A battle A battle (January 18, 2006)to remain in races

Local teams discovering there are few easy matches this season

by Keith Peters

Gone are the sure things, the easy games. Those days are over for local high school soccer teams. Now, every match is a struggle - a survival of the fittest.

This uphill battle for league leads and division dominance continued last week when two teams fell from first place, one pulled a major upset and another continued to struggle against a rival.

Starting at the top, the Menlo School girls and Palo Alto boys are no longer there. The Knights suffered a 1-0 loss to visiting Burlingame on Thursday and lost their hold on first place in the PAL Bay Division. The Palo Alto boys rallied to tie Gunn, 1-1, but fell one point behind Homestead in the battle for the top spot in the SCVAL De Anza Division.

The Gunn girls, meanwhile, shocked rival Palo Alto with a 2-1 decision while the Gunn boys continued their winless streak against Paly with their deadlock.

What all this means is that no local team is controlling a division race, even though there are plenty of showdowns still to come with the second half of league seasons fast approaching.

The Palo Alto boys (3-0-2, 5-4-3) tried to reclaim first place on Tuesday against first-place Homestead (4-1). The Vikings, who started the season with four straight losses, have not lost since Dec. 6. Since then, they have won or tied seven times.

Paly was supposed to have its hands full with visiting Gunn (2-1-2, 6-3-5) on Thursday and it appeared that way when junior Sam Zipperstein scored in the first 20 minutes to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.

The resilient Vikings, however, charged right back seven minutes later with sophomore Scott Ostrau taking a pass from Manny Henriquez and drilling it home.

The second half was all defense with Zipperstein playing tough in the middle and Doug Simpson controlling balls in the air and closing down the Paly attacks from the flanks.

The Titans spent much of the second half on Paly's side of the field, but just couldn't get the ball past senior keeper Tommy Brown, who had his best game of the season according to coach Don Briggs. Patrick Alonis, Zal Dordi, Martin Strauss and Roy Newman "played exceptionally defense on the back line," Briggs noted.

As for Gunn, it was yet another winless outing against Paly, which has not lost to the Titans in the past six regular-season meetings.

"Our kids played well and I really would have liked them to get the win," said Gunn coach David Burgee, whose team has had a hard time finishing this season. "That's the story of our season."

While the Paly and Gunn boys were battling to a deadlock, the Gunn girls (1-4, 2-9-1) were pulling off their biggest win of the season against visiting Paly. The Vikings (2-2, 3-5-1) played without sophomore standout Teresa Noyola, who missed the match to train with the U.S. National Under-17 team. Paly senior co-captain Robin Chang was slowed by a leg injury and missed most of the second half.

Gunn took full advantage of the opportunity, even though Paly took a 1-0 lead when Sarah Flamm assisted on a goal by Kathy Nolan. Gunn tied it in the 18th minute on a goal by Katja Davis off an assist by Emma Von Clemm.

The Titans won it in the 34th minute when they were given an indirect kick. Emi Sullivan blasted a shot into the Paly wall and Davis controlled the ball during a scramble and knocked it in. Gunn then held off a fierce Paly attack in the second half to preserve the win.

The Titans visited second-place Monta Vista (3-1) on Tuesday while Paly hosted Homestead (3-2). Both games could well impact the division standings.

The Menlo girls (5-1, 8-2) suffered their first loss in PAL play this season and fell a point behind Burlingame (5-0-1) in the standings. The Knights host Aragon (2-3-1) on Tuesday before beginning the second half of league play.

The Menlo-Atherton girls (2-4, 6-7-1) got back into the playoff race with a 3-1 win over visiting Woodside on Thursday. Mariana Jacuinde, Kaitlin McGhee and Kim O'Donnell all scored for the Bears with McGhee adding two assists and O'Donnell one.

In the West Catholic Athletic League, Sacred Heart Prep (1-6-1, 4-8-1) missed out on an opportunity for a second victory in league play but settled for a scoreless tie with Sacred Heart Cathedral (0-7-1).

In the Private Schools Athletic League, Pinewood (2-0, 6-7-1) took over sole possession of first place with a big 3-1 win over visiting Redwood Christian. Senior Carrie Weiss scored three goals, two assisted by Alex Merriweather.

"The girls played really well against a team that had repeatedly humiliated us in the past seasons," said Pinewood coach Michael Tetzlaff.

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