.
Menlo-Atherton went 3-1-1 in its final five matches, giving Luna hope for next season. Menlo coach Nik Charalaghi, meanwhile, is still hoping his squad will be playing next week. The Knights missed out on the CCS playoffs last season with a 5-6-9 record, but more than doubled their win total despite being thin in the depth department and having to rely on Brege and fellow senior Ryan Cavan for most of their scoring.
The Menlo-Atherton girls, meanwhile, finished 6-6-2 in the Bay Division (11-8-3 overall) with 20 points while third-place Aragon had 23. The Bears had all kinds of chances to move up in the second half of the season, but suffered ties with fifth-place Menlo (4-6-4, 8-7-5) and sixth-place Woodside (2-5-7). Had M-A won those matches, coach Jenna Carson and her players would be off the CCS bubble.
The Bears still were out practicing late this week, just in case. They finished their regular season with a 3-0 win over San Mateo on Tuesday as juniors Wendy Funk, Megan O'Donnell and Elizabeth Lyons all scored. Two of the goals came off corner kicks.
In the SCVAL De Anza Division, the Gunn and Palo Alto boys have CCS berths locked up along with the Palo Alto girls, who took a shot at defending their league championship on Thursday.
Thanks to a 2-2 tie between first-place Los Gatos (7-0-5) and Los Altos on Wednesday, Paly had a chance to win the title outright with a victory over visiting Gunn on Thursday. The Titans delayed any celebration by the Vikings with a 1-0 upset victory on Monday.
The Vikings (7-1-3, 12-2-6) have 24 points while Los Gatos has 26. A win over Gunn will give Paly 27 points. The Vikings put themselves in position to win it all with a 3-0 win over host Mountain View on Wednesday as Tessa Buchin, Natalie Ferraiolo and Elle Burstein provided the goals. Robin Chang contributed two assists.
The Gunn boys wrapped up the De Anza Division crown last Friday, finishing with a 9-1-2 league mark (18-2-3 overall). Paly (9-2-1, 13-4-3) finished its regular season Wednesday with a 1-0 triumph over visiting Mountain View on a corner kick by Ben Flamm that was converted by Danny Duarte.
Keeper Harrison Newkirk registered his first shutout of the season as defenders Cameron Taylor, Alex Jugant, Patrick Alonis and Flamm helped preserve the blanking.
The Paly boys should get a high seed in the Division II playoffs while Gunn could be a No. 1 or 2 seed in Division I. The Titans, however, will be in the same division as defending section champion Watsonville, the nation's No. 4-ranked team according to studentsports.com. Gunn is ranked No. 47 in the country by the same web site.
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