While a couple of teams have found a way to stop the Cupertino girls soccer team this year, none have been able to stop the marvelously talented forward Stephanie Magellan as of yet.
Magellan has appeared in nine of the Pioneers’ 11 matches thus far this season and has scored a goal or assisted on one in all of them. Last week while the Pioneers were losing their Santa Clara Valley Athletic League match with Fremont, 4-3, the remarkable Cupertino senior was adding two more goals to her season’s total, stretching her streak of two-goal games to three in a row.
The loss left Cupertino at 2-2-1 and in fourth place in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL behind Milpitas (6-0-0), Fremont (4-2-0) and Gunn (3-2-0).
Magellan has now scored 20 of Cupertino’s 30 goals (67 percent) this season, equaling her total from all of last year (in 14 games), and has assisted on five of the remaining 10 (50 percent).
A four-year varsity performer, the Pioneer scoring machine has tallied 56 goals in her stellar high school career. In seven of the nine matches she has appeared in this season, Magellan has scored multiple goals, including a dazzling five-goal performance against Lincoln and a trio of three-goal hat tricks pulled off against Westmont, Del Mar and Branham.
Cupertino led 2-1 at the half against Fremont last week, but ended up being the victim of a three-goal performance by Firebird junior Jessica Yu.
Gianna Pezzella accounted for the Firebirds’ fourth goal, while Kendal Moulton assisted on two scores and Leilani Loo assisted on one.
Courtney Chan had Cupertino’s only other goal, and both Jordan Amick and Serena Kutney had assists.
Loo spearheaded a strong Fremont defensive effort, recording six of the 24 steals the Firebirds came up with.
After edging Cupertino, Fremont played two more last week, splitting matches against Gunn and Lynbrook. The Firebirds lost to the Titans 2-1 last Thursday, but rebounded to nip the Vikings by the same score. Meera Trisal tallied Lynbrook’s lone goal in the loss.
Earlier in the week, the Vikings, who are just behind Cupertino in the standings at 2-3-1, shut out Wilcox 3-0 behind a three-goal hat trick by sophomore Tuhina Dasgupta. Two of Dasgupta’s goals were unassisted, while the third came off a pass from Kristen Wong.
Junior goaltender Kirsten Chai was brilliant in the net for the Vikes, stopping all 14 Wilcox shots.
Monta Vista split its two El Camino Division encounters last week, getting blanked 2-0 by first-place Milpitas and then nudging Wilcox 2-1.
Junior Alissa Paterson and sophomore Kalpana Gopalkrishran netted the Matadors’ two goals against Wilcox on assists from senior Janaye Sakkas and freshman Nina Biondi.
The Mats are now 2-4 in league play and 4-6 overall.
In the SCVAL’s De Anza Division, Homestead experienced a little bit of everything last week–a tie, a loss and a win.
The Mustangs opened the week by battling to a 2-2 stalemate with Los Gatos last Tuesday, then lost 4-0 to Palo Alto, the division’s co-leader along with Mountain View, two days later before concluding the week with their first victory of the SCVAL season, a 3-2 triumph over Los Altos last Saturday.
The Mustangs enter this week in fifth place in the division with a 1-2-3 record after going 4-2-0 in the pre-season.
In the West Bay Athletic League, the King’s Academy was pummeled 6-1 by unbeaten Sacred Heart Prep, but ended the week on a high note with a 5-1 win over Woodside Priory.
Boys soccer
In boys action, the showdown for first place in the SCVAL’s De Anza Division between unbeatens Palo Alto and Homestead went to Palo Alto in a 1-0 thriller.
The Vikes made a first-half goal stand up for the win, raising their league record to 5-0-0.
Homestead got back on the winning track last Saturday by blitzing Los Altos 4-1.
A three-goal second half outburst by the Mustangs shattered a 1-1 tie at intermission.
Jared Johnson scored one goal and assisted on another, and Eli Berman also found the back of the net for Homestead in the win.
The Mustangs ended the week with a 5-1 record in league and are now 9-2 overall this season.
Monta Vista, meanwhile, remained winless in De Anza Division play, slipping to 0-4-2 following a 1-1 tie with Santa Clara and a 3-2 loss to Mountain View. Sassan Hashemi accounted for both Matador goals in the setback against Mountain View, scoring one on a penalty kick and the other off of an assist from Anjan Amarnath.
In the SCVAL’s El Camino Division, Fremont battled first place Gunn (4-0-1) to a 1-1 stand-off last Thursday to remain solidly in second place at 3-0-2.
Fremont had opened the week with a 4-2 win over Cupertino (2-2-1).
Lynbrook notched its first win of the SCVAL campaign last Tuesday, slipping past Milpitas 2-1, but then lost to Wilcox 3-2 two days later to tumble to 1-3 in division play.
In the WBAL, Sacred Heart Prep took over sole possession of first place by dealing King’s Academy its first defeat of the league season 2-1 last Friday.
Junior Mike Derendinger scored the Knights’ lone goal in the loss off of an assist from senior Alex Bae.
Earlier in the week, King’s had set the stage for its showdown with Sacred Heart Prep by whitewashing Harker 2-0 on the road.
Goals by seniors Gabe Costelo, off of a corner kick, and Emilio Gallegos lifted the Knights to the win. Assisting on the scores were Rory McMahon and Mason Derendinger.
King’s Academy ended the week with 3-1 league ledger and an 8-1 overall mark.
