 |
| Two Knights try to erect a blockade against onrushing Jaguar Antonio Salvatierra (10) -- Ximena Fagan |
Griffins, Jaguars dominate soccer semis
By David Boldt and Jesse Mann
International and Cooperative continued to dominate the varsity semifinals Thursday, and their teams will face each other in the soccer championships in two weeks, just as they will in volleyball.
In the boys semifinals, International defeated Christian Learning 2-0 and Cooperative defeated Cambridge 5-1.
In the girls competition, International defeated Christian Learning 2-1 and Cooperative defeated Cambridge by a whopping 13-0.
In both boys and girls’ divisions the winning teams were playing on their home fields, having won that right through their records in the regular season.
Griffin, Eagle girls start slow, but get hot
The boys contest between the Jaguars and Knights looked like it was going to be a fairly even affair through much of the first half, even though the Jaguars scored the first two goals on well placed shots by Josue Abuawad, and narrowly missed on open net opportunity.
Griffin, Eagle girls start slow, but get hot
The girl's semifinal game between International and Christian Learning began rather sluggishly as players on both teams were clearly feeling the oppressive humidity and harsh, hot rays of sunlight. For the majority of the first half the soccer ball was calmly shuttled from one end of the field to another, with no significant attempts on goal.
This peaceful game play ended abruptly when Griffin forward Carolina Baldvieso scooped up a shot that bounced off the Eagle goalie and caromed of the crossbar and into the net. A few minutes later the Griffins doubled their lead when Natalia Davila launched the ball past the Eagle goalie once again.
The Eagles, however, refused to quit without a fight. After a few more close shots by the Griffins, the Eagles turned the tables and almost managed a comeback. Eagle Abby Phillips took full advantage of a well-placed pass and dribbled the ball skillfully down field and then kicked it into the corner of the Griffin net. to make the score 2-1.
The Eagles then narrowly missed tying the score when another shot on the Griffin goal bounced off a defender and was just barely batted away by the agile International goalie. For the remainder of the match the Griffins clung tenaciously to their thin lead, desperately repulsing several determined Eagle attacks. At last the referee sounded his whistle, and the Griffins celebrated a 2-1 victory.
Griffin boys with physically intense match
The Griffin gentlemen also emerged victorious after an agonizingly aggressive game against the Eagles that ended with a 2-0 score in their favor. Both teams flew onto the pitch itching for success, resulting in an aggressive, spirited battle. The Eagles concentrated the bulk of their manpower on defense, a strategy that frustrated International offensive effort. The Griffins were limited in the first half to several long shots on goal, each skillfully snatched out of the air by Eagle goalie Wesley Ordoñez.
The only significant threat to the Griffins in the first half was embodied in the person of Eagle forward Andre Larson, who got close to the International net on several occasions by bulldozing his way through the Griffin defense.
The score was 0-0 at the half and as the scoreless stand off dragged on, the game escalated into a rough frenzy that produced a fair number of battered, limping bodies by the end of the second half. In one of the more bizarre episodes Eagle forward Trevor Reed was kicked in the nose by a Griffin defender while he (Reed) was attempting to head the ball downfield.
The scoreless stalemate was finally ended when Griffin forward Gary Suarez received a pass in front of the penalty box and contorted himself in mid-air to rocket the ball into the Eagle net.
Several minutes later the Griffins extended their lead when Mateo Suarez (no relation to Gary) found a home for the wandering soccer ball in the corner of the Eagle goal.
Although the Eagles tried desperately, the Griffins successfully defended their two-goal lead for the remainder of the match.
Jaguar boys prove explosive against Cambridge
But Knight Anthony Salvatierra was able to pierce the Jaguar defense and launch an unstoppable shot into the left hand side of the goal to make the score 2-1, and it looked for a while like the game might be a real contest.
This was not to be the case, however, as the explosive Jaguar offense would score two more times in the half to take a commanding lead of 4-1 at halftime.
The game had a peculiar rhythm to it. For a while it would proceed on a seemingly even basis, with Cambridge winning its share of balls in the open field, but then the Jaguars would suddenly strike.
Cambridge goalie Mauricio Soto did his best to keep the game close. On the sequence that resulted in Cooperative’s third goal the Knight eighth-grader repelled two shots before Jaguar Esteban Sauto was able to head a high bouncing rebound into the goal.
The fourth Jaguar goal was a decisive blast by Nicolas Cronenbold that was still rising when it hit the back post, caroming back out onto the field beyond the point Cronenbold had kicked it from.
The Jaguars added one more goal in the second half when winger Nicolas Aguirre made a long looping run from the right-hand side of the goal. The Cambridge defense was slow in getting back to meet him. While Soto frantically gestured for help, Aguirre had several undisturbed seconds to line up a shot into the far side of the goal. He didn't miss.
The Cambridge boys can take some solace in the fact that they are the only team to score on Cooperative so far this year, and they did it three times.
Jaguar girls set scoring records against Lady Knights
The girls contest had more of the feel of a friendly scrimmage than a playoff game. Cambridge apparently decided that the way to prepare for the future was to let some of its younger players take their lumps against a Jaguar team that will probably be remembered as the best in League history, and for much of the game the Knights had six junior varsity players on the field.
 |
| Jaguar Fernanda Vaca Diez races Knights Lucia Candia (17) and Isadora Zaghinji down the sideline -- Ximena Fagan |
Jaguar girls set scoring records against Lady Knights
The girls contest had more of the feel of a friendly scrimmage than a playoff game. Cambridge apparently decided that the way to prepare for the future was to let some of its younger players take their lumps against a Jaguar team that will probably be remembered as the best in League history, and for much of the game the Knights had six junior varsity players on the field.
 |
| Tania Landivar'seight goals set a new League record.-- Ximena Fagan |
However, the Jaguars offense was at full strength, and they handled the ball for much of the game, seemingly able to score at will.
The game will probably be recalled in the record books for the Jaguars total score of 13, and for Tania Landivar’s individual total of eight goals. Both are League records and likely to remain so for some time.
Cooperative also got three goals from Fernanda Vaca Diez and two from Giovanna Varalta.
