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2008 Prep Soccer
San Diego Section

Granite Hills alums keep on kickin’
SD United women’s soccer team off to 7-1-2 start

Posted June 29, 2009
McKenna Waitley reunited with her club soccer teammates and coach her senior year at Granite Hills High School. She made a return homecoming of sorts last weekend with the San Diego United women’s semi-pro team in its Women’s Premier Soccer League match against Ajax America at USD’s Torero Stadium.

Ajax won the match-up of the top two teams in the Pacific-South Division by a score of 2-1 but Waitley wore a smile during the team’s post-game meet and greet with fans.

“It was my first game of the season and Elio (United coach Elio Bello) told me it would be the two best teams playing and the game would be for first place,” said Waitley, who is entering her junior year at the University of Washington.

Waitley and her Huskies teammates had recently returned from a soccer tour of Brazil, thus delaying her debut with United. She entered the June 28 match about 20 minutes into the first half, assuming a forward position.

United managed to increase its offensive pressure late in the game and Waitley indirectly figured in United’s lone goal of the match. She was fouled in the penalty area, landing on the ground with her legs pointed toward the sky. Teammate Maddie Tantillo (Poiont Loma Nazarene) took the ensuing penalty kick but it was too little, too late to cut into a 2-0 Ajax lead.

“I like the pace of play and all the girls are really nice,” Waitley said of her teammates.

United, which dates its birth to the San Diego Gauchos/San Diego Sunwaves franchise in the W-League, is playing its second season in the WPSL. The team is based in East County but plays its home games at Torero Stadium, judged to be the best soccer field in the league.

Wailtey is joined on this year’s United team by four Granite Hills alums, making her return to the United States from South America a very pleasant one.

Defenders Ashli Sandoval (USC) and Taryn Francel (University of Wisconsin) are both playing their second seasons with United. Other former Eagles include Tayler Francel (Purdue), Taryn’s younger sister, and goalkeeper Tiffany Apple (Mesa College).

Sandoval drew a starting assignment against Ajax while Taryn Francel and Apple both entered the game as part of a rule that allows free substitution in the WPSL. Apple played the second half in relief of starting goalkeeper Michelle Dalton (University of Wisconsin).

Another East County prep product, Helix’s Taylor Wright, also is a member of the team. Along with Eastlake grad Melanie DeSalvo, Wright — the Grossmont South League Player of the Year as a senior — helped power United’s second-half offensive surge.

The loss was United’s first of the season after a 7-0-2 start. Ajax improved to 8-1-1.

Waitley started her high school career at El Cajon Christian, competing in soccer, volleyball and track, before transferring to Granite Hills her senior year.

“I really liked my senior year at Granite,” she said. “I reunited with kids I had gone to elementary school in Alpine. I wanted to play with Taryn and Ashli. I had played club (soccer) with them. It was cool to play with them again as teammates.”

Waitley, like many collegians, is using high-level amateur/semi-pro women’s leagues that play during the summer as a way to keep in shape for the upcoming college season. She suffered any injury in spring 2008 but came back to play last fall, though she now feels she “came back too fast.”

All seems to be well now, however.

Washington made its Brazilian tour as part of a team fundraiser. Waitley described the experience as “crazy.”

“I didn’t want to leave — they live and breathe soccer down there,” she said.

Waitley will now attempt to help United earn a top playoff seed and a berth in the WPSL Final Four championship tournament. The team has four games left in regular season play, including a final home match July 18 against the Claremont Stars.

“College soccer is more intense and a little faster but this level is up there,” Waitley said.

Corner kicks
Claire Dierdorf, 12, sand the national anthem prior to the United-Ajax match.

The United under-12 boys team put on a halftime scrimmage.

United’s next game is against the San Diego WFC Sealions (7-3-0) July 11 at Cathedral Catholic High School (7:30 p.m. kickoff). United closes out regular season play with a July 19 match against the SoCal Rush in Victor Valley.

United’s roster features a trio of USD players: Stephanie Ochs (Patrick Henry), Melissa Maruca and Natilie Vinti.

Heading into the game against Ajax, Lindsay Browne (Clemson) led United in team scoring with six goals and one assist, followed by Rebekah Patrick (Cal State Fullerton) with four goals and three assists, De Salvo (Cal State Dominguez Hills) with four goals and one assist and Tantillo with three goals.

San Diego natives who have gone out of state to play collegiate soccer have brought back with them several teammates to summer in Southern California. Joining Taryn Francel on the 2009 United roster are University of Wisconsin players Krista Liskevych, Whitney Owusu and Dalton. Cal State Dominquez Hills is represented by DeSalvo and Yvonne Vasquez. SDSU’s Kari Keivens also has remained in the area this summer to play women’s soccer.

United kicked off preseason training by winning the Southern California Beach Soccer championship.

Mater Dei gets its biggest kick of the season with regional banner

Posted March 19, 2009
Mater Dei Catholic High School boys soccer coach Jorge Zavala said he got an inkling that his team was preparing itself for one fantastic post-season run just as Mesa League play was concluding. The Crusaders finished 5-5 in league play against primarily Division I and Division II opponents but would be competing in Division IV, the San Diego Section’s smallest enrollment level for soccer playoffs.

Seven consecutive playoff victories later, the Crusaders have gone where no other Metro Conference team has gone before. They stand alone as the section’s first-ever Southern California regional champions.

“Outstanding!” the Mater Dei coach said. “It’s been a great experience.”

Zavala said he noted that about three or four weeks ago he thought his players “were in the zone.”

“They were on a mission — nothing less than CIF,” said Zavala, a 1990 graduate of Montgomery High School. “They’ve been in the zone for quite a while.”

Mater Dei, seeded second in the Division III regional playoffs, defeated top-seeded Los Angeles Salesian, 2-1, in the championship game played last Saturday at Warren High School in Downey. The Crusaders started off a bit slow, as has been their custom in the playoffs, but finished strong with second-half goals from Sergio Lopez and Cesar Trejo.

Lopez scored in the 45th minute and Trejo doubled Mater Dei’s advantage to 2-0 in the 58th minute, both on counter-attacks. Diego Alvarez drew the assist on Lopez’s go-ahead goal while Rafael Blanco was credited with the assist on the second goal.
L.A. Salesian (24-3-3) halved its deficit to 2-1 on a goal in the 69th minute on a goal by Geovanni Reynaga but the Crusaders defense held off any further damage.

Mater Dei goalkeeper Luis Alvarez made eight saves, including six in the second half.

The goal was Lopez’ third of the regional playoffs and his sixth overall in the team’s seven post-season games. He scored both goals in Mater Dei’s dramatic 2-1 come-from-behind victory against visiting Inglewood Animo Leadership March 12 in the regional semifinals. The Crusaders trailed, 1-0, on a goal by Animo’s Emilio Robles in the 22nd minute until Lopez struck on a header with five minutes remaining in the match to tie the score. He then produced the game-winner on a foot shot with less than two minutes to play in regulation.

On the game-tying goal, Mike Blas took a throw-in on the far sideline for Mater Dei. Jason Myers then passed the ball to Lopez, whose header settled into the back of the net beyond the reach of the Animo goalkeeper.

Alejandro Guido supplied the assist on the game-winning goal, with a perfect pass down the near sideline. Lopez received he ball, wove through the defense, and launched a shot just inside the far post — once again beyond the fingertips of the diving Animo ’keeper.

Zavala said the semifinal victory was the high point of his team’s season.

“When we won the semifinal game, that was the win that put the whole season into perspective at Mater Dei,” he said, adding that the team’s showing in the championship game would be “extra.”

Players cited team chemistry as a key component to the team’s late season success.

Zavala said the secret to this team’s success was its “relentless” mind-set.

“These guys don’t give up,” Zavala said. “That is the difference between this team and the teams of the last two years. This team is relentless to the very end.”

Lopez said that after Animo’s go-ahead goal, there was a brief stretch of time the team became disheartened but quickly regained its composure.

“We had a couple minutes when we lost our composure but we kept our mind-set to never give up,” he said.

The result was wave upon wave of Mater Dei offensive thrusts as the Inglewood team settled into a defensive mode in an effort to protect its 1-0 lead as precious time ticked off the scoreboard.
Animo nearly scored a second goal on a counter-attack to put the game away but the Crusaders proved persistent in their effort and it was rewarded with the equalizing goal. Mater Dei players celebrated like they had won the World Cup.

But quickly got back to work.

Whereas the Animo defense had been exceedingly tight before, the Crusaders appeared to catch the Inglewood visitors in a brief lull. The sideline celebration was even more robust on Lopez’s game-winner.

“They played a very physical defense,” Lopez said. “I knew we had to get one more. I didn’t want to go into extra time.”

The second goal was a thing of beauty. The team’s coaching staff could not have drawn it up better on a whiteboard. Guido trapped the ball along the sideline, maneuvered into open space and chipped a short pass to Lopez, who did the same before unleashing a shot.

“It was a great ball from Alejandro,” Lopez said. “He put the ball where I needed it and I put the ball where it needed to go.”

The Crusaders captured the section’s Division IV championship with a 2-0 victory over the Francis Parker Lancers March 7 at Granite Hills High School. However, only three divisions are included in the regional playoffs, meaning Mater Dei was classified as Division III.

The Crusaders kicked off the three-round regional playoffs with a 1-0 victory against visiting Los Angeles Annenberg on March 10, followed by the dramatic semifinal win two days later.
Guido scored the game-winner in the opening-round regional victory, assisted by Lopez.

The Crusaders went 4-0 in the section playoffs, defeating Calipatria (3-1), Santa Fe Christian (4-0) and Holtville (5-0) en route to the division final against Francis Parker.

Mater Dei was one of four section teams to advance to last Saturday’s regional championship, joining section Division III boys champion Cathedral Catholic, section Division III girls champion La Jolla and section Division IV runner-up Francis Parker.

Because there are only three enrollment divisions for soccer in the regional playoffs (as opposed to four in the San Diego Section), Mater Dei was classified as Division III for post-section play. Likewise, Cathedral Catholic, a Division III section school, was classified in Division II for regionals.

Only the Crusaders emerged with a regional title.

Cathedral Catholic (20-6-3) repeated as the Division II runner-up following its 4-2 loss to St. Francis (18-6-5) of La Canada.

In the girls finals, La Jolla (17-4-2) lost 1-0 to top-seeded Harvard-Westlake (19-5-3) from North Hollywood while Francis Parker (19-5-5) took a 1-0 lead on a first-half goal by Deprise Brazel but succumbed, 2-1, to two second-half goals by Lancaster Desert Christian (20-8-2).

The year of the Crusader
Mater Dei boys soccer, girls basketball teams win SoCal regional titles

Posted March 19, 2009
They have ventured into territory previously uncharted by teams in their respective sports in the Metro Conference. They are the Mater Dei Catholic boys soccer and girls basketball teams and they are both 2009 Southern California regional champions.

The Crusaders defeated Los Angeles Salesian, 2-1, on goals by Sergio Lopez and Cesar Trejo to capture the Southern California Division III boys soccer championship title last Saturday at Warren High School in Downey.

Mater Dei (16-6-1) becomes the first San Diego Section boys team to win a regional championship since the tournament’s inception last year. The Cathedral Catholic Dons and Poway Titans both finished second in their respective divisions last year and the Dons repeated as the Division II runner-up this season.

At present, there are no state divisional championship matches in soccer. Playoffs stop at the regional level.

This was the second year for regional playoffs. Previously, the playoffs had stopped at the section level.

The Crusaders girls basketball team, however, will be taking it to the next level after defeating the Bishop’s Knights, 54-51, to capture the Southern California regional championship last Saturday at Cal State Fullerton. Mater Dei will play Northern California regional champion Modesto Christian in the Division IV state championship game Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

It’s still not too late to get tickets to this history-making event.

The Crusaders fell, 71-63, to the Knights in the San Diego Section Division IV championship game March 7 at USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion but did so with one of their key players — six-foot-one senior Soulijah Evans — not at full speed because of illness. With a healthy Evans back in the lineup, Mater Dei breezed past its opening two regional opponents to gain a rematch against Bishop’s — the top-ranked team in the state — when it mattered most.

The Crusaders are 29-3 with one very big game remaining.

Modesto Christian is 27-7.

With a No. 2 state ranking (behind the Knights), Mater Dei has to be considered the favorite to win Saturday’s state title.
School pride is obviously at a fever pitch.

“It was a special weekend for Mater Dei Catholic — not just one win, but two tremendous wins,” Mater Dei principal George Milke said. “It has been a while since Marian/Mater Dei has participated at this level in the state playoffs. I believe in 1979 our girls volleyball team advanced to the state playoffs. So, for us to have two teams advance, we are extremely happy for the players and coaches and we applaud their hard work and dedication.”

Milke noted that the school’s 2003 football team was chosen state champions for Division III prior to the new playoff system.

The school’s Associated Student Body organization held a rally for both teams last Friday prior to their departure for the regional championship games and another rally was scheduled on campus Thursday — this time to honor the two teams for their regional championship titles and, in Milke’s words, to “give them a send-off they will always remember and cherish.”

“The crowds have been spectacular for the past weeks going into the championship and regionals, with many students, parents, faculty and alumni attending,” Milke said.

While the players and coaches are flying to Sacramento, Milke said the school is putting together buses for those Mater Dei students, parents and staff who want to attend.

“The boys soccer team and girls basketball team were and are very excited and honored to be representing Mater Dei Catholic, the Metro Conference and Chula Vista,” Milke said.

Crusaders are Division IV boys champions!
Mater Dei downs Francis Parker, 2-0, to claim CIF title
2009 Boys Soccer Regioinals
2009 Girls Soccer Regiionals

Posted March 12, 2009
The Mater Dei Crusaders finished fourth in this year’s Mesa League standings with a 5-5 league record, trailing Chula Vista (8-2), Otay Ranch (7-3) and Bonita Vista (6-4) — all schools with significantly larger student enrollments.

Chula Vista received the No. 2 seed in the San Diego Section Division I while Bonita Vista was admitted to the Division II playoff field along with Mesa League rival Hilltop (4-6 in league play).

The Crusaders, with a student enrollment approximately one-fourth that of Chula Vista and Otay Ranch, was seeded third in Division IV, the section’s smallest-enrollment playoff division.

The object of all this?

Good things often come in small packages.

Two rounds after Chula Vista and Hilltop both met elimination in the quarterfinal round, Mater Dei was the lone Mesa League team remaining in the playoffs, facing the fourth-seeded Francis Parker Lancers in last Saturday’s division championship game at Granite Hills High School.

The game started off a bit shaky for the South Bay school but the unheralded Crusaders steadily gained confidence — and the territorial edge — to record a smart, most satisfying 2-0 victory.

Mater Dei reigns as the 2009 San Diego Section Division IV boys soccer champions.

The division title was the third for head coach Jorge Zavala since joining the Crusaders, adding to titles in 2004 and 2005. With three CIF championships in six years, he has to be considered among the most successful boys soccer coaches in school history.

“The first two were really great but we’re not going to take this one for granted,” he said. “We’ve set the standard for other teams at the school to follow.”

Senior Sergio Crosthwaite scored in the 35th minute on goalmouth scramble while junior Sergio Lopez doubled his team’s lead on a head shot to the back post nine minutes into the second half.
Sophomore goalkeeper Luis Ayala was credited with 10 saves in recording the shutout victory.

On Crosthwaite’s go-ahead goal, the initial shot slammed off Francis Parker sophomore goalkeeper Griffin Barra and then bounded off to the side as several speeding players collided on the goal line. The ball rolled slowly over the line as the tangled mass of players could only watch.
Crosthwaite, once untangled, raised his arms and strode toward an on-rush of teammates, ready to greet him.

The second goal also resulted from a collision. This time, Lopez and Barra (eight saves) went up for a cross, with Barra thrown back from the mid-air collision and Lopez managing to get enough force on forward motion to redirect the ball onto a soft, high-arcing path toward the vacated back corner of the net.

Two-nil.

Lopez was soundly mobbed by teammates.

The strategy was then to hold the Lancers off the scoreboard for the remaining 31 minutes of the match — a task the Crusaders worked to perfection.
“This team’s success is that we were a team,” Zavala said. “We are a well-balanced team. We have guys who can move the ball forward but we also have players who can defend the ball and players who can keep the ball out of the net.”

Mater Dei found itself thwarting Francis Parker offensive thrusts for most of the first half. It was only a few minutes prior to Crosthwaite’s match-opening goal that the Crusaders began to take the offensive.

After the go-ahead goal, Mater Dei maintained its momentum throughout the remainder of the match.

“We were flat the first 30 minutes,” Zavala said. “We were a bit overconfident — we had an easy run to get here. I think we out-scored our three previous opponents something like 12-1. I’ll be honest, there was no way we were going to lose this.”

The Lancers began to push players forward as the time on the scoreboard ticked down in an attempt to tie the game. The end result was counter-attacks by the Crusaders, who were hoping to add to their lead.

In the final minute of play, Barra received a red card ejection for tackling Mater Dei’s Kevin Mercado at the halfway line after Mercado took a breakaway feed.
The play took everyone in the stadium by surprise.

Barra apologized for the flagrant foul after the game.

Overall, the Crusaders have won four division titles in the last eight years, starting in 2002 when Rene Ortiz coached the team. Mater Dei was known as Marian Catholic prior to the school’s relocation to eastern Chula Vista in September 2007.

By virtue of their division title, the Crusaders were selected to participate in this week’s Southern California regional playoffs. Mater Dei received the No. 2 seed in the Division III regional tournament, and defeated Annenberg from Los Angeles, 1-0, in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round on a goal by freshman Alejandro Guido 10 minutes into the second half of play. Lopez assisted on the play, threading a pass to Guido, who then maneuvered between two defenders to knock the ball to the left of the Panthers’ goalkeeper.

The regional semifinals are Thursday, with championship games scheduled Saturday at Warren High School in Downey. Mater Dei was scheduled to play Animo Leadership from Inglewood in Thursday’s semifinals.

Raiders place 2nd in D-III
Top-seeded Southwest (17-6-3) finished runner-up to second-seeded Cathedral Catholic (13-2-2) following a 4-1 loss in the boys Division III championship game at Valhalla High School. Joey Altamirano trimmed the Dons’ lead to 2-1 with a goal just before halftime but that was as close as the Raiders would get. Cathedral Catholic received two goals from Josh Cintas and one each from Jacob Holt and Nick Mancinelli.

SoCal Regionals
San Diego Section boys teams excelled in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round, with Torrey Pines (Division I), Cathedral Catholic (Division II) and Valhalla (Division II) all advancing to Thursday’s semifinals.

•Torrey Pines, the section Division I champion, edged Great Oak from Temecula, 4-3, in overtime on a goal by dual soccer-basketball standout Trevor Newquist, who finished the game with two goals.

•Valhalla, the section Division II champion, used a goal by Cory Schmidt to edge North Torrance 1-0.

•Cathedral Catholic, the section Division III champion, received goals from Nick Mancinelli and Jacob Holt in a 2-1 win over Mountain View from El Monte.
Three of the section’s girls four divisional champions, plus one runner-up team, advanced on the girls side of the bracket: Westview (Division I), La Jolla (Division II), Bishop’s (Division III) and Francis Parker (Division III).

•Westview, the section Division I champion, captured a 3-2 penalty kick thriller over Hesperia Sultana after the teams battled to a scoreless overtime draw.

•La Jolla, the section Division III champion, defeated San Jacinto, 1-0, on a goal by Callan Parra in the final minute of regulation play.

•Both of this year’s section Division IV finalists advanced to Thursday’s regional semifinals. Top-seeded (and Division IV champion) Bishop’s bombarded Acton Vasquez, 5-1, while Francis Parker slipped past Alverno from Sierra Madre, 2-1, on goals by Alex Hulsey and Marla Blanco.

CIF notepad
•Chula Vista (23-5-2) and Hilltop (12-12) saw their respective seasons end in the divisional quarterfinals on Feb. 27. The Mesa League champion Spartans, seeded second in the Division I field, took a 2-1 halftime lead on Escondido in a game played at Otay Ranch High School only to fall 4-2 on three unanswered second-half goals by the Cougars. Hilltop lost 2-1 at fourth-seeded Mt. Carmel in a Division II match-up.

Diego Politron and Jaime Pena scored first-half goals for Chula Vista. Hilltop received its goal from Anthony Quintero.

•Top-seeded Hilltop’s shocking 1-0 loss to visiting Pt. Loma in the girls Division II quarterfinals on Feb. 28 might not seem so shocking in the light of the spunky Pointers’ penalty kick victory over second-seeded Mt. Carmel in the division championship game.

Norsemen edge league rival Highlanders, 1-0, for CIF title
Posted March 8, 2009
Valhalla won its fourth division title during the 15-year reign of current head coach Brad Baughan as Lundon Attisha scored a second-half goal and goalkeeper Jonathan Orr made nine saves to preseve the 1-0 shutout win over Grossmont South League rival Helix in the San Diego Section boys Division II championship gaqme March 7 at Granite Hills High School.

The top-seeded Norsemen, who improved to 17-2-3 with the victory, received the No. 3 seed for this week's Southern California regional playoffs, traveling to North Torrance for Tuesday's quarterfinals.

Cathedral Catholic, which captured the section Division III title with a 4-1 win over Southwest, received the No. 1 seed in the Division II regionals.

Helix, seeded second in the section field, finished its otherwise noteworthy season 15-4-7, including one victory over Valhalla earlier this season

The Norsemen received a bye in the quarterfinals after a double forfeit was ruled in Mt. Miguel's apparent 3-1 first-round victory against visiting Bonita Vista on Feb. 24. However, both teams were disqualified from the playoffs for fighting. The Norsemen topped fourth-seeded Mt. Carmel, 2-1, in the semifinals, played March 3. Taylor Schmidt and Attisha scored single goals for Valhalla.

Helix captured a penalty kick thriller over Orange Glen in the quarterfinals and then edged Hoover, 2-1, in the semifinals on a pair of goals by Bobby Ornelas.

Ornelas scored the game-winning goal in the penalty kick shootout against Orange Glen (9-5-8) after the teams battled to a 1-1 overtime standoff. The Highlanders faced a 1-0 deficit against Orange Glen until Chase Glen redirected in a cross with 15 minutes remaining in regulation play to tie the match. Helix won the PK shootout in six rounds with a 4-3 edge on goals.

Both the Norsemen and Highlanders received byes in the first round of the playoffs. Valhalla went 1-0-1 against Helix in Grossmont South League play, winning 1-0 on Jan. 16 and playing to a 3-3 draw on Feb. 4.

East County served as the site for this year's section soccer finals, with the Division I and Division III boys and girls finalists playing at Valhalla High School and the boys and girls Division II and Division IV finalists playing at Granite Hills HiIgh School.

Raiders outlast Trojans in OT to play for Division III title

Posted March 5, 2009
The San Diego Section Division III boys soccer playoffs were glutted with three teams from the South Bay League. Two advanced to meet in Tuesday’s semifinals after one had eliminated another local foe in last Friday’s preceding quarterfinals.
The one team left standing is top-seeded Southwest after the Raiders outlasted unseeded Castle Park, 3-2, in Tuesday’s semifinals. Prior to matching up against Southwest, Castle Park had dealt fourth-seeded Montgomery a 2-0 loss in the quarterfinals.

Southwest (17-5-3) will play second-seeded Cathedral Catholic (12-2-2) in Saturday’s division championship game at 6:45 p.m. at Valhalla High School.

The game is a rematch of last year’s CIF title contest that went to the Dons.This season, the Raiders stand as the team to beat after defeating Cathedral Catholic in a holiday tournament game.

Joey Altamirano scored two goals in Tuesday’s game while Erick Jimenez had the OT game-winner.

The league champion Trojans (12-4-5) received goals from Javier Servin and Jose Figueroa in the loss.

The Raiders prepared for Tuesday’s clash against league rival Castle Park by defeating visiting Central Union, 3-0, in last Friday’s quarterfinals. Altamirano had one goal in that game.

Meanwhile across town, Alberto Lopez and Figueroa each scored one goal to lead the Trojans to their win over the Aztecs (13-7-7). Ramon Torres recorded the shutout victory for Castle Park, which jump-started its playoff drive with a 4-2 first-round win over visiting High Tech High on Feb. 24.

Alfredo Rodriguez had two goals in the win over High Tech while Servin and Eduardo Rodriguez each scored single goals.
Southwest and Montgomery both received first-round byes.

Cathedral Catholic edged third-seeded Coronado, 2-1, in Tuesday’s semifinals after downing parochial school rival St. Augustine, 1-0, in last Friday’s quarterfinals.

Crusaders continue perfect playoff run

Following Tuesday’s 5-0 victory over Holtville, the third-seeded Mater Dei Crusaders (12-6-1) will battle the fourth-seeded Francis Parker Lancers (11-2-8) for the Division IV boys soccer championship at Granite Hills High School. Kick-off is 4:30 p.m.

Mater De’ will be making its first trip to the division title game since they captured back-to-back CIF championships in 2004-05. Diego Alvarez, Jason Myers, Diego Galan, Cesar Trejo and Sergio Crosthwaite each scored single goals to lead the hosts, who previously topped visiting Santa Fe Christian, 4-0, in last Friday’s division quarterfinals.

Sergio Lopez had two goals to pace the Crusaders in last Friday’s victory against the Eagles (11-7) while Alejandro Guido and Crosthwaite each scored once.

Luis Ayala and Alonso Moreno shared Tuesday’s shutout; Moreno played in last Friday’s game.

“We have a good team this year but it took a lot of hard work for us to get there,” said Myers, a four-year player on the team.
Mater Dei, which finished 5-5 in Mesa League play, kicked off this year’s thus far perfect playoff run with a 3-1 home field victory against Calipatria (10-3-1) on Feb. 24.

“We’re finally starting to jell — this team has the best chemistry in the four years I’ve been here,” senior defender Nick Wright said.

Soccer playoffs kick off for South County teams

Posted Feb. 26, 2009
Nine area teams qualified for the boys soccer playoffs, led by Division III No. 1 seed Southwest (15-5-3), Division I No. 2 seed Chula Vista (23-4-2), Division IV No. 3 seed Mater Dei (9-6-1) and Division III No. 4 seed Montgomery (13-6-7).

Chula Vista, Montgomery and Southwest all received byes to Friday’s quarterfinals. The Mesa League champion Spartans will play Escondido (12-4-2) in a 6 p.m. match-up at Otay Ranch High School while the Raiders will host Central Union (15-7-4) in another 6 p.m. start.

The Spartans finished regular season play ranked seventh in the weekly coaches’ poll, while the Raiders were ranked 10th and the Aztecs were ranked 14th.

Castle Park (11-2-5) was seeded below both fellow league members Southwest and Montgomery but started off strong in its post-season odyssey.

The Trojans defeated High Tech, 4-2, in Tuesday’s opening round to advance to play at Montgomery in Friday's quarterfinals. Alfredo Rodriguez paced Castle Park with two goals while Javier Servin and Eduardo Rodriguez each scored one goal.
Defending Division II champion Sweetwater (10-10-3) did qualify for the playoffs but received the No. 10 seed and a road game at Orange Glen (9-4-8) in Tuesday’s first round. The Red Devils will not get the chance to defend their title after being shut out 2-0 by the Patriots (9-4-8).

Overall, four teams from the South Bay League advanced to the playoffs.

Four teams qualified for post-season play from the Mesa League: Chula Vista, Bonita Vista, Hilltop and Mater Dei.
The Barons (10-10-4) were sent to play at Mt. Miguel (9-11-2) in Tuesday’s opening round of the Division II playoffs, losing 3-1, while Hilltop (12-11) drew a road game at Pt. Loma (11-8-2), winning 2-1 in double overtime.

Mater Dei (10-6-1) hosted Calipatria (10-3-1) in Tuesday’s Division IV playoff opener, scoring a 3-1 triumph to earn a quarterfinal date against Santa Fe Christian (11-6) on Friday.

Midfielder Anthony Quintero scored Hilltop's opening goal in the 18th minute while the game winner came in the waning seconds of the second overtime period off a corner kick by Josue Baltezar that senior forward Gabe Uriarte headed in the ball past the diving Pt. Loma goalkeeper. Lancer goalkeeper Jesse Lambert had nine saves.

Hilltop plays at fourth-seeded Mt. Carmel (9-5-7) in Friday's quarterfinals.

In another Division IV first round game, Chula Vista High Tech (6-5) made its CIF playoff debut with a 2-0 loss to top-seeded Bishop's (11-2-2).

Girls soccer
Hilltop received the No. 1 seed in the Division II field with a 14-2-2 overall record and will host Pt. Loma (10-4-6) in Saturday's quarterfinals.

Eastlake (2-1 win at Rancho Bernardo), Bonita Vista (2-0 loss at University City) and Mater Dei (2-0 win at La Jolla Country Day) all received road assignments in Wednesday’s opening round.

Hilltop bested host Bonita Vista, 3-1, on Feb. 19 to wrap up this year’s Mesa League title. The Lancers, who finished 9-1 in league play, received goals from Elizabeth Hines, Marisa Espino and Memery Dewberry. It is believed this is the first season in which Hilltop has recorded two victories in the same season against Bonita Vista — the longtime Metro Conference powerhouse.

Southwest (17-6-1) claimed its first league title in 22 years by finishing 10-1-1 in South Bay League play, edged Central Union, 1-0, in Wednesday’s opening round of the Division III playoffs while league runner-up Sweetwater (17-4-2) fell 4-1 at West Hills in a Division II game.

Commentary
You can look at it two ways in terms of the seeding for this year’s San Diego Section soccer and basketball playoffs. The selection committees were generally kind to Metro Conference teams in terms of the number of teams admitted to postseason play. But as far as who and where they played, that was another matter.

Case in point. The Sweetwater girls soccer team enjoyed its best season in recent memory, finishing with a prodigious 17-3-2 overall record. The Red Devils received a berth in the Division II playoffs but were assigned a road game Wednesday at West Hills (11-6-4).

Respect? It appears the National City team still is in the process of earning it.

Head coach Rob Bonilla was afraid his team would not even make the cut despite posting a 9-1-2 league record. The Devils earned the No. 12 seed out of the 12 playoff entrants.

“By far this is the best Sweetwater team,” Bonilla said. “We had a great season except for one bad week when we lost to Mar Vista and tied Southwest.”

Mar Vista, which jumbled the South Bay League standings a bit this season, was not selected to participate in this year’s section playoffs.

Under the present playoff picture, league champions are guaranteed a berth in the playoffs and receive a home game in the opening round of competition whenever possible (when league champions are matched against one another, the league champion with the better record will host).

Will soccer gods be kind to defending CIF champion Red Devils?
Sweetwater idle after 10-9-3 season finish; playoff spot up in air

Posted Feb. 19, 2009
There is ever so slight a possibility that the Sweetwater Red Devils could go from winning last year’s San Diego Section Division II boys soccer championship title to not even gaining entry into this year’s tournament.

With an apparent runner-up finish to Castle Park in this year’s South Bay League standings, the Red Devils will be required to qualify for this year’s divisional playoffs as an at-large team. With a 10-9-3 overall record, Sweetwater looks to be on the edge.
On the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence yet presented that the Red Devils will not be included in this year’s playoff field.

Head coach Raul Galindo, in fact, feels his team will perform well in post-season competition if Sweetwater does gain admission to the 12-team single-elimination bracket.

“I’m hoping somehow we make it,” Galindo said. “I don’t think Division II is that strong this year. Division III is stronger this year. Division I is very strong, of course.”

“Strong” might be a word at the top of the Red Devils’ soccer vocabulary right now. Sweetwater started off the season with a very poor 2-6 record but has been nearly unbeatable the second half of the season at 8-3-3.

Following SuHi’s 4-2 win against visiting Otay Ranch on Feb. 12, the Devils finished 7-3-2 in South Bay League play. Two losses were to Castle Park and another to Mar Vista.

The match-up against the Eagles was a must-win scenario for Sweetwater, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead but was matched by the visitors. The Devils scored two late goals — one in the 73rd minute and another in the final minute of play — to escape with the victory.

Kevin Vargas scored three goals to lead the hosts. Martin Pino earned the distinction of scoring his varsity first goal in his first varsity game when he scored with about 30 seconds remaining in the contest on the Devils’ bumpy field.

“The guys came back and showed they had heart, Galindo said of his side’s final push to victory against Olympian. “They (the Eagles) played a tough game.”

A 2-0 loss to Castle Park on Feb. 10 kept Sweetwater in second place. Galindo felt his team played well in the game but just couldn’t capitalize on its opportunities.

Though the Devils are unranked, they have recorded success against several highly regarded teams, including a win and a tie against 10th-ranked Southwest in league play as well as the Montgomery Aztecs (included among the section’s top 20-ranked teams).

Sweetwater finished a dream season last year with a final record of 18-7-1, just missing an invitation to the regional state playoffs.
The 2008-09 edition of the Devils has had to deal with a significant loss of players from last year’s CIF championship team to graduation, with leadership roles now being passed on to younger players.

Galindo called his team “right on course” this season. “It’s very difficult to match what you did the previous year without a nucleus of those players. But what we have here is a program. We go forward.”

Galindo added: “We have a very young team. We just lack the firepower we had last year. That’s been hurting us all year.”

Galindo feels his team is peaking at the right time of the season. It remains a waiting game until Saturday’s seeding meeting.
The boys divisional playoffs kick off Feb. 24.

“If we make it, I think we have as much a chance as anyone else,” the SuHi coach said. “We have a very, very good chance of defending our title.”

Corner kicks
The Mesa League boys championship race was set to conclude Thursday with seventh-ranked Chula Vista attempting to fend off all challengers. The Spartans entered the week sporting a prodigious 22-3-2 record but fell, 1-0, to Otay Ranch on Tuesday.

The Mustangs, who claimed the win over the lofty Spartans on a goal by Carlo Romero at the 10-minute mark, entered Thursday’s league finale against Mater Dei 6-3 in league play.
Hilltop (11-10 overall) battled Otay Ranch to a 1-0 victory on Feb. 12 on a goal by Miguel Bucio after the Mustangs had claimed a 4-3 first-round victory. The Lancers improved to 5-3 in league after the win over Otay Ranch.

The Mesa League girls championship race took yet another turn with Tuesday’s scoreless tie between Eastlake and Bonita Vista and Hilltop’s 4-0 victory over Mater Dei. Hilltop and Eastlake had entered the game tied atop the standings.

Bianca Marrujo, Nicole Wolfe, Marisa Espino and Casey Dow each scored single goals in the Lancers’ victory as Hilltop improved to 9-1 in league play.
The Lancers (13-2-2 overall) were set to close out league play at Bonita Vista on Thursday, with the league title still in the balance.

Eastlake stops Hilltop, moves into first-place tie

Posted Feb. 10, 2009
Eastlake’s Nyesha Simmons has been on a goal-scoring tear the last two weeks and the Titans are the better for it by earning a share of the Mesa League lead. Simmons scored the game-winning goal in Eastlake’s 2-1 victory over the previously undefeated Hilltop Lancers on Feb. 5 and added a goal in the Titans’ 4-1 win over Otay Ranch on Tuesday to give her five goals in her last six games.

Hilltop Lancers are best-kept secret in the county

By Scott Hopkins
Posted Feb. 5, 2009

With a change in leagues and a midseason change in head coaches, people might feel sympathetic toward Hilltop High’s girls soccer team.
Players and coach, however, would offer a polite “no thanks” to such offers after the Lancers whipped Bonita Vista by a 3-1 score Tuesday afternoon to remain unbeaten and atop the Mesa League standings.

In fact, the Lancers may be on the verge of establishing a nice little dynasty of their own as they field 12 underclassmen players on a 21-player roster.
Underscoring this was that the three Lancer goals were scored by a freshman and two sophomores.

Ninth grader Memery Dewberry joined 10th graders Nicole Wolfe and Jesica Carrillo on the scoring sheet as host Hilltop broke a 1-1 halftime deadlock by dominating play in the second half.

Hilltop has been re-assigned to the larger-school Mesa League after enrollment outgrew its former berth in the smaller-schools South Bay League.

Lancer physical education teacher Christy Sherman inherited the head coaching position after former leader Rene Ortiz, once a pro player with the San Diego Sockers, accepted a professional head coaching post in Monterrey, Mexico. Sherman had served as Ortiz’s assistant for the past three seasons.

And Sherman knows she has something special at Hilltop.

“We have great speed up front,” Sherman said, “and our outside midfielders serve up great balls into the middle.”

This was evident as the Lancers (5-0 in league, 10-1-2 overall) repeatedly thwarted attempts by the Barons to clear their defensive zone.

“Another strength for us is our very strong center midfielders, Chanel Aguiar (a senior) and Wolfe,” Sherman noted. “These girls control the ball and disrupt opponents well,” she added.

Another senior also has captured Sherman’s admiration.

“Ylse Serna is our sweeper,” Sherman said, “and she lets nothing get by her. She is also very confident and can either dribble out or play out (of trouble).”
Hilltop and Bonita Vista players aggressively battled, resulting in several jarring collisions during the match.

The Lancers, however, seemed to react more quickly to situational changes and opportunities.

For her part, Sherman only occasionally had to shout instructions to her squad. Much of the time, she was able to offer encouragement and praise as her capable charges clearly understood their roles and played as a unit.

In their first tour of the Mesa League this season, the Lancers walked over every opponent with victories against Eastlake (3-0), Chula Vista (6-0), Otay Ranch (3-0) and Mater Dei (2-1).

But don’t expect other Mesa League girls soccer teams to roll out the welcome mat for the Lancers any time soon.

Marquee soccer battle ends in scoreless deadlock

Posted Jan. 15, 2009
The Sweetwater Red Devils captured last year’s San Diego Section Division II boys soccer championship while the Southwest Raiders placed runner-up in the Division III finals. The teams met head-to-head —- and shin-to-shin —Tuesday in a high profile South Bay League match. But when the final whistle blew, neither team had dented the other’s net, with the Red Devils and Raiders finishing in a scoreless stalemate.

Southwest was coming off a championship game victory in the annual San Diego Holiday Invitational, boasting a 7-2-4 overall record.

The Raiders and Red Devils will have to wait for a second-round meeting in league play to determine a winner in the two-game rivalry series.

Southwest is ranked fourth among section teams in the latest coaches poll, with Chula Vista ranked seventh. Montgomery also received votes in the weekly poll.

Top-ranked teams include La Costa Canyon (first), Poway (second), Torrey Pines (third), Westview (fifth), St. Augustine (sixth), Cathedral Catholic (eighth), Rancho Buena Vista (ninth) and Helix (10th).

The Raiders are top-ranked among Division III teams, followed by St. Augustine and Cathedral Catholic. Montgomery and Mission Bay round out the top five-ranked Division III teams.

Chula Vista defeated Montgomery, 1-0, for this season’s Metro Conference tournament title.


Girls soccer
Sweetwater has kicked off South Bay League play with a 2-0-1 record, including a 6-0 victory at Montgomery on Jan. 6, a 1-1 draw against visiting Mar Vista on Jan. 8 and Tuesday’s 4-0 win at Southwest. The Red Devils are 10-2-1 overall.

Southwest follows Sweetwater in the league standings with a 2-1-0 record. The Raiders are 8-4-0 overall.

Tami Rojas scored two goals in Tuesday’s win over Southwest while Zahyra Valdovinos and Melissa Arauz each scored one goal and Jenny Jimenez contributed two assists.

Valdovinos had the lone goal for SuHi in its tie game against Mar Vista, assisted by Jimenez. Sandy Garcia scored for the Mariners, assisted by Genessis Michel.
Joanna Carrillo and Rojas each scored two goals in the game against Montgomery while Jimenez and Valdovinos each scored single goals.

Karina Orozco was credited with one save in the shutout victory over Southwest and made two saves in the shutout win over Montgomery.

Jimenez, Valdovinos and Rojas all have scored seven goals thus far this season to lead Sweetwater in team scoring.

Winter Break Prep SoccerReport
Raiders, Devils win holiday cups

Posted Jan. 8, 2009
Joey Altamirano stood out on the field in last season’s San Diego Section Division III champion game even though his Southwest Raiders had their season end with a 3-1 loss to top-seeded Cathedral Catholic.

And Altamirano did indeed stand out on the field. So much so that he earned prestigious honors as a member of Parade magazine’s All-American soccer team.

Altamirano, the Raiders and the Dons were reunited in the championship game of the 2008 San Diego Holiday Invitational Dec. 24 at San Diego High School and it was a different story this season as Southwest came away with a 3-2 victory. Altamirano had two goals in the game.

Cathedral Catholic coach Bryan Wood called Altamirano “the best player in the county” after he impressed the Dons with his skills and scoring ability. Both of the Southwest standout’s goals came in the second half. On the first, scored in the 62nd minute to snap a 1-1 standoff, Altamirano wove through four defenders. His second goal came in the 77th minute to increase the Raiders’ lead to 3-1. He dazzled his way through three defenders on that one.

Southwest improved to 7-2-4 with the tournament championship victory while the Dons saw their early season record dip to 4-2.

The two goals gave Altamirano 10 on the season.

Cathedral Catholic, which finished runner-up in last season’s regional championships, lost 12 seniors off last year’s section division championship team. The Dons’ scored in the 59th minute and added a late tally off another set piece in the 78th minute. Sophomore defender Noland Griswold and Kian Mogharabi both scored on headers.

The Raiders defeated Crawford, 3-1, in the semifinals while Cathedral Catholic edged Patrick Henry, 1-0, in a penalty kick tie-breaker.

In the previous round, both semifinalists were forced to win close match-ups. Southwest slipped past Hoover, 5-4, in two overtime periods while the Dons outlasted Poway once again in PKs.

Altamirano had two goals in the victory over Hoover.


Red Devils claim Lady Vaquero title
Sweetwater continued to impress in the early part of the season by capturing the Silver Division of the 2008 Lady Vaquero Invitational Dec. 23. The Red Devils defeated Mater Dei, 2-1, in the division championship game on goals by Tamy Rojas and Zahyra Valdovinos.

Sweetwater blanked Santana, 3-0, in the semifinals as Jenny Jimenez scored two goals and Valdovinos scored once.

The Red Devils out-scored their opponents 12-2 in the tournament. Junior sweeper Joanna Carrillo anchored the Sweetwater defense.

Westview captured the Classic Division title with a 2-1 victory over Granite Hills. In the semifinals, Westview eliminated Vista by a 2-0 shutout while Granite Hills powered past Helix 3-1.

Barons tourney kind to area teams
Posted Dec. 18, 2008
Girls soccer in the Metro Conference appears to be alive and well after four area teams qualified for the playoffs in the 29th annual Barons tournament that wrapped up with finals last Saturday at various sites in eastern Chula Vista.

The Southwest Raiders advanced all the way to the Classic Division championship match, dropping a 1-0 decision to Oceanside.

Sweetwater advanced to the Limited Division semifinals, falling by a 1-0 score to Mission Bay in four overtimes, while Hilltop advanced to the Unlimited Division semifinals, losing 2-1 to Francis Parker.

Mar Vista joined Southwest in the Classic Division semifinals, falling by a 2-0 score to Oceanside.

Mission Bay, Francis Parker and Oceanside all went on to win division championships in the largest high school girls soccer tournament in the state.

Southwest shut out High Tech, 3-0, to earn a finals date with the Pirates. Anais Beltran had two goals in the match while Olympia Tirado scored one goal. Beltran and Tirado joined teammate Francine Celis on the division’s all-tournament team.

The Raiders completed pool play with victories against Mt. Miguel (3-0) on Dec. 8, Oceanside (3-1) on Dec. 11 and Kearny (10-1) on Dec. 12. Beltran had three goals in the latter game.

Sweetwater, which won its first two pool games for a 3-0 season start, finished runner-up in its group following a 2-1 loss to Ramona but still qualified for the playoffs. The Red Devils and the Bucs played one of the more noteworthy games in this year’s tournament, with the result decided in four overtimes.

“Both teams played well, played hard, and had major chances in regulation, but could not capitalize,” SuHi coach Roberto Bonilla said.

Hilltop had two players named to the Unlimited Division all-tournament team: Nicole Wolfe and Samantha Martinez.

Mar Vista also earned two all-tourney selections.

Torrey Pines repeated as the Premier Division champion with a 3-1 win over North County rival Rancho Bernardo. Alexandra Bailey scored two goals in the match for the defending San Diego Section Division I champions.
Division Most Valuable Players included Mission Bay’s Micaela Cervantes (Limited), Francis Parker’s Olivia Ching (Unlimited) and Torrey Pines’ Caitlin Allen (Premier).
Bonita Vista’s Linsey McFarland earned selection to the Premier Division all-tournament team.

Could Red Devil kickers be next to get that championship feeling?

Posted Dec. 3, 2008
After the Sweetwater cross country team swept to South Bay League titles during the just-completed fall sports season, one has to wonder if the Red Devils’ boys and girls soccer teams could be headed for similar honors in the winter sports season.

The SuHi boys team captured last season’s San Diego Section Division II championship and head coach Raul Galindo expects the 2008-09 edition of the Red Devils to once again be competitive.
Devils girls coach Roberto Bonilla believes his team will be in the championship race. “Anything less than league would be a disappointment,” Bonilla said following Sweetwater’s 3-1 non-league victory against visiting Chula Vista Monday night.

Senior midfielder Jenny Jimenez scored two goals and junior midfielder Brenda Coronel scored once as the Devils built a 3-0 halftime lead. Senior goalkeeper Karina Orozco finished the game with five saves.

“Our No. 1 goal is to win league,” said Bonilla, whose team is braced by nine returners. “We have some experience on our roster and some new players who we think will fit in and contribute.”

Jimenez is a fourth-year player. Besides Jimenez and Coronel, Bonilla is also counting on junior midfielder Zahyra Valdovinos to help lead the team. Jimenez and senior defender Salma Hernandez serve as team captains.

Sweetwater boys team was scheduled to kick start its season with a game Thursday at West Hills, followed by the inaugural Metro Conference tournament pitting teams from the Mesa League against teams from the South Bay League. Teams are guaranteed five tourney games.

The Devils return four starters from last season’s CIF championship team: Alfonso Osuna, Jose Coronel, Saul Ruiz and Ervin Martinez. “Our No. 1 goal is to be competitive,” Galindo said.”Our main objective is always to try to make the playoffs. I think we’ll start slowly but by getting together and working hard, I think we can be as successful as in past seasons.”

Otay Ranch’s girls team kicked off the 2008-09 season in style on Monday with a 3-0 non-league victory against Olympian. Natalie O’Donnell scored two goals, Jessica Bobadilla scored one goal and Bianka Saenz had one assist.

The Mustangs, who feature 10 sophomores in their starting line-up, were scheduled to start play in the annual Barons tournament with a game Wednesday against Mission Hills. Tourney playoffs are scheduled Dec. 13 at Bonita Vista, Hilltop, Olympian and Otay Ranch high schools.

Otay Ranch coach Mike Diaz called his side “a very young team with tremendous potential.”

“We finished in third place in league (Mesa League) last year with more than half the team ninth graders — that says a lot to the chemistry and work ethic the girls possessed,” Diaz said. “With 10 sophomores, we are a little older and a little more experienced this year. We are still the youngest team in the league and probably in all of Division I, but have the ability to compete with the top teams. The girls are excited and ready for this upcoming year. We will take each game as it comes and try to improve every time we step on the field. As long as the girls are able to have fun and enjoy every minute they are playing, we should have a good showing this year.”