Varsity Boys Soccer Championship Picture Gallery

Games of which legends are made . . . .
Photos from Griffins' 2-1 overtime win against Cambridge

ALL-OUT ACTION, ALL THE TIME -- Knight Junior Sanchez and Griffin race for the ball in a typical scene from the championship game.

(Above) I´LL TAKE THAT -- Griffin tries to tackle Knight Martin Pacor

(Right) DOES SOMEONE UP THERE LIKE ME? -- Griffin Jan Ivo Sochtig and Knight Nicholas Gamboa look for either divine inspiration, or possibly the ball.

FEELINGS RAN SO HIGH during the game that some players actually lost their heads, such as the unidentified Cambridge player shown here.

DANCING IN THE DARK -- Another shot of Gamboa and Sochtig. They fought each other for the ball like this all night long. It was brutal

Varsity Soccer Championships

THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS -- International boys varsity dons their medals.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School

Boys Championship
Griffins edge Knights in overtime, 2-1
This report was written by Andre Candia of International School and David Boldt, administrator of the SCISL weblog.
The International and Cambridge boys varsity soccer teams put on a show of such awesome energy and excitement that few in the large crowd dared even to move out of their seats as it went into “sudden death” overtime. tied 1-1.
Death would indeed be sudden. Just a few minutes into the scheduled 20-minute overtime Griffin Eduardo Bedoya raced in from the right and launched a long, looping shot into the left-hand side of the goal.
So many scoring opportunities had been thwarted by intrepid defensive play, or by penalty calls, or had turned out to be optical illusions, that there was a brief moment of suspended belief as the crowd wondered silently if this could really be the end of the match, which by then had encompassed over 90 minutes of intense, non-stop action Tuesday night at the Co-operative field.
Then, reality having become apparent, the International players and fans exploded in jubilation, while a pall of gloom fell over the Cambridge entourage, with the exhausted players walking about, heads downcast, giving each other consoling hugs and back slaps, and looking wistfully at the International team, by then bouncing up and down in unison and screaming in a gigantic group hug, after which they would take a “victory lap” around the field in a state of high glee.
The victory had many meanings. For Cambridge it ended the dream of going from last place to first place in the playoffs, and thus defending the championship it had won last year against International.
For International it was the end – at last – of three years of frustration. This was their third appearance in the championship game – and their first victory. Last year they had lost by one goal to Cambridge in the final. The year before the game had been a scoreless tie with Co-operative that was decided in Co-operative’s favor by a penalty shootout.
For Griffin coach Andrew Dolson, who will shortly be returning to the United States, it was a satisfying going-away present from his team, though the game had its dark moments for Dolson. Late in the second half he was issued a red card and sent off the field for kicking the ball during a heated dispute with the referee over an out-of-bounds call. (Tempers were running that high.)
Dolson, a former major league baseball pitcher, will be able to pair his medal from Tuesday’s championship with the gold won by his boys junior varsity team in the JV championship last week.
For the league it was a fitting finale for a set of championship and consolation games that often had spectators asking themselves: Can it get any more exciting than this? After which, sure enough, it got more exciting.
Both varsity volleyball championships went three sets and had to go beyond the normal ending of 15 points in the third set to determine a winner.
The final day of soccer featured four one-goal victories, two of which had to be decided in overtime.
More seriously, the games reflected the high and rising quality of play within the league, along with (probably not co-incidentally) a rising intensity of competition. All four schools were represented by at least one team in the four championship games.
The match began with both teams attacking and defending really well. The first goal was scored for Cambridge by Christopher Cocciani on a corner kick. Cocciani, a fullback, had slunk surreptitiously upfield from his defensive position through the gloom of night, and loitered on the penalty area line with such studied casualness that the Griffins may have mistaken him for an innocent bystander. But as the kick came in he knifed forward, unguarded, timing perfectly a high velocity header that went into the goal untouched.
The fact that Cocciani had been a student at International added a piquancy to his scoring what would be Cambridge’s lone goal – bitter for the Griffin adherents and sweet for Cambridge fans.
The rest of the half – indeed the rest of the game in normal time, except for one brief shining moment – consisted of a series of high-speed attacks and counterattacks going up and down the field with astonishing swiftness. There were innumerable shots on goal by both teams that shared one common characteristic: They didn’t go in.
With one exception. In the opening minutes of the second half Daniel Baldivieso unleashed a high velocity shot that Knight goalie seemed to gather into his stomach with both hands. Time then seemed to freeze for a nanosecond during which the ball somehow recovered its inertial energy, popped out of Grote’s grasp, and rolled on into the goal.
Grote was clearly shaken – and the Griffins further energized – by the episode. The Knight goalie mis-handled the next shot, which took a bad hop right in front of him, bounced upward off his chest into the air. Disaster for the Knights was avoided only when Cambridge’s ever-reliable sweeper, Jorge Yuan, cleared the ball out of the goal area.
Moments later Grote juggled another shot, but recovered in time. After that he seemed to get his confidence back, and returned to the jaunty, more assured style of play that is his custom.
It might be fun, though pointless, to try to analyze who came closest to scoring in the remainder of the game. Cambridge’s Junior Sanchez banged a free kick off the left-hand goal post at one point, sending the International contingent’s hearts into their mouths.
However, the Griffins actually put the ball in the goal with only seconds remaining. The play was called back because of a handball call.
Earlier International had another goal called back for an offside violation. And one could catalogue a fairly long list of oth near misses by both teams. The play lacked a coherent theme. Neither team dominated. Instead there was a kaleidoscopic series of coruscating episodes at alternate ends of the field.
It seemed like they might go on all night, until Bedoya’s shot put an end to it all. It was an awesome goal that no one was expecting – except maybe Bedoya. It represented the second time this year he had scored the winning goal against Cambridge.
The outstanding players of the match for the Griffins were: Mauricio Nostas, Jesus Rodriguez, Nicolas Bedoya, Jon Paz, Eduardo Bedoya, and Daniel Baldivieso.
But Cambridge had its share of distinguished players including Martin Pacor, Andres Cirigliano, Christopher Cocciani and Nicolas Gamboa.
The line-up for the champion Griffins was Eduardo Bedoya, Tommy Marcos, Rafeal Ribeiro, Jon Paz, Jose Landivar, Juan Javier Estenssoro, Baldivieso, Alex Roempler, Nicolas Bedoya, Jan Ivo Sochtig, Jorge Harriague, Daniel Roempler, Andres Estenssoro, Mauricio Nostas, Rodriguez.
For Cambridge: Cocciani, Manfred Grote, Andres Cirigliano, Zhau Fua Zhou Zeng, Nicolas Gamboa, Matias Martinez, Oscar Mariscal, Yeshen Li Tan, Junior Sanchez, Sergio Palazuelos, Jorge Yuan, Juan Manuel Salas, Martin Pacor, Kevin Pulis, Jhonny Sejas.

SOLID GOLD SMILES -- Jaguar girls varsity after winning championship.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School
Girls Championship
Jaguars gain 1-0 victory over Eagles
From coaches' reports
There was an air of almost surreal casualness around what would turn out to be a crucial moment during the first half of the varsity girls soccer championship game Tuesday at Co-operative.
Jaguar striker Tania Landivar and Eagle goalie Whitey Belovicz were standing around next to one of the goalposts, close to one another. They could have been simply two girls chatting about the weather, or boys, or where they were going on their next vacations.
To be sure, there was a soccer ball bouncing around, but without any sign of potential malice. The ball somehow landed on Landivar's head. She gave a short, upward jerk that bounced the ball into the air over Belovicz' head -- but not that high. It seemed at first that goalie, up on tippy-toes (the only reaction possible at such close quarters), would catch it. But she could not. The ball landed in the goal.
And that was it. The championship was decided on that one rather ordinary moment. The teams would play on, of course, and there would be opportunities on both sides that could be catalogued, but ultimately didn't matter.
One of them may be worth recalling in detail. Roxy Jien, the Eagles super-reliable forward threaded her way past two Jaguar defenders early in the second half and found herself in a one-one with Jaguar goalie Nataly Noquer.
Noquer was on her way out to try to snuff Jien's shot, as she has done to many break-away efforts this year, but Jien was not going to allow that. She looked up to check the approaching goalie, down to check the ball, then cranked a shot at just about the right height to clear the diving Noquer.
But Noquer didn't dive. Instead she "took one for the team," as the expression goes -- and stopped the point blank shot with her face. Apparently the joy of stopping the shot blotted out the pain, because she showed no sign of discomfort. Or she may just be one tough cookie. But if she´d ducked, the score would have been tied.
And so it went. Both coaches had made calibrated moves to counter the opposing team's offense, and, basically, they all worked.
For the Eagles, midfielder Jennifer Lau was again brought back from midfield to sweeper. Later, when scoring became of the essence, the line-up was adjusted again, and Lau went up to the front. She was unable to spark a score, though she came close, while her teammates were able to keep the Jaguars at bay.
High-scoring Jaguar forwards Landivar and Fernanda Vaca Diez would, from time to time, cruise into the Christian Learning like high-speed PT boats looking a destroyer to sink, but while they sometimes got close, they never got close enough to score a second time.
At the other end, the Jaguar defense did not let the swift Sabrina Hallock or power forward Daniela Brooks pentrate their perimeter.
There were, inevitably, close calls. Landivar did have one shot that got through and could have hit an open net, but it went a meter wide. On the other side, Noquer let a ball bounce over her head -- and there would have been a certain poetic justice if it had gone into the goal -- but it too was wide of the mark.
At the end of the game there were a couple of occasions Christian Learning felt a handball offense had been committed by Co-operative, once inside the penalty area when Brooks was squeezed between two defenders, and some spectators clearly agreed. However, no calls were made.
The full line-up for the champion Jaguars was: Noquer, Tali Rozenman, Leila Rozenman, Dominique Harrison, Carla Limpias, Hailey White, Aldana Roda, Cecelia Aponte, Vaca Diez, Tania Landivar, Darinka Matkovic, Florencia Casares, Alexia Handal, Sabrina Arnera, Mariana Perez, Maria Jose Landivar, Maria Fernanda Antelo, Giovanna Varalta.
For the Eagles: Belovicz, Tabita Malloy, Jennifer Lau, Katrina Beth Wilcke,Hallock, Brooks, Jien, Liliana Cai, Danielle Doi, Jessi Kennedy, Laura Lindahl, Alejandra Valencia, Hannah Swindoll, Jihea Ahn, Mariela Salinas, Aleida Apodaca, Jessica Smith.
EXCUSE ME, I WAS KICKING HERE -- Eagle gets off a kick, Jaguar moves in.
Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School


Boys consolation game
Jaguars beat Eagles 2-1, take 3rd
From coaches' reports
Through the regular season Christian Learning had seemed to "own" Co-operative, beating the Jaguars twice by multi-goal margins, but in the consolation game of the play-offs the Jaguars got, if not exactly even, a goodly measure of revenge.
Co-operative won the consolation game Tuesday on its home field by a 2-1 score. The victory entitled the Jaguars to 3rd place, and improbably dropped the Eagles, who had led the league for most of the year, into 4th place.
The game was further proof that this year on any given day any boys soccer team was capable of beating any other.
____________________
SPEED TEST -- Eagle Alex Apodaca (No. 18), Jaguar Esteban Gomez (5) race upfield.
Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School


The winning goal by 9th grader Jean Bretel was a controversial one. The flow of play had pulled Eagle goalie out of position, and at first it appeared that the ball would go into the goal without incident, but Eagle midfielder Alex Apodaca made a sensational dash seemingly out of nowhere to kick the ball out of the goal. However, the referee ruled that the ball had broken the plane of the goal -- or at least cracked it badly, before Apodaca's interception.
Bretel scored both Jaguar goals, which happened to be his first goals of the season, another anomaly. Josh Mojica scored the Eagles' lone goal.
The game had opened with a fairly even exchange of near-misses. Jose Manuel Vasquez, the Jaguars' high scorer this year, got everyone's adrenaline going with a wicked shot that hit the goalpost.
Then Eagle Esteban Eguez made a run right across the goal front about six meters out during which he kicked the ball toward the net three separate times -- but all of them were somehow blocked.
Co-operative finally opened the scoring on a confusing play in which the ball pinballed among a group of Jaguars and Eagles in front of the Eagle goal before Bretel finally launched a kick that ricocheted off a defender into the goal.
The game went on with Vasquez continuing to come close on several more occasions for the Jaguars.
Apodaca took a free kick for the Eagles from just outside the penalty area that went just over the goal.
Early in the second half Mojica scored for Christian Learning, scooping up a rebound and blasting it in.
Later the Jaguar adherents would have a bad moment when the Jaguar goalie Daniel Unagi juggled the ball while Eguez hovered beside him.
With only minutes remaining Bretel scored the goal that Apodaca could not quite stop to give Co-operative the victory.
The line-up for the victorious Jaguars was Unagi, Oliver Jones, Federico Sauto, Esteban Gomez, Sergio Gonzales, Esteban Espinoza, Pablo Taborga, Vasquez, Bretel, Jorge Rojas, Pablo Vaca Diez, Juan Casares, Cristobal Roda, Juan Abuawad, Wilson Salvatierra, Juan Peredo, Milan Marinkovic, Hyun Kim.
For the Eagles: Alejandro Garcia, Frankin Chou, Richard Ling, Danny Canaviri, Jeff Stabler, Josh Mojica, Fabricio Encina, Esteban Eguez, Ricardo Telchi, Nicolas Smith, Geo Lin, Mark Salinas, Alex Apodaca.

Girls consolation games
Griffins defeat Knights in overtime
From coaches' reports
International and Cambridge played each other tough in the girls consolation game, as they have all season, with the Griffins pulling out the victory on a free kick in overtime by Stephanie Saltzsieder.
The powerful kick slipped through the upstretched hands of the Knights impromptu goalie, Nan Jordan, after Jordan had appeared to catch it.
Jordan had been pressed into service when the regular goalie, Raquel Lopez, and two other Cambridge players showed up late because of exams and were not allowed to play. Jordan had been almost flawless in the role until the goal by Saltzsieder.
International had scored first when Laura Chavez, a senior, had latched onto a crossing pass and neatly tucked it into the goal. The Griffins led 1-0 at the half.
The Lady Knights had been able to even the score in the middle of the second half on a corner kick that bounced around in front of the Griffin goal for several seconds, until 8th grader Camila Johnson banged it in.
Cambridge had its chances both in the remainder of the game and the overtime but kept getting bounced around. One situation that looked particularly promising was thwarted when two Cambridge players going for the ball in front of an open net collided.
But International had appeared to be on the verge of ending the game in overtime on a corner kick situation in which Jordan made a particularly alert save.
The victory cemented International's hold on third place, and confirmed Cambridge's position in fourth.
The line-up for the winning Griffins was Adriana Ocampo, Matilde Vasquez, Regina Landivar, Stephanie Gioto, Ana Karina Marin, Chavez, Fabian Murillo, Melissa Roca, Nadine Witteveen, Saltzsieder, Fernanda Sepulveda, Mariana Chavez.
For Cambridge: Lisa Delboy, Nadia Rocco, Belén Muñoz, Liliana Sainz, Camila Johnson, Alejandra Abastoflor, Moira Vaca, Nan Jordan, Andrea Saba, Lourdes Justiniano, Amaya Yañez, Lucia Candia, Helen Yong.

(PHOTO, TOP) Consolation game winners International (PHOTO, BOTTOM) Cambridge team photo
Cambridge College

Editorial

A salute to the winners – and losers
As the girls championship game was going into its climactic final throes – with the teams locked in tie after tie -- Christian Learning girls soccer coach Keith Wilcke said something just exactly right.
“It’s too bad,” he said to those seated around him in the stands, , “that somebody has to lose this game.”
Before we get on with the necessary business of relating who did what to whom in this year's championships, there should be a short preamble simply proclaiming what an incredible tribute to sport these games were.
Rarely have there been such closely matched exhibitions of skill, intensity, and courage as was on display in the International gym Monday afternoon, and on the Co-operative soccer field Tuesday.
In sport it does not always matter most who won or lost. Baron de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic games once said, “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning, but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering, but fighting well."
The teams that took part in these championships fought very well.
* * *
A sports fan has suggested adding the following variation on the same these by legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice:
"For when the One Great Scorer comes
To write against your name,
He marks - not that you won or lost -
But how you played the game."

-- David Boldt

Varsity Volleyball Championships

Boys championship game
Griffins barely beat battling Eagles
From coaches' reports
The International boys varsity volleyball team withstood a tremendous challenge from Christian Learning, which at one point was serving to win the match, to take the championship two sets to one Monday evening in their home gym.
Christian Learning started strong, taking the first set 25-22. The Griffins came back to take the second set by the same score. The third set, played in front of a standing, chanting, stomping, bottle-bonking crowd was tied five times before the Griffins finally won it 18-16.
Eagle coach Bob Friesen paid tribute to the effort his team made. The effort, he said, indicating the playing floor, "is all out there. They didn't save any for another day." He also praised International. "They kept serving hard. They kept coming."
Griffin coach Eli Vilar said that both teams had been a fascinating combination of "perfection and nervousness." They both repeatedly "did amazing things, and then made bad mistakes." As an example she noted that both teams, when they first got the chance to win a match point, made bad serves.
"They were great and bad at the same time," she said laughing. "It was wonderful."
Christian Learning is a team that has been given to having good days and bad days, either winning decisively or losing decisively. They made clear early on that this was one of their better days, jumping out to 3-0, and 6-2 leads in the early part of the first set.
International, fulfilling its reputation for resilience, fought back steadily and eventually knotted the score at 8-8.
The game proceeded like that with teams taking turns in the lead, but never by more than a point or two, all the way to 22-22. The Eagles got the next three points, one of them on an uncharacteristic error by a Griffin player who mishandled an easy ball in the backcourt.
The final point was an eventful one. It looked initially to everyone as if Jeff Stabler's serve had found an open spot just beyond the front men, and the Eagles actually started to celebrate. Almost unnoticed, an International player had popped the ball up, and it was heading back across to the momentarily distracted Eagles. Stabler, better able to see what had happened from the backcourt, alerted his teammates to the incoming return just in time. The ball made several more passes over the net before International his it out long to give Christian Learning the set.
In the second set it was International's turn to jump out to the early lead. Rallied by the steady, accurate serving of Christopher Saltzieder, the Griffins took a 7-1 lead before the Eagles started a slow process of climbing back. They would not pull even until the score was 19-19.
Both teams went increasingly to their big spikers, Stabler for the Eagles and Pablo Muñoz for the Griffins. The Eagles went to Stabler without guile or artifice, setting the big junior up again and again. International spread its attack out a little more, but the results for both teams were about the same.
Again the score was tied at 22-22, but this time it was International that pushed through the three final points, one of them on a nice piece of finesse by Griffin Martin Gonzalez, who tipped the ball just high enough to go over leaping Eagle Esteban Eguez and fall into an uncovered spot.
The third game was simply all-out war. The teams were never more than two points apart.
There was a time out with International leading 12-11, at which point the large group of Eagle fans simply stood up and screamed.
It worked. Their team responded, tying the score, then edging ahead until at 15-14 they were serving for the match.
The serve was long, however, and International then clawed itself into a match point situation -- and also came up with a bad serve.
They battled on into the night until International got another match point. A sharply hit International shot to the center of the court looked like it was going to be the game winner, but nothing in this match was that simple.
Eguez, who had been serving, dove and drove the ball back. A shout of joy went up from the Christian Learning fans as the ball whizzed across the net. But then there was sudden silence as the Christian Learning fans could see, before the International fans could (because of where the groups were sitting), that the ball was going out. The momentary sound vacuum was quickly filled by a victory ovation from the International side.
That was the kind of game it was, shifting in split seconds, the differences between the teams being measured in centimeters.
The line-up for the champions of International: Alex Roempler, Waldo Bernal, Rodrigo Bernal, Pablo Muñoz, Juan Sebastian Narvaez, Christopher Saltzieder, Martin Gonzalez, Juse Landivar, Enzo Fortuny.
For the runner-up Eages: Fabricio Encina, David Lotz, Tim Swope, Jeff Stabler, Esteban Eguez, Frankin Chou, Kyle Swope, Danny Canaviri, Mark Salinas, Jesse Hallock.

VICTORY LAP -- International's triumphant boys and girls teams take a lap around the Griffins gym with their championship trophies.
Cambridge College

Girls championship game
Griffins win heart-stopper over Eagles
From coaches' reports
Games don't get much closer than this match. Not even the boys championship.
But in the end the International girls varsity volleyball team preserved its perfect season, and won the league championship, in a three-set match against Christian Learning in which the Eagles showed all the courage and heart that anyone could have asked of a champion.
The Eagles came out and took the first set, 25-23, marking the first time this season that they had taken a set from International this year. However, International seemed to have regained control in the second set, grinding out a 25-16 win with relentless precision.
However, the Eagles were not ready to surrender. In a third set that was a true "barn-burner," in which the score was tied at 9-9, 11-11, 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16, and 17-17 before International finally could string together two points in a row to win the set, and match, 19-17.
The line up for International was Melissa Roca, Soraya Dajbura, Simone Ahuile (Captain), Fabiana Murillo, Laura Chavez, Adriana Ocampo, Maria Victoria Gutierrez, Beatriz Nallar.
More details to come . . . .

Boys consolation game
Knights finally win; Jaguars are victims
From coaches reports
The Cambridge boys did something Monday in the consolation game of the playoffs that they haven't done all season -- they won a match.
The result was that the 0-6 Knights end up in third place, a notch above the 4-2 Jaguars who, until a few days ago, were co-favorites to win the championship with International and Christian Learning, both of which had the same won-loss record. The two teams ended up in the consolation game after losing in the semifinals. The match was played Monday at International.
Jaguar coach Jesus Flores said there was a simple explanation for the way things turned out. "We played bad," he said.
But the Jaguars just may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Knight coach Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva said the key factor for his team had been "motivation." They simply did not want to be remembered as a team that had lost all of its games.
The Jaguars played well enough to take the first set 25-14 against an error-plagued Cambridge team that served badly, let balls fall between players because of miscommunication, unsuccessfully tried to field balls that were going out, while letting a number of other balls fall in. But then in the second set the teams seemed to switch personalities, and it was Cambridge that was playing with precision and consistency while the Jaguars started making mistakes and quarreling among themselves.
The third set was a close battle, with Cambridge finally prevailing 15-13 after a long rally in which both sides made amazing saves.
The line-up for the victorious Knights: Juan Manuel Salas, Christopher Cocianni, J. Añvarez, Andres Cirigliano, Nocolas Gamboa, Manfred Grote, Oscar Mariscal, Martin Pacor, Remi Ottaviano.
For the Jaguars: Diego Morales, Esteban Gomez, Cristobal Roda, Juan Alfredo Abuawad, Juan Casares, Wilson Salvatierra, Andre Saavedra, Mateus de Carvalho, Rafael Mansilla.

Girls consolation game
Jaguars gain narrow win over Knights
From coaches' reports
The Co-operative girls varsity volleyball team turned in a finely crafted performance to defeat Cambridge in straight sets in the consolation game played Monday at International.
The Jaguars won the first set 25-21, and fended off Cambridge in the second, 25-23. The victory in the consolation game gave the Jaguar girls third place in the league.
Both sets were marked by long rallies with many dramatic saves. The games were close, but lacked the incandescent excitement that would surround the matches later in the day. In the second and deciding set Co-operatiove early on was able to establish a two-point lead, and kept it for the remainder of the game. Cambridge occasionally came within one point -- notably at 22-21 and 23-22, but wasn't able to tie the game up and go ahead of the very consistent Jaguar team.
The Jaguar team was bolstered by the addition of several players from its championship junior varsity team, including Hailey White and Maria Velasco, who played most of the match.
Cambridge was without the services of Mariana Escaño, one of its key players, who fainted before the match, apparently from the heat and stress. She reported herself to be fully recovered later in the afternoon, but was unable to play.
The line-up for the victorious Jaguars: Cecelia Aponte, Veronica Richter, Ximena Guzman, Ana Paola Justiniano, Alexia Handal, Aldana Roda, Mariana Perez, Nicole Elias, Karla Flores, Nabilah Farah, Maria Velasco.
For Cambridge: Valeria Escaño, Ana Saavedra, Mariana Evans, Helen Yong, Lourdes Justinano, Nan Jordan, Andrea Saba, Vania Rueda.

Varsity Championships Preview

Peering into a dark crystal ball

By David Boldt
SCISL Weblog
After a season in which past records have often seemed to mean little, prognosticating about the championship tournaments Monday and Tuesday becomes a truly perilous undertaking.
There are only a few safe predictions, one of them being that the league will play its first night soccer game. It seems safe to forecast that the sun will be gone from the sky and the lights on before International and Cambridge teams take to the field Tuesday at Co-operative for the premier event of the playoffs: the boys varsity soccer championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30, and will probably be later than that.
Don’t forget that you read it here first.
The scheduling, by the way, should also provide an interesting test of whether evening games can draw more fans.
Now on to more substantive matters.
Volleyball: A favorite and a conundrum
In Monday’s volleyball finals at International, the Griffins’ girls varsity (6-0) looks like the safest bet in any of the championship contests as it takes on Christian Learning (3-3) at 4:00.
The International girls have been more dominant than any other varsity team. They have lost only two sets all season, both to Cambridge, a team they don’t have to worry about anymore.
They have outscored their opponents by an even 100 points, 321 to 221. Christian Learning, by contrast, has actually been outscored by 15 points, 270-285.
Almost the entire Griffin starting line-up serves overhand (or, in one case, sidearm), and doesn’t often miss. Several players can spike well, their setters are artful, and their team play has been exquisite.
Still, Christian Learning played its most impressive game of the season in the semifinals, easily defeating Cambridge, a team that had been a thorn in their side. Senior Sabrina Hallock, arguably their best spiker, seems to have recovered almost fully from an ankle injury that hobbled her almost all season.
The Eagles are clearly in an upward phase. The question is: How far up can they go?

* * *

In the 2:00 pm consolation game for third place between Cambridge (2-4) and Co-operative (1-5) Cambridge looks like the stronger team on paper, but they have been a streaky, inconsistent team. The teams have split their meetings this year, with each school winning one.

* * *
The boys championship between Christian Learning (4-2) and International (4-2) scheduled for 5:00 pm is much more of a puzzle.
The Eagles won the most recent meeting between the two teams, but International had the more impressive victory in the semi-finals. Christian Learning has outscored its opponents by a wider margin, 82 points, than International, which had a more modest 23-point advantage. However, in the semifinals International beat a more impressive opponent by a wider margin than Christian Learning.
Both teams are loaded with talent and have improved the quality of their play over the season. It’s easy to imagine either one winning.
The opening set could be an important indicator. The Eagles this year have tended to either be “on” or “off.” When they’re hot, they’re hot; and when they’re not, they’re not, as the expression goes. More specifically, they have either won their matches in straight sets – or lost them in straight sets.
International has seemed less decisive, or more resilient, depending on one’s point of view. They have played two three-set matches, and once came back to win a set after trailing 24-17.
* * *
In the consolation game, Co-operative (4-2) will be heavily favored over Cambridge (0-6).
Soccer: Two too close to call
The Co-operative (4-0-2) and Christian Learning (3-1-2) have played two closely contested matches this year. In the first they tied 1-1. Co-operative prevailed 2-0 in the second, giving the Eagles their only loss, by exploiting two egregious defensive lapses that will not necessarily be repeated when the teams meet Tuesday at 5:00.
The Christian Learning girls soccer team, like its girls volleyball team, will benefit from the return to action of Sabrina Hallock, who had been an important scorer before suffering an ankle injury. Another important offensive player, Daniela Brooks, seemed to return to her early season form in the semifinal game, in which she scored twice.
Co-operative’s advantage lies in team speed. Its crew of junior high-aged strikers – Tania Landivar, Fernanda Vaca Diez, and Hailey White – have demonstrated that they can out-sprint Christian Learning’s defenders. For that matter, Co-operative’s defense has not had much trouble keeping up with the Eagle attackers speed-wise.
The return of Hallock may help redress this imbalance. She showed in the semifinal that she has plenty of speed, though she still may not be “cornering” as well as she once did. Christian Learning should gain some advantage from the fact that its players, other than the somewhat delicate-appearing Hallock, are generally bigger and more experienced than Co-operative’s.
But this game can clearly go either way.
* * *
The girls consolation game between International (1-3-2) and Cambridge (0-4-2) at 2:00 Tuesday should also be close. These teams tied 2-2 in their first meeting, and International won the second 2-0.
International appears to have a marginally better offense. It has scored four goals this year; Cambridge’s has produced only the two it got in the first game with International.
* * *
The boys championship between International (3-3) and Cambridge (2-4) is even tougher to call. International won the two games played during the regular season, both of which were decided by one goal late in the game.
However, there is some question as to whether the Cambridge team that is playing in the playoffs is the same team that played during the regular season.
The players look very much the same, but the team that hit first-place Christian Learning like a runaway freight train in last Friday’s semifinal game, winning 4-0, did not much resemble the Cambridge team that lost its first three games this season.
For that matter, International doesn’t appear to be paying much attention to past records. It got to the championship round by knocking off Co-operative, a team that had beaten the Griffins twice.
While all bets based on past records may be off for this championship, the most recent meeting between International and Cambridge does demonstrate how volatile the collisions between the teams can be. International won 4-3, but had to overcome a 3-1 Cambridge lead to do it.
Over the season, International has been the most prodigious goal scorer in the league, with 17. Cambridge has been the least productive, with only nine. However, if Cambridge had been scoring all season at the pace it has shown in its last two games, the Knights would have posted 21 scores.

One potentially interesting distiction betwee n the teams is that the match will bring together the most penalized team in the league -- International -- and the least penalized -- Cambridge. The Griffin boys have accumulated 14 yellow cars amd 2 red cards, and have the only player who was banned from the league. Cambridge players have sewn up the league's Fair Play (or "nice guys") trophy, having been shown only 6 yellow cars and one red card.

Where will it all end? We’ll have to wait for the opening whistle at 6:30 Tuesday to find out.
* * *
The boys consolation game at 3:30 pits Christian Learning (4-2) against Co-operative (3-3). If past records were a guide, Christian Learning should win easily. They have dispatched Co-operative twice, 3-1 and 4-1. But, at the risk of being overly repetitive, past records haven’t counted for much in these playoffs.
The statistics in this article were compiled by Alejandra Salto, athletic director of Christian Learning, and league statistician.

Varsity Boys Soccer Semi-finals

Worst to first? Knights rout Eagles 4-0
From coaches' reports
Dominating play from start to finish, fourth-place Cambridge stunned first-place Christian Learning with 4-0 thrashing Friday afternoon in their semifinal match before a large crowd at the Eagles field.
The Knights are the first fourth place team in the four-year history of the league to make it to the championship game, where they will have a chance to take home the title. They will play International Tuesday afternoon at Co-operative. (See schedule at right.)
Christian Learning will play Co-operative Tuesday in the consolation game to determine third and fourth place. This is the pairing that many people thought would be battling it out for the big trophy. But this has been a season in which anything could happen -- and often did.
The victory Friday of the 2-4 Knights, who lost all three of their games in the first half of the season, is just the latest in a long series of strange twists and turns.
Martin Pacor scored three goals -- a "hat trick" -- for the Knights, and Junior Sanchez scored one. And the most amazing thing may have been that Cambridge could easily have had more. Christian Learning had a couple of good chances for a goal, but the truth is that the Cambridge goalies -- and the Knights used two, Manfred Grote and Juan Manuel Salas -- did not have to make a difficult save. Eagle goalie Alejandro Garcia made several spectacular saves.
The score represented the highest goal total for Cambridge this year, and only the second time the Eagles have been shut out. The other shutout was also administered by Cambridge, which won the second game of the season between the two teams 1-0, but that was a far different affair from Friday's game.
How did this turnaround of fortunes happen? Cambridge athletic director Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva, said it was because everyone finally showed up. "A machine needs all of its parts to function. Today we had all the parts."
Diminutive senior right-winger Nicolas Gamboa echoed de la Riva's comment. "Today we were a complete team," he said after the game.
Cambridge coach Carlos Eulert repeated the idea that all the parts had finally been in place, and added that he thought having Manfred Grote in goal had a stabilizing effect on the team. Grote had been the goalie last year when Cambridge won the championship. He has not played goalie this year both because early in this season he cut his wrist badly in a broken glass accident, and because he does not like to play goalie.
"We had a conversation about that," Eulert said. After the conversation, Grote agreed to play in goal. However, when Cambridge had amassed a 3-0 lead Grote was allowed to return to his preferred position at mid-field for the final quarter, and Salas went in as goalie, where he has played most of the season.
Eulert also singled out Jhonny Sejas and Matias Martinez for their outstanding play on defense.
Christian Learning did not play well Friday. Gone were the swiftly executed forays down the field, the long clearing passes upfield. The Eagles may have been having an off day, or they may just have been unprepared for the unrelenting, hell-for-leather, take-no-prisoners attack Cambridge unleashed on them right from the start.
Or maybe both.
One possibly telling moment came late in the second half. Eagle Josh Mojica, one of Christian Learning's most formidable offensive weapons, picked up a short kick from the goalie in the open field. He had a similar opportunity in the final game of the season against Co-operative. In that game he had unleashed a rocket-powered shot into the goal. In this game, he missed.
However, it would be difficult to overstate the degree to which Cambridge dominated the game. The Knights seemed to "win" every air ball, and most of the dribbling duels. Alex Apodaca,the Eagles shifty striker, tried several times to run the ball down the field and turn things around, as he has done many times this year, but couldn't get past the Cambridge midfielders.
Apodaca and Sanchez had one memorable ball control fight at mid-field in the first half. Apodaca got the ball under his command and artfully pushed Sanchez back with his buttocks, but could not make the necessary quick move to clear the ball upfield. The joust ended in a draw with the ball dribbling out of bounds.
In the second half it seemed that when Cambridge was not scoring they were almost scoring. A page from this reporter's notebook reads as follows. (The names are all Cambridge players):
"Great save on Pacor . . .Cirigliano just misses . . . Gamboa almost beats goalie for sure goal . . . Cirigliano (misses) again . . . Pacor misses one-on-one (way high) . . . ." The only reference to Christial Learning offense is an unsuccessful penalty kick from mid-field.
And so it went, except that on four occasion Cambridge didn't miss. The first came early in the first half when Gamboa, coming up the right wing, beat his man. He passed up the shot on goal to cross the ball to Sanchez who retrieved it, turned and whistled the ball into the goal, untouched by human hands.
Later in the first half Gamboa, who was running like a small tracked vehicle, unleashed another cross that this time Pacor headed into the goal.
The score stood 2-0 at halftime.
In the second half, following the several misses referred to above, Pacor again got the ball in front of the goal and flipped it in the air with elegant grace just over the goalie's leaping grab, after which it bounced merrily into the goal.
On the final goal Pacor extracted a further measure of revenge on goalie Garcia for having frustrated him so many times earlier. This time there was no finesse. Pacor simply beat the goalie to the ball and rifled a shot into the net.
The large crowd of partisan Christian Learning fans -- there were virtually no Cambridge supporters present -- was reduced to desperate measures, calling for penalty kicks and yellow cards every time there was bodily contact on the field, even on offsides calls (of which there were several against Cambridge) and, on one occasion, when an Eagle player fell down of his own accord.
The line-up for the victorious Knights was as follows: Manfred Grote, Matias Martinez, Nicolas Gamboa, Jhonny Sejas, Sergio Palazuelos, Andred Cirigliano, Zhau Fua Zhou Zeng, Jorge Yuan, Martin Pacor, Yeshen Li Tan, Junior Sanchez, Christopher Cocianni, Miguel Leigue, Juan Manuel Salas.
For Christian Learning: Alejandro Garcia, Jeffrey Stabler, Esteban Eguez, Geo Pyung Lim, David Lotz, Frankin Chou, Danny Canaviri, Richard Ling, Fabricio Encina, Josh Mojica, Andre Carsen, Mark Salinas, Nicolas Smith, Alex Apodaca.
Jerusha Hanish of Christian Learning Center contributed to this report.

Griffin senior Jon Paz enroute to score game's first goal.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School
Griffins take squeaker from Jaguars, 2-1
By Andre Candia
International School
The International boys varsity soccer team scored in the final minutes to pull off a great surprise -- a 2-1 victory over Co-operative at the Griffins field Friday.
International will now face Cambridge, a team the Griffins have beaten twice but which currently seems to be a resurgent phase, in the championship game Tuesday at Co-operative. Co-operative will play Christian Learning in the consolation game. (See schedule at right and related story above.)
The game began with both teams seeking victory, but both playing solid defense. The Griffins scored first about halfway through the first half when Jon Paz hit a shot on goal that may actually have been headed wide, but deflected off the stomach of the diving Jaguar goalkeeper, and went into the goal.
The half ended with the score 1-0 for International, and resumed in the second half in just the manner that the Griffins wanted, with the ball staying in the Jaguar end -- and the clock running.
Co-operative at this point made what turned out to be a fortuitous substitution, bringing in eighth grader Milan Marinkovic, who scored the first time he got his foot on the ball to tie the game.
At that point the battle between the sides seemed to flow back and forth without any close calls, and it looked as if the game would go to a penalty shoot out.

_____________________
PHOTO: Right place, right time . . . Daniel Baldivieso heads in the Griffins' winning goal.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School


However, with about four minutes left International got a long-distance penalty kick. Griffin Nicolas Bedoya took it and bounced the ball off the crossbar. Daniel Baldivieso was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to head the ball in with what would prove to be the winning goal.
The win was the first for the Griffins in three matches this year against Co-operative, but this was the one that counted most since it got International into the championship game. Co-operative showed a lot of strength and spirit, but it was not enough to give them victory.
Griffin Coach Andrew Dolson said after the game that he was looking forward to the championship match against Cambridge, and hopes to win. But he told his players they would have to be prepared both physically and mentally because although Cambridge finished fourth in the league this year, they are now playing like the defending champions that they are.

Varsity Girls Soccer Semi-finals

Knight Belen Muñoz and Jaguar Hailey White fight for ball.

Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School

Score tied 0-0 at half-time
Jaguars break loose, beat Knights 4-0
By Ana L. Saavedra Banzer

Cambridge College
The Cambridge Knights kept the Jaguars at bay for a full half, but then the Co-operative school varsity girls soccer team closed for the kill, firing in four goals to take the semifinal game and advance to next Tuesday's championship game against Christian Learning.
Cambridge, which did not score in the 4-0 shutout, will play against International in the consolation game Tuesday.
For the Jaguars, Carla Limpias, a fullback, scored her first two goals of the year on long free kicks. Maria Fernanda Antelo and league scoring co-leader Tania Landivar added single tallies.
The teams played each other evenly in the first half, which ended 0-0. It was a hot afternoon and both teams showed signs of both fatigue and championship game jitters. Cambridge actually had more shots on goal, but, in truth, neither side was able to compel the opposing goalkeeper to take heroic measures.

______________________

PHOTO: Grace in motion . . .Jaguar Tania Landivar launches a corner kick.

Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School

Things got more active in the second half. Jaguar Darinka Matkovic was denied a goal when Knight goalie Raquel Lopez made a nice save on a long, strong shot. Next,
Landivar, Co-operative's precocious seventh grader, broke the deadlock with a goal from fairly far out on the left side.

This seemed to wake the Jaguars up. The score went to 2-0 as Limpias, an 8th grader, made the first of her free kicks. Less than a minute later, Antelo, a relatively elderly 10th grader, latched on to a well placed centering pass from Landivar and knocked it into the goal for the third Jaguar.

Limpias then notched her second goal off a free kick. Both of Limpias' kicks were launched from about the mid-field stripe.
Lady Knight Moira Vaca, an 11th grader, played well in Cambridge's losing cause, scampering down the right wing on forays that somehow seemed to end just short of the goal. Senior Lourdes Justinano was effective at sweeper and showed a strong leg on all of Cambridge's free kicks.

_______________________

PHOTO: Jaguar goalie Nataly Noquer booms one out of there

Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School

Opposing teams plotting ways in which they might unseat the Jaguars from their accustomed spot atop the league standings in the years to come (as opposed to next Tuesday) will need to cope with the fact that many of the most talented Co-operative players are young enough to be playing on the junior varsity.

This includes its leading scorers. Landivar, Fernanda Vaca Diez, and Hailey White, all of whom are in the seventh or eighth grades. They will be joined next year by many of veterans of the Jaguars undefeated junior varsity team.
One can, one supposes, hope that these talented young girls lose interest in sports as they enter the later years of high school. Otherwise the future of girls soccer in the league looks definitely black-and-red.
The line-up for the victorious Jaguars Thursday was as follows: Nataly Noquer, Tali Rozenman, Dominique Harrison, Carla Limpias, Leila Rozenman, Aldana Roda, Florencia Casares, Cecelia Aponte, Fernanda Vaca Diez, Tania Landivar, Darinka Matkovic, Mariana Perez, Ximena Velez Ocampo, Hailey White, Alexia Handal, Giovanna Varalta, Maria Jose Landivar, Maria Fernanda Antelo.
For Cambridge: Raquel Lopez, Nadia Rocco, Lisa Delboy, Lourdes Justinano, Liliana Sainz, Camila Johnson, Belen Muñoz, Manuela Yañez, Moira Vaca, Andrea Saba, Yomara Vaca, Cristina Quiroga, Helen Yong, Nan Jordan, Mariana Escaño, Alejandra Abastaflor, Vitania Pulis.

Eagle Sabrina Hallock and Griffin Simone Ahuile tussle for the ball
Jonatan Muñoz, International

Brooks tallies twice
Eagles subdue Griffins 4-1, advance
By SunChan Jang
Christian Learning Center
Probably setting a new league record, Eagle striker Daniela Brooks scored twice in the first eight minutes to pace the Christian Learning varsity girls soccer team to what would eventually be a 4-1 victory over International Thursday on their home field.
The victory in the semifinals moves Christian Learning into the championship game next Tuesday against their old rivals, Co-operative, to whom they have lost once, and tied once during the regular season. International will play Cambridge in the consolation game.
Brooks’ goals quickly disabused the Griffins of any thoughts they may have had of pulling off another 0-0 tie against the Eagles, as they had earlier this year. The goals also broke Brooks’ personal scoring slump. Although she was the league’s leading scorer with five goals, she hadn’t scored since the second game of the year, leading to some conjecture that the opposing teams had figured out how to stop her.
Brooks did not cease looking for goals after the first two Thursday. Toward the end of first half she had another opportunity and just missed getting a hat trick.
In the second half the Eagles added two more goals, one by Sabrina Hallock and the final one by Roxy Jien. The Griffins responded with a goal of their own scored by Melissa Roca, which for a time cut the Eagles lead to two goals, at 3-1.
The Eagles demonstrated great teamwork during Thursday’s game. Their passes were perfect and their defense was nearly indestructible.
International seemed to gain strength in the second half after their goal was scored, and narrowly missed connecting on two passes across the front of the goal for which the winger arrived nanoseconds too late.
However, Eagle goalie Whitney Belovicz didn’t allow any further balls to go through her. Belovicz played aggressively, often coming out successfully to take the ball away from attackers, and showing no bad effects from her ill starred outing in the most recent game against Co-operative.
It was International goalie Regina Landivar’s turn to have a bad day. She had an upset stomach that forced her to leave the field in the first half.
The return to form of Hallock, who has been hobbled or sidelined with an ankle injury most of the season, was also good news for the Eagles as they prepare for the championship game. She adds another swift runner to a line-up that has sometimes seemed too slow to contend with Co-operative’s high-speed style.
The line-up for Christian Learning was Whitney Belovicz, Tabitha Malloy, Jennifer Lau, Katie Beth Wilcke, Sabrina Hallock, Daniela Brooks, Roxy Jien, Lili Cai, Laura Lindahl, Alejandra Valencia, Hannah Swindoll, Jihea Ahn, Danielle Doi, Jessica Smith, Jessi Kennedy, Mariela Salinas, Minima Apodaca.
For International: Adrian Ocampo, Matilde Vasquez, Regina Landivar, Stephanie Gioto, Ana Karina Marin, Mariana Chavez, Fabiana Murillo, Melissa Roca, Nadine Witteveen, Stephanie Saltzsieder, Fernanda Sepulveda, Laura Chavez, and Simone Ahuile.

JV Soccer Championships

Griffin Francisco Gonzalez (No. 9) cranks in the winning goal.
Photos by Jonatan Muñoz, International School

Griffin boys shock unbeaten Co-operative, win 3-1
By Andre Candia
International School
The International junior varsity boys soccer team avenged two previous defeats, spoiled Co-operative’s perfect season, and won the league championship for itself by defeating the Jaguars 3-1 in a thrilling game Wednesday.
It wasn’t easy. The victory margin came late in the second half after the Jaguars had unleashed a fusillade of shots on the Griffin goal, one of which banged off the crossbar.
But all that just made the victory all the sweeter for a team that had only scored one goal against Co-operative in the teams' two previous meetings.
It may not have been a coincidence that in this game, for the first time this year, the Griffins were supported by a large, boisterous cheering section that out-shouted a larger-than-usual home crowd throughout the second half of the game, which was played at the Jaguars field.

______________

PHOTO: One, two, three KICK! . . . Jaguar and Griffin Valere Leo vie for ball.

The game began with really tight play as the defenses of both International and Cooperative did a great job of not letting the strikers from the other side get to the goals. The match got really exciting as both goalkeepers made spectacular saves.
The game was still scoreless with only seconds remaining in the first half when a free kick was given to the International school and Harold Garay was assigned to kick it. Everybody thought Garay would shoot into the goal but instead he made an awesome shot that floated down to exactly the spot where Francisco Gonzalez was waiting. Gonzalez put the Griffins in the lead with a great header.
During halftime International Coach Andrew Dolson told his players that their defense would have to be solid, and that any mistake could be fatal. And so it was.
The Jaguars came out determined to tie the game, and did so on a play that started with a free kick The Griffins defense made a silly mistake and ended up putting the ball in its own goal.
As the game continued, both teams had various shots on goal, and both goalkeepers continued to shine in making stops. Small but fleet Jaguar seventh grader Santiago Paz not only knocked one off the crossbar, but also had other shots that just missed. Another Jaguar hit the side of the net with a near-miss. Griffin goalie Santiago Maldonado made a great save on a free kick by Jaguar Esteban Sauto that came in at a sharp angle.
With only minutes left a high, bounding kick resulted in a scramble in front of the Jaguar goal in which Jaguar goalie Camilo Avila lost possession of the ball as he fell down, injured. In the ensuing melee Gonzalez got control of the ball and scored his second goal to put the Griffins ahead, 2-1.
It was almost all over but the shouting when Garay put an exclamation point on the Griffin victory as he scored with a great long distance shot on the last play of the game. That made the score 3-1.
The outcome was a dramatic turn in a season in which it had appeared for a long time that the championship would be Co-operative’s for the asking. However, with great training, and with growing strength and spirit, the Griffins came on at the end to win the championship.
The triumph was a fitting going-away present for Coach Andrew Dolson, who will depart for the United States shortly.
The Griffin team also awarded their coach a big splash of ice-cold water to remember them by during an exuberant post game celebration.
The line-up for the now-champion Griffins was Santiago Rosado, Sergio Rosado, Valere Leo, Victor Wang, Eduardo Zuleta, Santiago Maldonado, Sebastian Justiniano, Francisco Gonzalez, Harold Garay, Maykol Villavicencio, Carlos Padilla, Eduardo Pantoja, Luis Quiroga.
For the Jaguars: Camilo Avila, Jose Gabriel Dabdoub, Andres Shin, Jonathan Pauker, Hyun Kim, Nicolas Handal, Juan Laguna, Nicolas Cronenbold, Esteban Sauto, Milan Marinkovic, Diego Chin, Francisco Roda, Santiago Paz, Jose Salvatierra, Manuel Navarro.

PHOTO: Griffin, Jaguar collide, while ball appears to escape both.

HIGH KICKING CONTEST: Jaguar and Knight vie to control ball
Jonatan Muñoz, International School

Jaguar girls gain tough win over Cambridge, 1-0
From coaches' reports
A lone first half goal by Jaguar Sofia Sotelo brought the junior varsity girls championship to Co-operative yesterday as they won a closely contested match against a very persistent Cambridge team 1-0.
The two teams played more or less as they have all season, with tenacious defenses dominating play. The scoring opportunities seemed to become sparser as the game went on as both sides made adjustments to check the other's offense.
One example was how Cambridge was able to reduce the threat posed by Giovanna Varalta, Co-operative's second-highest scorer.
In the first half the small, but fleet and skillful Varalta, a sixth grader, ran loose up the right side of the field like a runaway horse on several occasions. In the second half a Cambridge defender, Lucia Candia, was given the task of keeping the ball away from Varalta, and did it very well.
Similarly, Cambridge's top scorer, Vitania Pulis, kept trying to break away with the ball, but couldn't get the necessary step on the Jaguar defenders.
Sotelo's goal about mid-way through the first half, came with dramatic suddeness, as she received a crossing pass in traffic, and knocked it past Cambridge goalie Lisa Delboy before anyone knew what had hit them.
Delboy handled all her other chances without incident, and didn't even have to touch the ball for most of the second half as the Knights battled to get the equalizing goal in the Jaguars end.
Besides Sotelo, Jaguar coach Robert Ollivier had special praise after the game for the play of midfielder Nicole Broesma, and for the leadership of team captain Brooke Hill.
Knights coach Carlos Eulert singled out the performances of Nadia Roco and Alejandra Abastoflor, as well as his team captain, Camila Johnson. Johnson does not play a fixed position, but is free to roam from one end of the field to the other playing both offense and defense. She handled both corner kicks and kicks from the defensive end.
All of the players cited by the two coaches are eighth graders who will presumably move up to the varsity teams at their schools next year. The high quality of both the boys and girls championship games bodes well for the quality of play in the league in coming years. The junior varsity program has only been in existence for two years, and this year was the first year of full operation involving all four schools.
The line-up for champion Jaguars, who did not lose all season, was Carla Aguilera, Audrey Saucedo, Nicole Broesma, Sofia Sotelo, Ana Paula Peredo, Brooke Hill, Carla Buchon, Macarena Valdes, Estefania Sauto, Luciana Adrianzola, Paula Querejazu, Lucia Landivar, Fernanda Villegas, Giovanna Varalta.
For the Lady Knights it was Lisa Delboy, Nadia Rocco, Lucia Candia, Camila Johnson, Alejandra Ortiz, Alejandra Abastoflor, Maira Lino, Adriana Rojas, Manuela Yañez, Natalia Johnson, Amaya Yañez, Vitania Pulis.

PHOTO: Jaguar girls wear their championship medals.

Jonatan Muñoz, International School

Boys Varsity Volleyball Semifinal

IN YOUR FACE . . . NO, IN YOURS! -- Griffin Waldo Bernal and Jaguar Juan Alfredo Abuawad do battle at the net.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School

International wins 25-17, 25-15
Griffins flawless against Jaguars
From coaches' reports
The International boys varsity volleyball team put on a fearsome, flawless performance as it defeated Co-operative in straight sets before an enthusiastic crowd Tuesday in the Griffins gym.
The key fact to know about this game is that the Jaguars did not play badly. They played well enough to win most of the games played this year, and they came out at the start with some daring plays, sometimes setting the ball from one side of the court to the other.
The problem was that the Grffins ultimately were playing better, not only hitting home winners, but displaying awesome consistency.
"When you're playing against a team that's really good, that's really on, you just can't make mistakes," said Co-operative athletic director Nicolaas Mostert. "And today Co-operative made too many mistakes, while International was putting it in the right place every time."
Something -- no one seems quite sure what -- went wrong with the International machine in the second half of the season, when the boys varsity lost matches to both Co-operative and Christian Learning. But whatever the problem was, Coach Eli Vilar has apparently gone under the hood and fixed it.
It's hard to single out individual players when everyone was making amazing digs, artful sets, and high velocity spikes.
The thing was, it seemed like Co-operative was doing the same thing. Indeed, Co-operative held a two- or three-point lead through the first half of the first set. International didn't get its first lead in the game until the score stood at 14-13.
But after that, while there was no overt sign that the dynamics of the game had changed, the Griffins gradually widened the margin to the final eight-point advantage the held at the end of the set.
Jaguars Juan Alfredo Abuawad, a ninth grader, and Cristobal Roda, a senior, repeatedly fired spikes across the net, and sometimes they´d hit the floor for a point, but more often International players dug them out, set the ball up, and fired it back.
Often the ball was hit back by Griffin senior Pablo Muñoz, who is usually International's main spiker, but even some of International's smaller players, such as 9th grader Chris Saltzieder, were leaping high, and hitting the ball hard.
The line-up for the Griffins was: Christopher Saltzieder, Juan Sebastien Narvaez, Enzo Fortuny, Jose Landivar, Alex Roempler, Martin Gonzalez, Rodrigo Bernal, Waldo Bernal, and Pablo Muñoz.
For the Jaguars: Juan Alfredo Abuawad, Juan Pablo Roda, David Shin, Cristobal Roda, Esteban Gomez, Diego Morales, Rafael Marsilla, Mateus de Carvalho, Wilson Salvatierra, and Juan Casares.

Christian Learning triumphs, 25-20, 25-14
Knights give Eagles a (mild) scare
By Ana L. Saavedra Banzer
Cambridge College
The Christian Learning boys varsity volleyball team let a scrappy Cambridge team almost catch up with it in the first set, but then turned on the energy and won the match in straight sets Tuesday at the Eagles gym.
The Eagles won the first set 25-20, the closest set in the semi-finals, and then prevailed more easily in the second set, 25-14.
After the game Eagle coach Bob Friesen praised his team's aggressive serving, the way players talked to each other, and the way they worked together as a team. A key to the second game, he said, was blocking Knight Manfred Grote´s spikes, which had been troublesome for the Eagles in the first game.
Twice Eagle David Lotz was able to stuff an attempted kill by Grote. Esteban Eguez was able to do the same to Knight Jorge Yuan.
Cambridge coach Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva said his team had not lived up to its potential in part because they were concentrating on soccer, but he felt they had shown improvement Tuesday, and that it should be good training for next week's game for third place against Co-operative. He felt the team needed to work more on communication and defense. "They can do it, and they know it, but sometimes they don't try hard enough," he said.
Both teams started off Tuesday playing really well. They were very excited, and demonstrated good teamwork. The Eagles fashioned a three-point lead with great defense, but the game stayed close.
Cambridge, strengthened by players who hadn't taken to the court since the early games of the season, seemed to be more confident than in previous games. They did not make it easy for the Eagles, and the match began to get quite interesting.
But although they could almost catch up, they couldn't quite take the lead. They needed needed to take things more seriously, and apply more concentration to do that.
The Knights finally put on a push, and got the score to 21-19. However, at that point the Eagles, who were definitely taking things quite seriously, pulled away and won 25-20.
The second set started out as if it was going to be even more exciting, with ties at 3-all and 4-all. But after a few minutes the Eagles seemed to decide that they were going to win, and moved out to an 11-6 lead. The Knights, realizing that they were not making the all-out effort they needed to, took a time out.
However, they would not challenge the Eagles again. The Eagles were doing an excellent job, and totally knew what they were doing. The Knights often made good plays, but the Eagle players were playing smarter, and seemed to have learned how to manipulate the Knights. Cambridge seemed to tire. The Eagle lead grew to 20-11.
After this the game was very exciting for the large, mostly pro-Eagles crowd, and boring for the Cambridge fans. The Knights basically surrendered, losing 25-14.
Jeff Stabler and Esteban Eguez were the outstanding players for the Eagles, though Stabler's spiking was not as sharp as it has been in other games. Grote and Martin Pacor distinguished themselves in the Knights' losing effort.
The line-up for Christian Learning was Fabricio Encina, David Lotz, Tim Swope, Jeff Stabler, Esteban Eguez, Frankin Chou, Kyle Swope, Danny Canaviri, Mark Salinas, and Jesse Hallock.
For Cambridge: Nicolas Gamboa, Remi Ottaviani, Martin Pacor, Juan Manuel Salas, Jorge Yuan, Christopher Cocianni, Manfred Grote, Oscar Mariscal, Sergio Palazuelos, and Andres Cirigliano.

Girls Varsity Volleyball Semi-finals

Griffins celebrate victory. Scoreboard shows 25-10 second set win.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School

Defeat Co-operative 25-14, 25-10
Griffins tune up for championship game
From coaches reports
The undefeated International varsity girls volleyball team barely had to break a sweat as it defeated a clearly outclassed Co-operative team in straight sets Monday in the International gym.
The Lady Griffins took the first set 25-14, and the second 25-10 before a handful of spectators.
They were able to polish their technique and work on their team play without the stress of worrying about losing.
Serving was again a strong point for International, and the service of 11th grader Melissa Roca is becoming the most feared weapon operating in Bolivia since the death of the Sundance Kid.
She makes a quick forward dash to the service line while uncoiling her arm like a tennis racket. The ball then can spin in either direction, or even knuckle, while traveling with astonishing speed and hitting open spots with surgical precision.
Roca started serving in the first game with score at a relatively respectable 7-5 in favor of the Griffins. When she was finally stopped the score was 13-5, and the Griffin lead never diminished.
But serving was only part of it.The Griffins worked together with remarkable precision, able to handle almost anything the Jaguars could throw at them, and convert it into a high velocity return.
They rarely let balls fall between them in the mistaken belief that a teammate is going to handle it. The players always go for the ball -- almost to excess. Once when a ball did land in an open spot, three Griffins nearly collided in the effort to dig it out.
The line-up for International: Fabiana Murillo, Melissa Roca, Laura Chavez, Simone Ahuile, Adriana Ocampo, Flavia Nostas, Beatriz Nallar, Soraya Dajbura, Maris Gutierrez.
For Co-operative: Mariana Perez, Alexia Handal, Cecilia Aponte, Veronica Richter, Ana Paula Justiniano, Aldana Roda, Nicole Elias, Karla Flores, Ximena Guzman, Nabila Farah, and Arecela Sauto.
PHOTO: Perfecting her form. Griffin launches a hard-hit serve.

Jonatan Muñoz, International School

Eagles give Knights a quick whacking
From coaches reports
A recharged and much more aggressive Christian Learning girls varsity volleyball team got Cambridge down early and never let the Knights get back up Monday afternoon in a match at the Eagles gym.
The Lady Eagles won the first game 25-18, and the took the second by the marginally more decisive count of 25-17.
Christian Learning coach Alejandra Salto was well pleased with the performance of her team, and cited particularly the return to form of Sabrina Hallock, who has been hampered with an ankle injury almost all season, and hasn't played for two weeks. (She is still listed as "doubtful"for tomorrow's girls soccer semi-final.)
Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva, the Cambridge coach, said his team suffered from a serious lack of concentration, but also praised the Eagles for their outstanding team play.
There had been some question as to whether the "good"or the "bad" Cambridge team would show up for the match, and clearly the Cambridge girls were not at their best, but the story of the game was the way the Eagle girls were whacking the ball.
Hallock, a senior, and 10th grader Kaylynn Lampen, the blonde twin towers of the Eagles forward wall, took turns taking nifty sets from senior Roxy Jien (among others), and then either firing an accurate spike, or adroitly tipping the ball to a vulnerable spot.
The Knights never really got going. In the second game the Eagles moved to an 18-12 lead, and of cruised in from there. Senior Nan Jordan was a standout for the Knights in a losing cause, but by the end of the game she was pressing too hard, apparently trying to turn the game around by herself, and missing.
The match was a sharp contrast to the previous meetings of the two teams, which they had split with a victory apiece. Both matches went three sets and were fiercely contested.
The large, enthusiastic crowd of over 50 students, parents and faculty didn't seem to mind at all, however, that the game wasn't more exciting.
The question on everyone's mind at the end was whether this new, improved Christian Learning team could be a match for undefeated International, against whom the Eagles have not won a set this year.
The answer seemed to be a definite maybe.
The line-up for the winning Eagles was Tabitha Malloy, Kely Friesen, Sabrina Hallock, Kaylynn Lampen, Hannah Moss, Hannah Swindoll, Alejandra Valencia, Melisa Friesen, Jerusha Hanish, Roxy Jien.
For the losing Knights: Nan Jordan, Helen Young, Mariana Escaño, Valeria Escaño, Andrea Saba, Lourdes Justinano, Ana Saavedra, and Vania Rueda.

Varsity Semi-finals Preview

Don't bet the farm
Anything can happen in wild and crazy playoffs
By David Boldt
SCISL Weblog
Round and round it goes . . . where it will stop nobody knows. That, in brief, is the story of the varsity soccer and volleyball finals this year. Almost any team can beat any other team on a given day, and predictions are highly dangerous.
Girls Volleyball – Can Griffins be beaten?
On paper, this looks like the easiest race to call, with undefeated International appearing to be the team to beat. In the opening round on Monday the Griffins face the Jaguars, a team that has not given them much trouble this year, on their home court.
International (6-0) owns two straight sets wins over Co-operative (1-5) and the victory margins have gotten bigger for International as the season has gone along. Still, the Co-operative JV girls showed that upsets are always possible in this league, as when the little Jaguars defeated an even more awesome-appearing Griffin JV team last Thursday.
The other bracket has Cambridge playing Christian Learning, also on Monday. Cambridge has come closest to beating International this year, winning a set in each of its two encounters. No otherr team has taken a set against the Griffins.
However, to get another shot at the Griffins the Lady Knights (2-4) have to get past the Eagles (3-3), who have a better won-lost record, and who beat the Knights decisively in the teams’ first meeting. Cambridge did take the second meeting, however, in which it won the deciding third set by a resounding 15-2.
The Cambridge girls have been like the nursery rhyme about the little girl “with the curl in the middle of her forehead” – when they’ve been good, they’ve been, oh, so very good, but when they’ve been bad they’ve been horrid.” Much will depend on which mode the Knights are in for the playoffs – good or horrid.
Boys Volleyball – Breaking the three-way tie
In one bracket Tuesday, Co-operative (4-2) takes on International (4-2) at International in a true toss-up. Each team has defeated the other once this year, with both matches going three sets.
This should be an epic donnybrook between two talented teams that are now well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
The other match-up could be the only semi-final contest that might be painful to watch. Christian Learning (4-2) is a battle-toughened team with a lot of talent that has gotten better as the season progressed. The Eagles take on Cambridge (0-6), which has skipped a third of its games, forfeiting to both Co-operative and Christian Learning, and hasn’t done much better when it has shown up. The Knights haven’t won a set all year, and in the second half of the season haven’t gotten more than 16 points in a set.
It could be grim, sports fans.
Girls Soccer – Davids vs. Goliaths
Both pairings on Thursday feature underdogs who have nevertheless demonstrated an ability to hold their opponents to scoreless ties. Presumably both will be trying to show they can do that again – and maybe get lucky once or twice at the other end of the field..
International (1-3-2) plays Christian Learning (3-1-2), a team that the Griffins have lost to 7-0, and then tied 0-0. The key to the tie was beefing up the defense to four players who were able to stymie the Eagles clever, but relatively slow-moving forwards. It will be interesting to see whether the Eagles have figured out a way to counter this tactic, which arch-rival Co-operative has also used against it.
And, of course, it will be interesting to see whether the Griffins have come up with a way to put the ball in the net.
The other semi-final finds league-leader Co-operative (4-0-2) facing fourth-place Cambridge (0-4-2). The two tied 0-0 back at mid-season, and then the Jaguars beat the Lady Knights 3-0 in their second meeting.
The Knights’ achievement in shutting out Co-operative’s high-speed, high-octane offense during the 0-0 tie is something no other team has come close to accomplishing this year, and it was accomplished with pure grit. Even taking into account the 3-0 loss, it seems plausible that the Knights could keep the Jaguars on a leash again.
The problem is that the Knights have the weakest offense in the league, having scored only two goals in six games. In one loss to Christian Learning the Eagle goalie only touched the ball once in the entire game. That would have to change dramatically for the Knights to contemplate an upset realistically.
Boys Soccer – Anyone can win
After a topsy-turvy season in which most of the teams have spent time in first place, the four teams go into semi-final games next Friday in which absolutely anything could happen.
International (3-3) confronts Co-operative (3-3) in one semi-final. The Jaguars have beaten International twice, a claim no other team can make. One of those wins was an incredible comeback in which Co-operative scored three goals in the final ten minutes of the game to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win the game.
However, International has scored more goals on the season, and this gave the Griffins second-place, and home team advantage in the semi-finals. Moreover, the Jaguar player who scored the three goals in the famous comeback is now academically ineligible, and the Jaguars looked like a team past its peak as they sleep-walked through a 1-4 shellacking by Christian Learning in the season finale. That same day International was coming from behind to beat Cambridge 4-3.
So momentum might appear to be on the side of the Griffins.
In the other semi-final bracket, league leader Christian Learning (4-2) takes on Cambridge (2-4) on the Eagles home field.
Cambridge won the most recent encounter between the two schools. 1-0. The game might not have been a true test since the Eagles were playing without two key players who had been sidelined by red cards. On the other hand, Cambridge dominated play for much of the game, and with better luck might have won by several goals. Moreover, since that game Cambridge has been able to diversify its scoring attack.
Both teams have a core of highly talented players and will presumably be at full strength for this rematch, which seems likely to be a higher scoring affair than their last encounter.