Gunn makes history in winning CCS boys soccer title

James Hahn was mobbed on the field by his Gunn High teammates just after the final whistle. Shortly afterward the entire boys soccer team raced to the elevated stands at Fremont High in Sunnyvale, jumped on the fence and hugged classmates, friends and family.

The Titans wanted to share their first Central Coast Section Division I title since 2003 with the student body. It’s also the third boys soccer title overall for Gunn, which became the first CCS team from a designated ‘B’ league to win the Division I title.

“The seniors were leaders in every way,” said coach Vava Marques, in his first year at Gunn but a veteran coach at Los Altos High and Foothill College before that. “They all bring something special and they all had one thing common. They wanted to work hard for the team. They’re proud to play for the school.”

Hahn scored both goals in an intensely competitive 2-1 victory over Mitty, the defending Division II champions. Gunn (17-1-3) barely made a blip in Division IV, losing to Harker in the first round last year.

“We knew we had a chance to win every game we played,” Hahn said. “We fight as a team and that got us here together.”

“Winning the Homestead Cup early in the season motivated us,” Gunn co-captain Alexis Bromberg said. “We started well and kept on winning. That built our confidence.”

The season began with more question marks than answers. Hahn said the team was scared of Marques at first because of his intensity and his demanding workouts.

“But then he built up the team chemistry and we came together,” Hahn said.

Marques said he didn’t have a clue what kind of team he had in the first days of practice.

“After the first week I knew we could be good,” he said. “There was a lot of talent. After a hard practice we’d do a lot of fun stuff but I had nothing to do with the team chemistry. The players deserve all the credit for that. They developed the culture. All I had to do was make them believe.”

The Titans floundered out of the gates, scoring four goals in opening the season 1-1-1. The 3-1 loss to Homestead sparked something in the team. They outscored their opponents by a 63-18 margin the rest of the way.

“We realized we let our guard down in that loss,” Marques said. “After that game, it was a completely different team.”

The season reached its crescendo Saturday night, with bodies flying around on both sides. At times the match resembled a pinball game and at other times a choreographed piece. Both teams seemed willing to play at either tempo.

Mitty (15-3-4) struck first in the eighth minute on a nice centering pass from Santi Andrade to Noah Robertson, who won the 1-on-1 duel with Gunn goalie Pierre Napaa, who later make two game-saving saves. The Monarchs also hit the crossbar on a shot just before halftime.

The Titans evened the score four minutes later when Nick Romero’s free kick found its way in front of the goal and Hahn, surrounded by defenders, turned on it and slammed it past everybody into the back of the net.

“All I saw was the goal,” Hahn said.

Until Hahn’s game-winner with 26:22 remaining to play in the contest, the game was a defensive stalemate, with both goalies saving sure goals and the back lines coming up with big plays.

Bromberg, Dane Jefferson, Colin MacPherson, Romero, Danny Bisenti, Joey Cianfichi were particularly active on defense for Gunn.

Rayan Taghizadeh stole a pass and then sent a long through ball along the sideline, where Hahn reached it and was able to gain the advantage on the Mitty goalie and bounce one off the post into the net.

Alfie Humphreys, , Ryan Wang, Preston Dankwah and Eban Hutt also came up with plays down the stretch.

Gunn wore the junior varsity white jerseys in each of its last two matches, both upsets according to the seeding. The Titans wore black or red all season.