After one big upset in the quarterfinals of the CCS Open Division soccer playoffs, the landscape has changed a bit heading into the semifinals. One thing that all eight remaining teams (four boys, four girls) know for sure is that they will continue playing after the section playoffs, as all the Open semifinalists are guaranteed a berth to the CIF NorCal Championships.
Boys Semifinals
Branham vs Soledad at TBA
BVAL Mt. Hamilton division champion Branham had the best result of the quarterfinal round in any division by defeating two time defending CCS open division champion and WCAL champion St. Ignatius off a goal in the first half by Nick Orozco. The Bruins will take on Soledad, who defeated PAL Bay division champion Burlingame, 4-2, with goals from Ruben Esqueda, Cristobal Toya, Edison Arriola and Alex Ortiz. Soledad was supposed to have hosted Burlingame, but due to poor field conditions had to move its game to King City. While Branham will travel down 101 south on Tuesday, it is currently unknown where the game will be played and at what time.
The two teams did not have any common opponents, indeed all of Soledad's opponents this year (minus Burlingame) were from the SCCAL or opponents from a different PCAL division. While Soledad finished fourth in the competitive PCAL Gabilan division, in non-league they defeated both Monterey and Greenfield, who won their respective leagues and finished the regular season with ties against highly rated Alisal and league champion Watsonville. The Bruins offensively have spread it around this season with junior Jaeson Gonzalez leading the team with six goals and senior Tanner Lanphear in goal leading a solid defense which on average gives up less than a goal per game.
Bellarmine at Watsonville, 7 pm
The two most storied programs in the history of CCS soccer meet Tuesday night in Watsonville to decide the other semifinal. In the four years since CCS has introduced the Open division, Bellarmine has only made it to the top division one other time, the inaugural season and lost in the semifinals to, you guessed it, Watsonville. At that time Bellarmine was a league champion while Watsonville was one of the three at large teams, Watsonville would go on to become co-champions. This time its reversed as Watsonville is the league champion of the PCAL Gabilan and Bellarmine earned their spot in the open via a second place finish in the WCAL.
In the quarterfinals Watsonville beat SCVAL De Anza division champion Los Gatos 5-0, paced by two goals from sophomore Jeal Leal and Bellarmine defeated Palo Alto 2-0 with goals by Casey Jaeb and Blaze Strangio. The two teams did meet all the way back on December 19th in Watsonville with the Bells defeating the Wildcats by a score of 3-2 which handed Watsonville its first loss of the season. Bellarmine captain Jake Rhodes had the winning goal on the night. The only common opponent the two teams shared was Alisal, whom Bellarmine tied in non league action in December while Watsonville tied and lost to the Trojans. The Bells, who won last year's Division 1 championship, fell just short of a WCAL championship by a game and a half to St. Ignatius. Watsonville dethroned two time reigning champion Alisal of the competitive PCAL Gabilan, and could potentially see league mate Soledad in the finals.
Girls Semifinals
Archbishop Mitty at Leland, 7 pm
Sixth-seeded Archbishop Mitty will travel to second-seeded Leland for a rematch of a game played in early December, in which the Monarchs defeated the Chargers 5-0. Mitty advanced to the semifinals by defeating Los Gatos on the road with senior Shannon Coyle scoring in the third minute. The BVAL Mt. Hamilton division champions defeated Menlo-Atherton 4-2 in their respective quarterfinal matchup.
Youth is being served for the Chargers as they are led offensively by sophomore Rebecca Womer (10 goals) and freshman Ruby Teixeira (14 goals) and overall average two goals per game. In the non-league matchup in early December the Monarchs completely dominated, with Katie Murphy leading the way with two goals and Coyle having two assists on the day.
Since that game the Chargers have lost only one other game, a league match in early January to Leigh, and are on a nine match winning streak and have entered the tournament as one of the sections hottest teams. Mitty at one point had control and looked to win their fifth WCAL championship in a row, but fell late in the season to eventual champion St. Ignatius. The Monarchs did finish the regular season with two wins before defeating the Wildcats in the quarterfinal round. The only other common opponent between the two teams is Leigh, which Mitty defeated 3-0 in December, while Leigh handed Leland its lone loss in league play. The Chargers avenged their loss against Leigh on Jan. 28, winning 2-0. Leland will now look to avenge its only other loss of the season against Mitty on Tuesday night.
St. Ignatius at Mountain View, 3 pm
WCAL champion St. Ignatius will travel to SCVAL De Anza division champion and #1 seeded Mountain View Tuesday afternoon in what is a blockbuster semifinal matchup. Mountain View, which was the Prep2Prep #1 ranked team for most of January and February lost its lone game of the season in a surprise defeat to Saratoga on February 8th. The Spartans rebounded by defeating Santa Clara on the final game of the regular season before easily defeating Burlingame 6-0 in the quarterfinal round with Freshman Allie Montoya leading the way with 2 goals. Montoya leads Mountain View with 17 goals overall with sophomore Sistine Noel contributing 11 goals, who had two assists in the quarterfinal game.
The Wildcats had quite the season, including going undefeated in WCAL play which was highlighted by tying Mitty on the road and defeating the Monarchs at home, which effectively clinched the WCAL title with two games to go. The Wildcats final game of the year was a 1-0 victory at home against St. Francis, and indeed the two teams met again a week later in the quarterfinal round and the Wildcats defeated the Lancers by the same score. The Wildcats leader in scoring is freshman Lauren Frohan with eight goals, including the game winner against St. Francis in the final league match of the year. St. Ignatius and Mountain View did play each other all the way back on December 6th in which the Spartans defeated the Wildcats by a score of 2-0, with Montoya and Noel scoring. The Wildcats only loss since was to NCS power Monte Vista of Danville.
