Publication Date: Friday, January 13, 2006
PREP GIRLS' SOCCER
Youth hopes to be served soon in the CCS playoffs
Youth hopes to be served soon in the CCS playoffs
(January 13, 2006) This is the fourth in a series of stories previewing the high school winter sports season. Today: girls' soccer.
by Keith Peters
Despite all the wet weather in recent years, there still has been a drought of sort in the area. To be exact, there hasn't been a Central Coast Section championship won by a local girls' team since 1990.
Menlo School shared its third straight CCS Division II crown 16 years ago. Since then, section titles have been as scarce as a winter season without rain.
While 2006 may not end that championship drought, change may be coming. Local teams this season offer a blend of plenty of youth and talent. Freshmen, who rarely played years ago, not only play varsity these days but many of them start.
At Menlo, for example, the Knights have four freshmen who start - Allie Crandall, Casey Finch, Katie Howard and Ginny Miller. All four have been big contributors to Menlo's 5-0 first-place start in the PAL Bay Division. Moreover, they have blended into a lineup that is balanced with youth and veterans.
"One of the good things about this team is there's a lot of camaraderie," said Menlo coach Donoson Fitzgerald, whose team improved to 8-1 overall and matched last season's win total on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory over host San Mateo. "They really work well together. They enjoy practice and just being around each other."
Fitzgerald has no more than five players in each class and has returned a solid group from last year's 8-7-5 season that saw the Knights miss out on the CCS playoffs once again. That likely will change this season given the team's balance.
"Different players step up in different games," said Fitzgerald, whose squad this season defeated PAL rival Carlmont for the first time ever in league play. "It's a real team effort."
The senior class offers starters in Molly Lapolla, Erica Swanson and Megan Teixeira. The juniors have Emma McCarthy and Ariel Rogers leading the way. Sophomores Cayley Bowles and Liz Daly share goalkeeping duties.
Finch, a defender, has been superb. Rogers has been dependable on the offensive end while Swanson brings her all-around talent to the effort. In the win over San Mateo, however, it was sophomores Allison Carlisle and Julia Raab providing the goals.
"We have a lot of good players who have been key to our team," Fitzgerald said.
Woodside Priory coach Damian Cohen could say the same thing. His team is even younger with only two seniors, none of whom started Tuesday in the Panthers' 1-1 deadlock with perennial West Bay Athletic League champ Mercy-Burlingame.
The Panthers are off to a 2-0-2 start in league (6-0-2 overall), thanks to an infusion of young club players who have Priory headed for a bright future.
"As in prior years, we still have an overall numbers problem," said Cohen, who has 14 on his roster, including two seniors and two juniors. "Thus, the youngsters represent the heart and soul of our team. That is what makes this team different, and what makes this team exciting. Ultimately, they are going to play together for quite some time.
"We plan to build upon this team in the future," Cohen continued. "Therefore, whatever we accomplish this year is actually just the beginning."
The Panthers, however, have shown they are ready to battle for league honors right now. Priory has yet to lose to league powers Mercy-Burlingame (a 1-1 tie), Notre Dame-San Jose (a 2-2 tie) and Castilleja (a 3-1 win) and reversed a 6-0 nonleague loss to Pinewood last year with a 3-0 victory over basically the same team this season.
Senior Rachel Moody has been solid in goal and sophomore Maddie Turner, a first-team all-leaguer last year, has returned to her defensive position. Junior Katie Lampert and senior Aracely Aceves continue to play their roles well.
The increased offensive production has come from sophomore Cami Simpson, a transfer from Carlmont, plus freshmen forwards Zoe Ciuputu and Sarah Montgomery. Ciuputu scored the goal against Mercy-Burlingame and had two goals (both assisted by Montgomery) in the big win over Castilleja. Freshman Leslie Barkman controls the midfield.
"This year we begin to surprise people," Cohen said. "In two years, Woodside Priory will be the league favorite."
Castilleja
The Gators started the season with a three-game win streak but since has fallen to 4-4 overall (1-2 in the WBAL) following consecutive losses to Woodside Priory and Notre Dame-San Jose.
Castilleja has a solid group of returnees from last season's team that finished 7-5-1 but missed out on CCS. Defenders Christina Skieller and Lauren Dunec are among the standouts.
Other recent starters have included Hanna Burch, Libby Cooper, Annie Roberts, Helen Ashton, Punky Chan, Jenny Pender plus Katie and Kelly Fitzgerald. Other contributors include Rachel Bolten, Julia Lee, Darien Martin, Laura Smith, Dena Block and Ellery Dake.
Gunn
The Titans lost 15 players off last season's 5-9-3 squad and new head coach Marie McCann has struggled accordingly. Gunn was 0-4 in the SCVAL De Anza Division (1-9-1 overall) before Thursday's match with Palo Alto.
Only five players are back from last year - Laura Baer, Katja Davis, Pritam Steiner, Emi Sullivan and Kathy Vining.
In the Titans' most recent outing, a 3-1 loss to Los Gatos, Kelly McKenna provided the goal with Maya Bruhis adding the assist. Gunn has been outscored in four league games, 11-3.
Other contributors include Molly Babbington, Nikki Bahlman and Taylor Gardiner.
Menlo-Atherton
The Bears are 1-4 in the PAL Bay Division (5-7-1) overall and struggling with injuries and hard luck. In Tuesday's 1-0 loss to Burlingame, the Bears' Wendy Funk was fouled in the penalty box. She had to give the penalty kick to another M-A player because of an ankle injury, and the PK wound up being blocked.
"Two minutes later, the ball was bouncing around in front of our goal and our goalie couldn't wrap it up," said M-A coach Jenna Carson. Burlingame scored and that was it.
Finishing has been a problem this season for M-A, which lost 10 players off last season's team that was beaten by Live Oak in the first round of the CCS Division I playoffs.
"The PAL Bay is as tough as it has ever been," Carson said. "CCS is not out of reach by any stretch but we need to start winning. Every team in the PAL is beatable this year."
Leading the Bears on offense is Funk, a senior captain, plus junior forward Kaitlin McGhee and sophomore midfielder Kim O'Donnell. The Bears' defense is young and led by four sophomores - sweeper Besty Burch, sweeper Madeline Wheeler (both returnees), plus Elise Delagnes and Callie Cain.
The Bears have 22 players on the roster, but 12 are either freshman or sophomores.
Palo Alto
The Vikings have a new coach in Ernesto Cruz and nine players back from last season's De Anza Division championship team (8-1-3) that finished 13-3-6 overall and lost in the CCS Division II quarterfinals.
Paly (2-1, 3-4-1) is a perennial CCS qualifier and this season should be no different. The Vikings defeated host Los Gatos last weekend, 3-2, in Paly's best match of the season. Sophomore standout Teresa Noyola scored three goals in that match and has become the focus of Paly's attack. She recently was named to the U.S. National 17-under team.
The Vikings have plenty of veterans in seniors Anita Bristol, Elle Burstein, Anique Drumright, Kenna Fairchild, Robin Chang and Kathy Nolan, plus goalie Christy Gauthier and fellow juniors Rachel Steinberg, Sarah Flamm and Jessie McDonald.
Chang, Nolan and Burstein are all playoff-tested, helping lead Paly into the postseason the past few years.
Newcomer Nikki Remmel has been contributing on offensive along with fellow junior Chelsea Williams. Junior Alyson Seedman and sophomore Mia Lattanzi, both of whom are track standouts, provide some obvious speed to the Vikings' game.
Pinewood
The Panthers struggled a year ago with a 2-6 mark in the PSAL (4-14 overall), but have turned things around with a 1-0 start in league and a 5-7-1 overall record.
Pinewood coach Michael Tetzlaff has a unique lineup that features three sisters - junior Amanda Merriweather plus twins Alex and Samantha, both sophomores and club players.
"They're a big part of our success," Tetzlaff said of the sister trio.
Tetzlaff has set some simple goals for the year - improve and "don't let King's Academy run away with the title."
Along with the sisters, Pinewood has senior Carrie Weiss, junior Amanda Legge and freshmen Sophie Rosseel and Jessica Lee contributing to the offense. Legge scored twice and Rosseel once in a 3-2 win over Valley Christian-Dublin to open the PSAL season.
Sacred Heart Prep
The Gators have the unfortunate task of playing in arguably the most difficult league in CCS - the West Catholic Athletic League. Sacred Heart was 0-14 in league last season and just 2-19 overall.
Jake Moffat is the new head coach and has his squad 1-6 in league (4-8 overall).
"Our team has made significant improvements this year and is in the process of becoming much more competitive in the WCAL," Moffat said. "It is fair to say that we are working on building the program. We are starting five freshmen and three sophomores in a league rich with senior talent."
Moffat is more than pleased with the progress made by his young team, which includes forwards Liz Papangellin (a sophomore) and Kira Abe (a freshman). Freshman Jenny MacGregor has been effective as a marking back, even though she's usually the smallest player on the field. Sophomore Sarah Peterson has been solid at sweeper.
"I think the girls have done a great job to lift the level of their play against tough opponents," Moffat said. "I think you will see this young team becoming increasingly competitive in the WCAL over the next couple of years."
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