Publication Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2005
CCS SOCCER
Gunn boys surprised with their bracket
Gunn boys surprised with their bracket
(February 16, 2005) by Keith Peters
David Burgee thought his Gunn High boys' soccer team might get a shot at proving itself against one of the nation's best in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
That's not going to happen, and Burgee is not happy.
"It's pretty disappointing that we're not in Division I," Burgee said Monday.
Gunn has played in Division I for a number of years now, based on the school's enrollment. The Titans won the CCS Division I title in 2003 after winning the Division II crown in 2001.
Because enrollments went up at other schools, however, Gunn missed qualifying for Division I by 17 students. That means the Titans will not have a shot at Division I top seed Watsonville, the nation's No. 4-ranked squad.
Had Burgee known that Gunn had fallen behind other schools in enrollment, he could have petitioned to move up. That deadline was Dec. 1.
Gunn (18-2-3) did receive the No. 1 seed in Division I, but "it's not necessarily an easier path" (to the finals)," Burgee said.
Worse yet, the Titans are in the same bracket at No. 4 seed Palo Alto (13-4-3), which handed Gunn a loss and a tie this season, and No. 5 Santa Cruz.
Gunn opens play Wednesday against No. 16 Greenfield (14-4) at Los Altos at 2:30 p.m. Palo Alto, which finished second to Gunn in the SCVAL De Anza Division, must travel to league champ Gonzales (14-2-2) for a 5 p.m. game. Also in the bracket is No. 9 seed Menlo School (11-6-3), which received an at-large berth out of the PAL Bay Division and will visit No. 8 St. Francis on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
Gunn is favored to reach Saturday's quarterfinals, likely against St. Francis. A victory by Palo Alto likely will earn the Vikings a shot at Santa Cruz, the Division II champ in 2003.
Should the Titans and Vikings win their first two matches, they'll meet each other in the semifinals next Tuesday or Wednesday. That, Burgee said, should not be the case.
"That's a violation of CCS bylaws," Burgee said.
According to CCS seeding procedures, "Whenever possible, the first and second-place teams from the same league will not be seeded in the same half of the bracket." Third-seeded Mitty and No. 8 seed St. Francis, for example, are in opposite brackets. Paly and Gunn are not.
Burgee tried to contact CCS commissioner Nancy Lazenby Blaser by phone and e-mail, but not receive a response as of Monday.
In the girls' CCS tournament, Menlo-Atherton (11-8-3) received an at-large berth out of the PAL Bay Division and will put its No. 7 seed on the line at No. 10 Live Oak (9-6-5) on Wednesday in Division I action at 2:30 p.m.
Palo Alto (13-2-6) received the No. 2 seed in Division II and has a bye to Saturday's quarterfinals, where the Vikings will play the winner of No. 7 Notre Dame-Belmont (11-8-2) and No.10 Mountain View.
Paly (8-1-3) won the SCVAL De Anza Division title last Thursday by overtaking overtook Los Gatos (7-0-5) on the final day of the regular season with a 1-0 victory over visiting Gunn, thanks to an early first-half goal by Elle Burstein off an assist from Sarah Flamm.
Palo Alto finished with 27 points and Los Gatos with 26. Lost in all the positives of winning a league title is the fact the team's top offensive players, seniors Austinn Freeman and Lindsay Stirrat, are out for the season with knee injuries. That has forced van Gastel to move players around while trying to find enough offense to win matches.
Surprisingly, the Vikings have lost just once since losing Freeman and Stirrat. That was a 1-0 upset loss to Gunn in a makeup match Monday. Paly's only other loss was 1-0, to Monta Vista on Dec. 8.
The difference has been the defense, where Palo Alto has allowed just 10 goals in 21 matches. Leanna Racine, Lisa Johnson, Kathy Nolan, Tessa Buchin and others have been solid throughout in support of sophomore keeper Christy Gauthier.
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