Senior Hayden Senter played his final game in a Los Gatos uniform.
The Los Gatos girls’ soccer team advanced to the CCS Division 2 semifinals with a 4-2 win over Sobrato Saturday, but the Wildcat boys team ran into a much faster Yerba Buena squad and saw its season come to an end with a 3-1 overtime loss.
With the win, the Los Gatos girls play again Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Valley Christian High School against No. 4 seed Aragon, a 1-0 winner over St. Ignatius in another quarterfinal game.
Comeau, Medved Once Again Spark LG Attack
Coach Jan Nordmo watched his girls dominate the action from the opening whistle Saturday, and he showed no emotion on the bench as shot after shot sailed over the crossbar, just wide, or into the Sobrato goalkeeper’s arms.
Taylor Comeau, Brianne Medved and Nina Purro all had excellent scoring chances in the early going but could not find the net. In the end, Los Gatos outshot Sobrato 20-8.
When Sobrato star Jennae Cambra got her team on the scoreboard first late in the half, Nordmo still was not too concerned.
“We have had to come from behind nine times this year,” he said following the game. “When they scored, I leaned over to my assistant coach and said “OK, here we go.?
Comfortable playing from behind, the Cats huddled up and then quickly went to work. Minutes later, Comeau sent a pass over to Medved, who unleashed a blast from the top of the penalty box that found the upper corner of the net. The game was tied at 1-1 at the intermission.
The Cats came out in the second half and once again dominated play. They took a 2-1 lead when Comeau received a pass from Mariah Cleveland that deflected off Comeau’s back and shoulder to an onrushing Hannah Rosenberg, who one-timed it past the Sobrato keeper for a 2-1 lead.
Things looked comfortable until an unfortunate bounce tied the game. Purro tripped up Cambra, and Sobrato was given a free kick from about 30 yards out. Los Gatos keeper Heather Rouhier had to decide whether to attempt to rush up into a crowd and catch the oncoming kick in the air, or back up and catch it on the bounce. She chose the latter, but the kick took a very high bounce on the artificial turn and bounced over her outstretched arms and into the net to tie the game at two.
It only took Los Gatos two minutes to retake the lead. Medved found a streaking Comeau, who this time did not miss, and the Cats were back on top. Late in the game, Amy Hudson put a kick behind the Sobrato defense and the speedy Comeau beat everyone to the ball, put a move on the onrushing keeper and tapped it into the net for the final goal in the 4-2 win.
“Sobrato gave us an unexpected worry,” said Nordmo. “We knew they had a couple of players that could damage us, and when we could not break down their keeper and score early, we saw this as a confidence builder for them.”
But Nordmo said falling behind has not been something that has bothered his team all season.
“Our patience, again, proved to be our benefiting trait,” he said. “The consistent work we put on the field demonstrated that this team is full of character and believes in itself despite what is actually on the scoreboard.”
The Wildcats back line of Chloe Mason, captain Kelly Hoose and Emily San Juan once again came up big for the Cats, each with assertive tackling and pass play development. Nordmo also praised the performances by Eugenia Lin and Victoria Walker.
Boys Can’t Keep Up With Yerba Buena
In contrast to the girls game, the Los Gatos boys could not muster much offense against a speedy Yerba Buena team and spent most of the afternoon fighting off rush after rush.
But despite being dominated most of the half, Los Gatos used stellar goalkeeping by Marshall Finch and a perfectly placed free kick by Alec Smoley to take a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The Wildcats tried to hang on, but the Aztec Warriors tied the game on a free kick by Janitzio Reyna that went to Andy Sandoval, who knocked it into the net.
The score remained tied at one after regulation play. In soccer, two 10-minute overtime periods are play in full. There is no sudden-death in overtime.
In the first overtime period, Yerba Buena’s Juan Martinez was tripped in the penalty box and awarded a penalty kick. He did not miss from short range. Sandoval added another goal on a free kick from 25 yards out late in the second overtime period for the 3-1 win.
It is the first time Yerba Buena has reached the CCS semifinals in school history.
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