When two unbeaten teams collide in an athletic event, something’s got to give–and when Los Gatos and North Salinas matched perfect 15-0 field hockey records last Saturday afternoon at Leland, it was the Wildcats doing the giving … to the tune of a lopsided 8-1 victory.
The Cats proved their domination of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League was no fluke when they rolled to the win over the Vikings in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section playoffs.
With the win, Los Gatos advanced to the semifinals that were to be played on Nov. 19, with that winner moving on the CCS championship game on Nov. 22, 11 a.m., at Leland.
The semi’s on Wednesday looked all too familiar with the same four teams competing for the fourth straight year. No. 1 seed Archbishop Mitty (17-2-1) edged No. 9 Monta Vista (9-7-2), No. 2 Gatos (16-0) beat No. 10 North Salinas (15-1), No. 3 St. Francis (14-4-2) handled No. 11 Prospect (7-9-1) 4-1 and No. 4 Gilroy (15-2-2) blanked No. 5 Saratoga (12-5-2) 5-0 in the quarterfinals to send the same fearsome foursome to the semi-final round.
Wednesday’s winners will play for the CCS championship on Saturday, which will be nothing new. It will be the fifth straight time that two of the four have reached the title game.
Mitty advanced to the semifinals by just the slimmest of margins, breaking up a scoreless tie with a second-half goal by Katie Toy off of a Jamie Nordin assist to barely get by Monta Vista.
The Matadors had earned their shot at Mitty with a tight 4-3 first-round win over Westmont.
Janaye Sakkas and Andi Pappas each had a goal and an assist and Allegra Ziegler Hunts and Jaya Kumari also popped goals to lead the Mats to the victory. Arushi Agarwala had two assists for Monta Vista and Mallory Strom added one.
The Matadors opened up a big 3-0 lead in the first half but had to hold on for the win when Westmont outscored them 3-1 in the second half.
Leading the Warriors was Rachel Hwang with a goal and an assist. Sarah Pereyra and Kayla Ernst also scored for Westmont and Amanda Barber had an assist.
Prospect had opened with a 3-1 win over Cupertino before losing in the next round to St. Francis.
Andrea Scoles had a goal and two assists to pace the Panthers to the win over the Pioneers, who finished the year with a 9-6-1 season record. Shayna Frieden and Kyla Rienhart also slapped home goals and Sara Wasielewski, Mayah Walker and Kaveri Bagade supported with assists.
Walker scored the lone goal for the Panthers in their 4-1 loss to St. Francis last Saturday.
Saratoga lost 5-0 to Gilroy the same day to bring an end to what had been a super season for the Falcons. Saratoga was 12-5-2 this year, including a second-place finish in the SCVAL.
The Falcons opened the CCS playoffs with a convincing 8-1 win over Christopher.
Anne Rollinson had a huge day in the win for Saratoga with two goals and three assists. Rachel Davey and Tina Miller also popped two goals apiece for the Falcons and Erin Norris contributed three assists.
Emily Chen scored a goal and added an assist for Saratoga. Abby Foss also scored a goal and Hannah Leonard, Maxine Parr and Corinne Bryan had assists.
The strong finish for the Falcons had to encouraging for head coach Leaf Huynh, since on six of the 16 players on the club’s roster are seniors.
Graduation will claim Foss, Christine Crolla, Natalie Lemire, Meeta Marathe, Bianca Oliveri and Nidhi Vellanki, but players eligible to return next fall for the Falcons include juniors Norris, Rollinson, Bryan, Sabrina Clark and Sarah Price and sophomores Chen, Davey, Leonard, Miller and Parr.
