by Dean Kahl
Menlo-Atherton High goalkeeper Jerry Dobbs has benefitted all season from a solid collection of players in front of him. On Wednesday, what his teammates did behind his back paid off tremendously. Thanks to a goal by Jakub Leslie and heads-up defensive plays by Chris Wallace and Nolan Felix, a Central Coast Section title quest remained very much alive for M-A.
A 1-0 victory over Santa Clara on Wednesday at PAL Stadium in San Jose moved M-A (14-2-1) into the CCS Division II semifinals against Serra. The match begins tonight at 7 p.m. at PAL Stadium. The title match will be Wednesday at PAL, also at 7 p.m.
Serra beat M-A, 2-1, in late December and is the only team to score two goals against the Bears' defense (which has allowed seven goals all season).
The rematch didn't come easily for M-A, which was trying to scrape the rust off an 18-day layoff. But, the Bears displayed fully the element that made them a smashing success--defense.
The play that had fans buzzing occurred 15 minutes into the second half when Dobbs was sprawled on the ground trying to break up a crossing pass. Dobbs had no chance on the ensuing hard, rolling shot that appeared as though it would tie the match, 1-1.
Until the ball met Wallace. The pony-tailed Wallace swept the ball away inches from the goal-line and M-A was out of danger.
"I thought it was in the net, then Chris clears it," M-A coach Juan Camahort said. "He came out of nowhere, but he's done that before."
With Santa Clara maintaining possession in M-A's end for most of the first half, the Bears avoided falling into a 1-0 deficit with Felix's alertness. Like Wallace, Felix cleared a ball off the goal-line (this one by a few feet, not inches) when Dobbs was caught out of the goalie box.
Santa Clara had eight corner kicks in the first half while M-A had none. However, M-A got the upper hand when Leslie took a free kick from 25 yards with seven minutes to play in the first half and put a high shot to the far post.
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