September 02, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

SHP focuses on defending titles after 21-0-1 season

by Keith Peters

Juan Camahort has been coaching the Sacred Heart Prep boys' soccer team for 10 years. Yet, he has never faced a new season like he is now.

The Gators are coming off the greatest year in the program's history, a fabulous 21-0-1 campaign in 2004 that was capped by a sixth Central Coast Section Division III championships - the team's fourth in five seasons.

Thus, there is little room for improvement for the 2005 squad.

"One tie. That's the only thing we can improve on," Camahort said.

A year ago, SHP entered the season having everything to shoot for following a 2003 season that saw no Private School Athletic League or CCS titles. Now, the Gators not only have championships to defend, but have that huge success of '04 hanging over them like some impossible goal to shoot for.

"I told them that last year was probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing and that we need to put that behind us," Camahort explained. "We can't try to duplicate last year. If it happens, it happens. We just need to shoot for defending our titles and not worry about the record. Hopefully, we won't get complacent after winning the way we did last year."

Camahort, whose team opens the PSAL season Friday at Woodside Priory at 3:30 p.m., already has taken steps to insure a tougher schedule. The annual Gator Classic, a tournament the Gators usually dominate, has been cancelled. In its place, SHP will compete in the Del Campo Invitational in Sacramento on Sept. 9-10 and likely face its toughest competition of the season.

Camahort is willing to suffer a loss or two this season, as long as his team realizes its most important goals - win another PSAL crown and then defend its CCS title. Nothing else, Camahort says, really matters.

"It's nice to be undefeated, but it's not necessary," Camahort said. "We just have to zero in on our goals."

Sacred Heart lost nine seniors off its championship team. Another key player, Alex Vukic, did not return for his senior season. He led the Gators in scoring last year with 17 goals as SHP scored 85 in 22 matches.

The Gators still have plenty of offense from juniors Travis Benson and Michael McMahon, who scored the goals in SHP's 2-1 win over Valley Christian-Dublin in the 2004 CCS title match. VC Dublin provided the only blemish on the Gators' record with a 2-2 deadlock five days earlier.

Senior Cory Hatton will bolster the offense after being moved from stopper to center midfielder. Senior Andrew Ninnemann will join Hatton in the midfield to give the Gators plenty of experience upfront.

The defense, which allowed only 11 goals and registered 14 shutouts a year ago, also looks set with returning senior keeper Garrick Yuen joined by junior sweeper Kevin Bocci and senior Keegan Leary. The wings look to be JV grads Mark Sallaberry and Grant Gramaglia, both juniors. Herve Sarner, the team's only sophomore, is expected to be the new stopper.

Also contributing will be senior returnees Brooks Miller, Drew Cattermole and Sean Jordan. Newcomers include juniors Adam Leao, Daniel Jones, Kevin McFarland, Mike Sember and backup keeper Will Van Alstyne.

"We're going to be good, there's no question," Camahort said. "But, at the beginning of the season you don't know what the other schools are going to do."

The other schools, however, know what Sacred Heart Prep is going to do - staunchly defend its titles.

Pinewood

The Panthers have a new coach in Tom Skousen, a former head coach at Palo Alto. Skousen has inherited a young team that graduated eight seniors from a 6-11 squad in 2004, leaving him with the chore of teaching basic skills.

Competing in the competitive PSAL against the likes of Sacred Heart Prep, King's Academy, Redwood Christian and VC-Dublin makes it tough to post a winning season. With that said, Skousen believes his team has the work ethic "that will allow us to compete in each game. That is my goal for the season," Skousen said, "to play together defensively and connected on offense."

Skousen has a handful of skilled players in junior forward Micah Hecht, junior goalie-turned forward Tyler Mosher, newcomer Connor Whitlock and senior forward-turned-goalie Drew Rice.

All must improve their skills to help the Panthers be successful this season, which Skousen believes is possible.

Woodside Priory

The Panthers went 8-9-2 last season, a slight improvement over the 8-10-1 mark from 2003. They have a new coach in Damian Cohen and hopes of getting past the .500 plateau.

"We have a balanced team of both seasoned seniors as well as skilled freshmen," Cohen said. "I believe we have more depth on our bench than we have had in the past. What we lack in height/speed we make up for with ball control and an understanding of the game.

"Offensively, we are sound. Defensively, our team needs to work on its shape and tactics. By the second week or so of the season, I expect that we will fully compete in every game that we partake. In the meantime, like every other team, we just need to get some games under our feet, play together a little more, and get some of the rust off."

Priory did just that this week, opening the season with a 3-1 win over Eastside Prep on Tuesday and a 3-1 win over East Palo Alto High on Wednesday as Eric Park scored two goals.

The competition, however, gets tougher in a hurry with the Panthers hosting defending champ Sacred Heart Prep today at 3:30 p.m.

Cohen takes over a team that lost eight seniors but returns eight starters, even though he doesn't look at his lineup quite that way.

"I don't have starters," he said. "Anyone could be a starter on any given day. I don't have captains right now. I am still watching the cream rise."

Surfacing after earning all-league recognition last season are seniors Jay Sohn (currently injured), Justin Crandall and Park. Cohen noted that trio has earned the right to be singled out and expects the three will contribute to whatever success the team enjoys this season.

"That isn't to say I don't have a lineup in my head, but I suppose one of the changes that I am instituting is that everyone has to compete for a job every single day," Cohen said. "We have guys who started on the varsity team last year, presently playing on the JV team. I want the right kind of player on my team. That doesn't necessarily mean the most gifted, but it could mean the most committed.

"Ultimately," continued Cohen, "what I believe this will create, is a scrappy team. Nothing is being handed to them. Anyone could sit. Anyone could start. Anyone could be sent down. They essentially have to earn their keep."

Along with that philosophy, Cohen has tried to balance intense workouts while building team chemistry - all the while trying to remain healthy and ready for the season.

"Other than that," Cohen said, "when the whistle blows, soccer is soccer."

E-mail a friend a link to this story.