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Above: Chris Zambataro goes up for a header in the box
Regular
season ends with loss @ SF 2/5
Valley Christian 0, St. Francis 2
The WCAL Playoffs
began on Saturday with the Valley Christian Warriors playing the St.
Francis Lancers on the road. After the splitting the season series (SF
over VC 1-0, and VC over SF 3-0) this game was the one that mattered.
After a tough loss at
Riordan to end the league season, the Warriors slipped from 3rd place
(if they had won) to 5th place. With a chance to win the tournament and
gain an automatic qualifier birth to the CCS playoffs, this was a must
win game.
The game got off to a
rough start for VC with St. Francis putting back a rebound in the 11th
minute of the game. 1-0 St. Francis.
Just five minutes
later the St. Francis outside half made a nice run down the right side
and whipped in a ball that was redirected past a diving
Ben Hansen and into the net. 2-0.
Besides the two goals
conceded, many agree that the first half was the best half of soccer
that the Warriors played all year. On several occasions VC strung
together 10 or more passes including 1-2's, through balls, and nutmegs.
St. Francis narrowly
avoided having their lead cut in half when Ryan
Corry, who was nursing an injured foot, nearly buried a header off
of Andrew Smith's 50 yard free kick. The
goalie made a great save, and the rebound was almost put back by Corry.
Smith, playing sweeper
for the first time all season impressed with his organization, and
tenacity.
"We had no idea that
Smithy could play that position like that. All three coaches were blown
away...we wish we had known this sooner. He's a very versatile
player" coach John Basanese
said after the game.
The first half came to
a close with many scoring opportunities narrowly missed including two
shots from Austin Keeling that were
deflected just wide.
Though the Warriors
would threaten repeatedly in the second half, they could not get on the
score sheet. On two separate occasions, a VC player was taken down
in the Lancer box and neither was called.
Jeff Coggan, the
WCAL's leading goal
scorer this season did well to provide chance after chance for VC, but
it was not to be today.
"Jeff is easily one of
the best players I've seen live this season in the CCS" said Dylan
Hernandez of the San Jose Mercury News after the game.
"He made some great
runs with the ball and repeatedly beat 3 or 4 guys at a time." Added
Hernandez.
Above: Coggan works on his defender in 0-2 loss.
The game came to a
close with the Warriors on the losing end of a 2-0 game. The loss means
the elimination of Valley Christian from the WCAL tournament.
Coach
Donny Fugate had this to say
afterwards. "This was a tough one. We've had a tough time catching
breaks this season and this was more of the same. The kids worked
hard, but we need to be better to succeed in CCS. We can get
there, and we intend to go for it once we're there."
Game notes:
The preliminary
calculations have the Warriors with 47.5 points for the CCS meeting this
Saturday. While the score is likely enough to get them to CCS, it
probably also means road games throughout. Check the website
Saturday afternoon to learn whether VC will play in the CCS playoffs for
the 3rd straight year, and who they'll play.
Photos from the game are here.
vcsoccer.com man of the match: Andrew Smith
| Valley Christian |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| St. Francis |
2 |
0 |
2 |
Scoring summary:
VC Starting Lineup: Hansen, Corry, Ruiz, McElhatton,
Bales, Zambataro, Stryker, Coggan, Keeling, Osuna, Smith
Weather: Overcast 58, nice |
