Match-ups set for championship round
Cooperative qualified all four of its teams for the finals of the SCISL Varsity Championship Tournament, which it will host beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, raising the possibility that the Jaguars could become the first "quadri-champions¨in League history. (For times see schedule at right.)
International can boast that both its boys and girls volleyball teams will be in Saturday's championship contests, and Christian Learning will have its championship hopes hopes pinned to its girls soccer team.
But perhaps the biggest story of the Tournament is the ascension of the Cambridge boys soccer team to the championship game. The Knights, who were winless during the regular season, will have the chance to become the year's "Cinderella team" as they go up against the undefeated Jaguars Saturday.
Were they to win it will be a classic "worst to first" situation, but the odds faced by the Knights are long indeed. They have been beaten three times this year by the Jaguars, starting with an 11-1 humiliation on opening day, and continuing through a 4-1 loss to Cooperative in the opening round of the Tournament.
Still Cambridge displayed a startling new offensive explosiveness by scoring three times in the final five minutes of its game with Christian Learning to come from behind and win 4-2 Thursday night.
They then put on an impressive display of strategic cunning Friday to beat International 1-0. The Knights scored early, then switched all their emphasis to defense to shut down the Griffin offense.
There was plenty of other exciting action on Day Two of the tournament. Here are the scoring summaries:
In boys soccer, Cooperative defeated Christian Learning 6-0, getting three goals from Juan Manuel Vasquez, and single markers from Santiago Paz, Bryan Moore, and Hyum Kim.
In girls volleyball, International defeated Cambridge, and Cooperative won over Christian Learning, both in straight sets.
In girls soccer, Christian Learning won twice. In the afternoon the Eagle girls beat International 2-1, getting two goals from Abby Phillips. Beatriz Nallar scored for International. At night, with rain falling and high winds, the Eagles defeated Cambridge 6-0.
Cooperative also won twice in girls soccer, and by decisive margins. The Jaguars beat Cambridge 7-0, then in the nightcap defeated International 6-0.
In boys volleyball, International won a thrilling three-set contest against Christian Learning, losing the first set 10-25, then rallying to take the next two 25-23 and 15-13.
The Griffins lost an almost equally exciting match to Cooperative. The Griffins lost in straight sets but in the opening set showed for the first time this year that they can play the Jaguars on an even basis, finally succumbing by a score of 28-26. The two teams meet in Saturday's championship game.
Christian Learning got back on a winning track with a straight sets win over Cambridge, who they play in the consolation game Saturday.
The Cambridge boys also lost in straight sets to Cooperative.
