- East Bay Prep Corner
East Bay Boys Soccer Notebook: NCS Semifinals
By Matt Smith
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 3:53 pm in Boys soccer.
It’s time to preview the North Coast Section Division I and II boys soccer semifinals.
Division I
No. 1 De La Salle v. No. 4 Berkeley
Berkeley comes into this semifinal with a wave of emotion and momentum after a thrilling win over a championship-caliber team in Richmond. The Yellowjackets have persevered this year through scrutiny, and being underestimated, to legitimize themselves as one of the top four teams in D I.
Now a confident group, one that has had one thing in mind all year, rolls into play the defending champs and the team that has truly been the favorite all along, De La Salle.
“The goal all along has been to win an NCS championship and I think we deserve a lot of credit,” Berkeley coach Phil Scicluna said. “We went after every top team that made themselves available this year, and now De La Salle is another cog in the wheel. They’re another step for us.”
This might sound like a bit of a surprise statement, but De La Salle has been maligned this year too, with many people considering them beatable.
Compared to last year’s team, one that comes around once in a generation, maybe that statement is true, but the fact remains the Spartans are probably the most balanced team in the East Bay.
Berkeley is strong up top with Jesus Carriedo and Josh Jamieson (among others) and the Spartans defense, led by Sean Sweeney, might be enough to stop them.
The Spartans are also extremely solid in the midfield where Wes Moar and Michael Bernardi control things, while attackers like Justin Howard, Tobin Sullivan and J.T. Tallarman create problems.
No. 2 San Ramon Valley v. No. 6 California
The last time the Grizzlies visited San Ramon Valley, a 3-0 defeat in January, it was the start of their first and only swoon of the season. It was the start of a stretch where they lost three out of four games.
One of those three losses was a loss to Granada, which Cal avenged with a 1-0 win in the quarterfinals, setting up another chance at revenge on the road against the Wolves.
The Grizzlies have bounced back nicely after two years of up’s and down’s following the very good team they had in 2007.
“They have quality players and quality coaching,” San Ramon Valley coach Don Busboom said. ”Chris (Faidley) has done a tremendous job navigating them through growing pains over the last couple years and now they are a matured team who is skillful, disciplined, and focused.”
The key for the Grizzlies starts in the middle with Guillermo Rivas, who is a dynamic player. The first time these two teams played, he was frustrated a bit, but bounced back the second time around when Cal salvaged a 2-2 tie.
The Wolves, on the other hand, are incredibly balanced offensively. Bobby Edwards, Johan Sjogrell and Alex Chaussey lead the way, scoring a combined 24 goals. San Ramon Valley is very aggressive both offensively and when closing in on the ball on defense.
A defense that has only allowed 24 goals in 25 games has also been very key. Cal, also, has allowed just 24 goals this season.
Division II
No. 1 Bishop O’Dowd v. No. 4 Acalanes
These are two championship caliber teams, and it is a rematch of last year’s D II final, and it promises to be a knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out slugfest. Last year, it was a 0-0 final settled with PK’s in an Acalanes win, and that was on a sunny day.
Now, add the rain, and an Acalanes defense that has allowed just nine goals (only five that weren’t own goals or PK’s) and you have the recipe for a very low-scoring game.
“Acalanes is a very organized, well coached team,” Bishop O’Dowd coach Peter Belanger said. “No one is going to get a lot of shots in this game; it has never happened in all the years we’ve played Acalanes and it probably never will. Defensively everything starts with their keeper, (Logan) Spittler, who is proving himself to be one of the best around in this his senior season. They have played an excellent schedule this year and have had great success. They come into this game with a winning attitude.”
The Dons three losses are nothing to be ashamed of, losing 1-0 each time to a pair of top D II teams, Dublin and Las Lomas.
The Dragons, dating back to the beginning of last season, have lost only twice in their last 51 games. They have tied nine times and have won an astounding 40 games over that time. They have outscored their opponents 64-12 this season.
Only rivaled in balance by De La Salle, this team has it all. Lock down defenders in Drew Ranahan and Davonte Dubose, fantastic play in the middle from Charlie Ranahan and Max Ornstil and tremendous play on top by Taylor Reitz and Carson Swafford make them a challenge for anybody to shut down.
No. 2 Albany v. No. 3 Dublin
Possibly the most intriguing of the semifinals as the high-flying Albany offense (104 goals scored this season) takes on the stingy defense of Dublin (16 goals allowed). The immovable object against the unstoppable force.
This is also the first semifinal appearance in school history for the Gaels, as if stopping Albany wasn’t enough of a challenge.
“My boys are loose, you won’t see a group of tight kids on our side tomorrow,” Dublin coach James Fulwiler said. “To have a chance at winning this game, we need to keep the ball away from their center mid’s.”
Dublin will be facing a formation with five center midfielders for the second consecutive game as seeing at on Saturday against Ygnacio Valley might end up being a big help in the long run.
The Cougars are also a team that does not have a recent tradition of going deep into the NCS playoffs, and they dealt with questions about their competition all year, being compared to Boise State several times.
But this team has answered some of those questions with two solid playoff performances, beating Salesian and Kennedy-Fremont by a combined score of 6-0.
The Cougars are extremely talented offensively, with Gabriel Borges, Manuel Ramirez and Mason Zupan combining for 58 goals. Peeja Khorashadi is a very important part of this offense, controlling the middle, and Juliano Pereira is the key for Albany defensively.
Team defense will be the key for Dublin, but offensively it will be Cody Hoster and Trevor Weir that make them go.
Rankings
Just a small shuffle in the top seven. I think the biggest point of contention will be Richmond at No. 6 and Granada at No. 7. A two-spot fall for the Oilers and a four-spot drop for the Matadors. On the strength of a tie, and eventually PK loss to a higher-seeded team than Granada lost to, I chose to have Richmond above them. Please debate.
1. De La Salle (16-5-3)
2. Bishop O’Dowd (19-0-5)
3. Berkeley (17-3-3)
4. San Ramon Valley (14-3-8)
5. California (15-3-6)
6. Richmond (15-1-10)
7. Granada (15-4-5)
8. Albany (23-0-3)
9. Dublin (19-3-2)
10. Acalanes (19-3-3)
11. Amador Valley (8-6-12)
12. Clayton Valley (17-4-3)
13. Castro Valley (17-4-4)
14. Newark Memorial (19-5-4)
15. Campolindo (13-9-4)
Others considered: Las Lomas (15-5-3), Ygnacio Valley (13-6-2), Deer Valley (11-7-6), Piedmont (16-5-3), Logan (14-10-4), College Park (12-8-5), Antioch (9-8-7), Liberty (8-6-7), Kennedy-Fremont (10-8-2), Dougherty Valley (10-9-3).
League standings
ACCAL
Team Overall League Points
Berkeley (17-3-3) 10-1-1 31
Richmond (15-1-10) 9-0-3 30
Alameda (6-12-4) 5-3-4 19
El Cerrito (7-10-1) 5-6-1 16
Pinole Valley (6-14-1) 4-8-0 12
De Anza (3-14-6) 1-8-3 6
Hercules (1-12-1) 1-10-1 4
BSAL
Team Overall League Points
Albany (23-0-3) 15-0-1 46
Piedmont (16-5-3) 12-3-1 37
Kennedy (13-10-2) 10-4-2 32
St. Mary’s (12-8-3) 10-4-2 32
Salesian (8-10-1) 8-7-1 25
Encinal (5-17-1) 5-10-1 16
Swett (4-13-0) 4-12-0 12
St. Joseph-Notre Dame (3-17-0) 3-13-0 9
St. Patrick-St. Vincent (1-16-0) 1-15-0 3
BVAL
Team Overall League Points
Antioch (9-8-7) 7-3-5 26
Deer Valley (11-7-6) 6-3-6 24
Liberty (8-6-7) 6-3-6 24
Freedom (10-6-6) 6-4-5 23
Pittsburg (6-13-4) 3-8-4 13
Hertiage (3-12-2) 3-10-2 11
DFAL
Team Overall League Points
Dublin (19-3-2) 8-2-2 26
Acalanes (19-3-3) 8-3-1 25
Las Lomas (15-5-3) 6-3-3 21
Dougherty Valley (10-9-3) 4-6-2 14
Campolindo (13-9-4) 4-6-2 14
Alhambra (6-7-5) 3-6-3 12
Miramonte (0-7-5) 0-7-5 5
DVAL
Team Overall League Points
Clayton Valley (17-4-3) 10-1-1 31
Ygnacio Valley (13-6-2) 8-3-1 25
College Park (12-8-5) 7-2-3 24
Concord (7-9-4) 7-3-2 23
Northgate (4-19-1) 3-9-0 9
Berean Christian (2-19-3) 1-9-2 5
Mt. Diablo (1-12-1) 1-10-1 4
EBAL
Team Overall League Points
De La Salle (16-5-3) 10-1-3 33
San Ramon Valley (14-3-8) 7-2-5 26
Granada (16-4-5) 7-3-4 25
California (15-3-6) 7-3-4 25
Amador Valley (8-6-12) 3-2-9 18
Monte Vista (5-13-5) 3-9-2 11
Livermore (3-12-2) 2-10-2 8
Foothill (5-13-5) 0-9-5 5
HAAL
Team Overall League Points
Bishop O’Dowd (19-0-5) 12-0-4 40
Castro Valley (17-4-4) 12-1-3 39
Arroyo (12-10-1) 9-6-1 28
Mt. Eden (11-10-1) 8-7-1 25
San Lorenzo (7-7-5) 5-6-5 20
Tennyson (4-8-5) 4-7-5 17
San Leandro (6-11-6) 4-9-3 15
Hayward (6-12-3) 3-10-3 12
Moreau Catholic (2-14-3) 1-12-3 6
MVAL
Team Overall League Points
Logan (14-10-4) 9-1-2 29
Newark Memorial (19-5-4) 8-1-3 27
Kennedy (10-8-2) 7-4-1 22
Mission San Jose (10-10-1) 6-6-0 18
Washington (4-13-2) 4-7-1 13
Irvington (6-12-3) 4-7-1 13
American (0-14-0) 0-12-0 0
Statistics
Here is the list of the players in the East Bay who are top ten in goals and assists.
Goals
Littleton, Piedmont 50
Borges, Albany 26
Tieku, El Cerrito 21
Ramirez, Albany 18
Chen, Las Lomas 17
Fuentes, Newark 17
Padilla, Clayton 17
Foster, Granada 16
Rietz, BOD 16
Menezes, Dougherty 15
Huang, Deer Valley 15
Weir, Dublin 15
Assists
Gomez, Clayton 24
Borges, Albany 22
Montes, Richmond 21
Thomas, Granada 17
Shiluck, Castro Valley 16
Lopez, YV 16
Swafford, BOD 13
Martin, Deer Valley 13
Sjogrell, SRV 12
Moar, DLS 10
Ornstil, BOD 10
Menezes, Dougherty 10
Arzate, Newark 10
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February 23rd, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Matt,
Great preview. I think the higher seeds win each semi match tomorrow.
If I separate DI and DII, does that reflect your DI rankings and your DII rankings?
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Pretty much you nailed it. And the D II champ, if it’s not BOD, stands to make a huge jump.
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:51 pm
I don’t think Bishop should be ranked so highly. From watching them they are nothing special. I call 2-0 to Acalanes in tomorrow’s semis.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Sweeper don’t be offended or anything, because I love what you do for this blog, but I only see one higher seeded team winning tomorrow, which is De La Salle.
It’s just my opinion, but I see Cal, Acalanes, and Dublin moving on.
For acalanes, if they score first they’ll hunker down on defense and the game Gould be theirs. I just don’t see Bishop’s offense posing much of a threat to their defense.
As for Dublin, I compared the two aspects of both teams. (offense and defense)
Albany’s offense vs. Dublin’s defense match up well, with neither having the clear edge over the other.
Now Dublin’s offense vs. Albany’s defense is a different story. With Hoster and Weir up front as Matt mentioned, I think they’ll out run the Albany defense, giving Dublin the edge to win the game. But just like the Acalanes victory prediction, if Dublin scores first Hoster will most likely drop back to defense.
Finals:
De La Salle vs. California
Acalanes vs. Dublin
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:25 pm
have you forgotten about albanys great defense?
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Berkeley is actually 18-3-2, Max prep had it wrong, had the Richmond game as a tie.
Berkeley like DLS is very well rounded, defense only gave up 14 goals all year. No one seems to know their names, but we will leave it that way.
Good Luck to all teams in the Semi Final Round.
WB
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:30 pm
The Richmond game actually counts as a tie. That’s how it works for overall records. They get a tie, and then advance via the PK’s.
The only time it counts as a win in high school soccer is in a championship match.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Thanks Matt
WB
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Matt and Sweeper, you both do great jobs here. What games will you guys be on tomorrow.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
I dont know if youve seen the all league teams for EBAL but i just found out Andre Rawles of Cal got honorable mention? honorable mention???? Im sorry and i mean no disrespect to the other keepers theyve worked hard all year, but that is a complete joke. Andre has led Cal all season with huge saves at key moments. He deserved 2nd team AT LEAST and i am very dissapointed that his immense talent hasnt been fully recognized. I think he deserved better than that.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I will be at SRV v. Cal.
And I am in complete agreement about Rawls. I think he’s a tremendous player.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Matt,
are all league teams out?
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Perfect timing with that question. I’m trying to gather them as we speak. I’ve only seen the MVAL and BVAL so far.
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:06 pm
well my predictions for tomorrow,
DLS 2 Berkeley 0
SRV 1 Cal 1 in pks. Cal has been playing great defense. Rawls coming out to make a statement if the comment above is true. Cal.
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Anybody have any idea if the DLS forward that was injured against Amador Valley will be available to play tomorrow night? That could be a difference maker against a tough Berkeley team riding a high from Monday….
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:38 pm
#9 Ebal Fan,
I will be at SRV v. Cal tomorrow night.
However, to me, the most compelling match is Albany v. Dublin. But I have commitments until 6:30pm in the Tri-Valley (moving that match up to Pinole didn’t help). If the match were played at Dublin, I would definitely be there.
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:48 pm
All i know is Clayton is going to be good for a couple years. Gomez being a soph. and leading the east bay in assists. Padilla being a frosh and being in the top 10 in goals. Clayton is going to be good as long as these guys are on the team. Next year is there year. What do people think?
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:00 pm
If a team wins in overtime is it considered a win? Or is that also considered a tie?
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Overtime counts as a win.
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Gotta tell ya Matt that Las Lomas should be in the top 15 and Clayton Valley is ranked to high.A post on the last blog entry clearly delineated the abysmal record the DVAL had against the DFAL teams.So what if Clayton won league.They lost to every DFAL team they played and to rank a DFAL team lower is crazy.I appreciate what you do and that you gave them props for winning a weak league but still you missed on that one.
If your logic is true,that is that if you beat an opponent and then get ranked higher ( example Campo being ranked over Las Lomas) then Las Lomas must be ranked above Clayton.Even then, Las Lomas finished higher in league than Campo..What gives??
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:07 pm
You can’t rank everyone based on who beat who. You just wouldn’t be able to do it. I do it on who beats who recently. A lot has happened since Las Lomas beat Clayton Valley. Since then, Clayton has won a Division I playoff game on the road against a ranked team and league champ.
Campo’s win over Las Lomas and dogfight with Bishop O’Dowd was enough to get Campolindo into the rankings.
Thanks for jumping in and letting me know what you think.
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Soccer Fan- If you went by that logic, then Las Lomas should be also ahead of Acalanes and certainly Dublin; Acalanes should be ahead of Berkeley; and Granada should be ahead of De La Salle. But the matter of fact is, Acalanes and Dublin have played much better soccer as of late (semifinalists), and I believe that they are truly the better teams. The same goes for Berkeley over Acalanes and De La Salle over Granada. In Las Lomas’s last two games, they were defeated 2-0 by Campolindo (In NCS when the pressure is on) and tied Miramonte, two very unimpressive finishes. As far as Clayton Valley goes, they are a very strong team, and although they never won against a DFAL team, they won many respectable matches around the East Bay and did win the DVAL for what it’s worth. All things considered, Las Lomas is still an excellent team and I look forward to seeing how they fare next season.
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Looks like Matt and Sweeper are at the same game.
Matt your previews were on point. Cal goes back to the place where they suffered their hardest lost of the year, being at that game and the game that was tied it seemed like SRV let Rivas play more with the ball as in the first half someone was constantly on his back and physical. We’ll see what the strategy is.
Sweeper- I agree the Dublin vs Albany game is appealing to me but Pinole is quite a ride.
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Several comments: first, the BOD vs Campo game was not a dogfight:Matt O’Dowd DOMINATED. It wasn’t close other than the score.Other than a NCS game( Props to Campo for the win) and a Senior night game at Miramonte Las Lomas dominated almost all other games they played including a convincing 3-1 win over Clayton on 1/22. By the way this was a run with 7 consecutive wins including Dublin,Acalanes,Dougherty Valley,Alhambra and Clayton before the tie with Miramonte.
By your logic then wins only matter if they happen late in the season? I guess the question is what is your metric for success? A DVAL record that includes 10-12 “wins” against teams that can’t beat a DFAL team.How respectable is that?? All in all Las Lomas played the tougher schedule and beat higher ranked teams and very solid teams week in and week out.That is irrefutable.There is no good reason ,other than a specious argument that Clayton won league, that Clayton should be ranked above Las Lomas regardless of how Las Lomas ended their season. Las Lomas was the only team to beat two of the semi finalist.Dublin has 3 losses in total of which two were to Las Lomas. Acalanes has 3 losses including a 1-0 loss to Las Lomas AT Acalanes..I think you missed this one…thanks Matt
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Soccerfan – Thet whole point of the rankings is as matt said “what you’ve done for me recently”. Not who you have beaten months ago.
Matt is totally correct because if you look at the ncs bracket, Dublin and Acalanes are still playing and Las Lomas is not. Plus Clayton moved past the first round while LL didn’t.
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Bracketology logic takes over rankings when the playoffs begin. Allow me to explain.
There is no “better team” claim in the playoffs, just teams that advance when they should, teams that don’t advance because they shouldn’t, the upset team, and the dreaded teams that should advance but don’t, aka WTH(?).
IMHO, here is the Bracketology pecking order for end of season rankings:
1.A playoff win trumps regular season wins.
2.Going deeper in the playoffs trumps exiting early.
3.Pulling the upset means the rising “star syndrome,” advance at least 2 slots.
4.Losing at home as a seeded favorite taints a great season and is referred to as the “choke-hold syndrome,” get over it.
5.Insulting Matt is grounds for a 5 place demotion, so watch yourselves.
6.Lastly, a tainted great season is still a great season, because this is soccer an 1-and-out happens.
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Sweeper, Would you consider the Cal against Granada an upset, because I definitely wouldn’t.
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Tack-you missed the point.The point of contention is not about what Acalanes and Dublin are doing but the lack of competition that Clayton valley faced and where they are ranked as a result. One cannot argue both sides of being in( like Acalanes and Dublin) and being out) like Calyton and Las Loma) and be credible.You look at the sum total because Clayton is now out just like Las Lomas. The seasons are over for both and one can compare leagues,records,results and comparable foes.Again.Las Lomas was the better team on all accounts and should be ranked higher than Clayton Valley .
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Sweeper,
You crack me up man. This blog wouldn’t be even half as good if you weren’t around.
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Matt, Did you mean this blog would be twice as good? Huh?
Ebal Fan, IMHO, Cal beating Granada on the road was a minor upset, mostly another EBAL parity beat-down.
If I were a Granada fan I would say, and you can quote them, “Why did we even play that game? Bring on SRV!” No dis to Granada, because sitting with the parents on Saturday, they had a “WE BELIEVE” attitude until the end, and the MATS had a great season (see #26 above).
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Exactly. Not half as good without you, or twice as good with you. Either way, you are awesome.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:02 pm
I say Berkeley can beat DLS if they keep their shape, their problem is the chase the ball to much and lose their shape, something a well disciplined team like DLS will exploit. But technicaclly Berekeley has faster team speed. We will see.
SRV will likely beat CAL as they match up well with them, but need to play well. SRV appears to want the NCS crown and is playing well of late…..a little extra passion at the right time.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:05 pm
#27 Cal against Granada was definitely an upset….
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Sorry, I just wanted to chime in. I try not to unless it’s a question or statement directed towards me.
But Cal over Granada really is an upset. Not only just because of the seeding (No. 6 over No. 3 is an upset in any type of bracket) but because Granada was being talked about as a team that could go all the way. Cal, as good as they are, wasn’t being talked about in that way.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:08 pm
you are spot on Matt
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Good point Matt but they both beat each other once and they tied in points so to me its not an upset.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:11 pm
With all of the debating of rankings and NCS seed the Las Lomas team has done on here, maybe they should have spent more time focused on not getting knocked out on their home field by Campo…
See ya Las Lomas!
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:12 pm
I definitely see your point Ebal Fan. And it’s a very good one. I think a good way to put it is that I don’t think anyone was overly surprised about it. Cal matched up with Granada well all year.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Matt-
Based on your write up on SRV versus Cal, is the only thing they SRV has going for them are their 3 forwards.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:23 pm
EBAL Spektator:
What former Soviet Republik are your from, comrade?
I agree with you. I say Berkeley will lose to DLS bekause they are out of shape and 80 minutes is too long.
Seriously, when was the last time that Berkeley beat a tier-1 EBAL team on the road? And I do not count 2004 when Berkeley beat BVAL-DLS 2-1 on PKs. PKs are not on the slate for Wednesday.
Cal’s best chance to win at SRV is to stay back and counter-attack, because if Cal gets overly aggressive early, they will give up counter-attack goals straight up the field (between the posts), like the 1st match this season. Cal needs to repeat the Granada win and get a semi-garbage-play legitimate goal by getting the SRV defense “out of shape.” GASP!!!
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Nope, just had to be brief and hit on a couple of points.
I think SRV is a deep and talented team.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I think either way cal or Granada making it its still going to be great semifinals game for both Divisions i mean i thought richmond should of won but i guess it wasnt there year so berkeley has to show what there made of i think o dowd will have a great game against Acalanes and who knows another upset.but to me how i was reading peoples comment Albany vs Dublin will be a great game they seem one very defensive other very offensive with high scoring or very low overtime type if game .Matt honestly who do you think is going to play in the finals on Saturday?come on lets see what Matt honestly thinks whos going to play well and win these game?
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Red Dynasty, Las Lomas got CHEATED in their NCS seatings, absolutely cheated. They should be on this ranking chart Matt and you know it, you said it yourself they deserved top 5 seed, and now because of one game they’re not even ranked?? Hold true to your word man, dont go with the last win.
and LL didnt have the best showing at their game vs campo. Campo does not match up to Las Lomas, it was an off game. LL went undefeated 8 consecutive matches against the hardest teams. Campo had a good season. But Las Lomas is by far the better team. See ya campo!
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:39 pm
And another thing, campo’s record 13-9-4, and LL’s record 15-5-3. wake up and smell the coffee.
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 pm
Las Lomas did get cheated, but there is absolutely nothing I can do about that.
Either way here I lose. If I don’t rank Campo, then they are upset because they beat LL, and if I don’t rank LL, well obviously we see what happens.
Alas, the perils of what I do.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:08 am
Why do the rankings matter so much? If LL was acually as good as you said they were they shouldn’t have lost to campo in the first round. LL lost and that’s it just take the loss and stop complaining so much . The seedings really shouldn’t matter if your out of the playoffs already
February 24th, 2010 at 12:18 am
Jimbo because the stats say otherwise, they should have been in a much easier game in the first round of the playoffs, considering they only lost 4 out of 20 games. Thats why it matters. they shouldnt have had to play campo in the first round in the first place Jimbo. That’s all
February 24th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Matt, have you considered keeping the leading goals and assists seperate in NCS then in league. No big deal but don’t you think leaders have a hard time keeping up with scoring if they got knocked out of the playoffs while others can still play? idk Seems a little unfair to me.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:42 am
but the fact is LL still would have to beat quality teams to advance in NCS. The pressure was on and they crumbled. every team has off games. maybe clayton had an off game against LL. or campo had an off game the first time LL played them. and then campo beat LL twice in a row (so how you can argue LL is the better team I don’t know).
February 24th, 2010 at 6:33 am
All this chatter over a team that lost in the 1st round is ridiculous. Lets talk about the teams that have advanced. The semis are showcasing the best teams in the east bay. It looks like the seeding committee got it right. Tonight any of the four games
would be worth watching. Soccer at its best.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:53 am
DI soccer has 8 teams remaining, 4 boys teams and 4 girls, with only 5 campuses represented if you combine DSL & Carondelet. Lots of jerseys displayed on those campuses today. Congrats to all semi-finalists and good luck tonight.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Matt,
Where would all league soccer players be posted for ACCAL?
February 24th, 2010 at 10:09 am
I just received it this morning. I’ll get it all up online as soon as I have all the leagues.
It will probably be in the print version of the paper very soon as well.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:45 am
In their 1st SRV game, Cal was missing their starting LM (Danielson) due to the flu. Their lineup changes did not compensate well for the talent loss. Danielson is great at pushing the ball down the sideline and centering with deep passes, thru balls, and shots on goal. The Cal offensive attack was slowed down be his absence and their game plan did not adjust for his loss. For this reason, I believe their 2nd game, with a healthy Danielson-Rivas-Anderson line, is more representative of the offense we will see tonight.
They can’t beat you if they don’t score. Therefore, defense is king! I saw the SRV-Acalanes game and I was impressed by how many Acalanes players threw themselves at the ball to prevent passes from getting thru. That seemed to totally frustrate the SRV offense. Many of the Cal defenders were in the stands for that game to witness that as well.
In the remaining 2 biggest games of their high school careers (yes… 2!), Cal’s defenders must play with the same intensity they saw in the Acalanes players. Be first to the ball! Challenge the corner kicks and throw-ins! Play physically! Win the ball … Win the game.
Cal 1- SRV 0
February 24th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
I feel sorry for Richmond High.They played style that is pure soccer.It was tremendous to watch them play and move the ball like no other High School i’ve seen this year .Rene has done a great job with that community and his teams always played with a lots of passion and respect.I wish him all the best
-Berkeley Parent
February 24th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Kylexy,
I should have thought about separating it by league scoring earlier, but it’s too late now because I’ve added it all together and finding all the old box scores and email would be next to impossible.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
I don’t care what anybody says, Berkeley is gonna come out hard, fast and long. DLS may be bigger but don’t have the heart the drive that Berkeley players do.
2-1 Berkeley takes it to the championship
February 24th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I don’t care what anybody says, Berkeley is gonna come out hard, fast and long. DLS may be bigger but don’t have the heart, the drive that Berkeley players do.
2-1 Berkeley takes it to the championship
February 24th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
2 hours before game time where are all the predictions at?
February 24th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Off game for LL against campo… OH WAIT! we beat you twice! see ya Las Lomas!
February 24th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Oh forgot to mention. Both on your home field. No excuse there
February 24th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Hey dfal, Your team is garbage. enough said. See ya campo! LL beat you on your home field as well!
February 24th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Hey dfal, Your team is NOT good. enough said. See ya campo! LL beat you on your home field as well!
February 24th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Hey, i think everybody should forget about the past. Both LL and Campo had great seasons. If i had to give the edge to a team, it would Be Las Lomas. Because of their great 8 game run and their ncs mistake. Campo props to your young team as well, you will dominate in a couple years!
February 24th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
I hear SRV and Carondelet are in OT
February 24th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
figures. SRV always fights hard til the end
February 24th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
PKs at Carondelet
February 24th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Dfal and Kylexy have made the top 15
February 24th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
do you believe?
February 24th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
SRV 2. Cal 0 @ half
February 24th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
update on girls semifinals?
February 24th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Any report on the Dublin – Albany game ?
February 24th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Cal keeper keeping it this close at SRV.
February 24th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
2-0 doesn’t sound very close? what about the car/srv girls game?
February 24th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
SRV 3-0
February 24th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Thank you, berkparent.
February 24th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Sweeper, Great updates! now only if somebody was blogging or tweeting scores from Castro Valley, California…
February 24th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Mike . Heard anything on the Albany game??
February 24th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
nope sorry hombre I’ve just been getting them from the other bloggers. Good luck though somebodys bound to be getting us the scores soon! I recommend the Prep Corner twitter site because there may be more updates coming up. http://twitter.com/eastbaypreps
February 24th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Cal wthin 1, 13 to go at bizarro world.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Cal wins 4-3…shameful
February 24th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
What happened, Sweeper? That’s near-incredible.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
any updates on dls/berk?
February 24th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
wow…I’m so happy it was not a repeat again with SRV in the finals congrats Cal… they came back after a 3-0 at half and won it 4-3 great job Cal.
dls started late any news yet?
February 24th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
DLS is up 1-0. Game started late due to the girls game going to OT/PKs.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
DLS up 2-0 in 1H
February 24th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
DLS IS UP 2-0 JUST GOT WORD FROM A DLS PARENT
February 24th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Girls Game. Castro Valley 3-2 over Cal. The ref was probably the most one sided we’ve seen in a long time but CV kept on pressing and won.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Wow! Details please? Anyone? Got to be a story in there. Can’t believe I had to miss that one… Ugh! Youtube anyone??
February 24th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Cokito, SRV dominates for 60 their center back gets a red on a play that did not warrant a yellow. Shameful.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Hey Sweeper was it TT? That would be a loss all right.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
NCS site shows O’Dowd a winner over Acalanes 2-1
February 24th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
It was TT that got carded. I strongly disagree however that the play did not warrant a yellow. While the straight red might’ve been severe, the defender completely cheap shotted the Cal forward with a forearm to the neck/head area.
Definitely did not help his case that he came in with the reputation he has, something I’m sure the center was aware of.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
I was at the SRV game and it was a travesty,
the officating was beyond poor it was down right malicious.
SRV had total control of the game with 22 minutes to go 3 to 0 and the ref thought he needed to get involved, he hits SRV’s best defender with a red card for a 50/50 header ball, then the side line judge tells him to red card the coach, and the assistant coach gets red carded.
Then the first two goals CAL scored appeared to be off sided, but the sideline judge was not in position to make the call, probably because he was mad at the assistant coach. With a man down and a team of refs against them, SRV lost 4 to 3.
I know that some folks video taped the game and this malicious ref should not go unpunished, he clearly had a bias or one heck of an ego that affected his calls. Even the CAL team was shocked as they knew the referee had a hand in helping them win, they were clearly not the better team….unbelievable
February 24th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Hope you guys saw Albany play! Cause you won’t anymore!!
DUBLIN IN PK’s 4-2!
February 24th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Quick synopsis:
SRV dominates game early, Cal gets a great oppurtunity but can’t convert and SRV scores on the counter.
Miscommunication between the LB and GK of Cal results in an open net goal for SRV
2-0 at half.
Srv scores again 10 mins into 2nd.
20 mins left, Rivas hits one bottom left.
2 mins later, TT gets carded out
scoring flurry, one deflection and 2 headers later Cal wins 4-3
February 24th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
SRV dominated throughout, Cal wins
February 24th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
hey guys I decided at half I had to go and check it out. and boy was I surprised to see that after hearing it was 3-0 SRV, Cal had tied SRV 3-3 late in the 2nd half. about 7 minutes left when I got there.
but this is where the sad part starts. near the end of stoppage time a kick deep in SRV goal area is not cleared. Cal gets a break as it takes a bounce over the SRV keepers head. he tried to run backwards but at the last minute when it looked like he was either going to get back in time or not, he stumbled and couldn’t catch it. however, it wasn’t just him who made a mental error by mis reading ball position. he had run out to trap it just as a SRV defender kicked it back… to a Cal player right in the fray who sent it high and sure. The Goalie realized too late he was too far front and ran backwards as the ball sailed above his reach. poor kid i really feel how bad that is. as you can imagine he did not want to raise his head after sinking to the ground, feeling to blame. Cal seemed surprised it got that break for they were the underdogs all night. what I felt was shameful like Sweeper says is as the goalie walked back to the huddle after the whistle blew, he was about halfway there and one of his own team mates yelling for all to hear “you suck”.
such a great match that ended very poorly. not because Cal played a miracle but because SRV didn’t do a good job supporting their most important guy that last 2-5 minutes…
I felt overtime was much anticipated by both sides and everyone Cal or SR was expecting a PK barn burner worthy of such claims, but it was a bitter way to end a great season..
February 24th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
#87 you must have missed the first half when one of the CAL defenders got tangled up with one of the SRV forwards and on the ground the CAL defender through an elbow to the back of the SRV player directly in front of the center.
The center stopped the game, spoke to both of them (no cards) and then gave a free kick to CAL….
February 24th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Wow unbelievable. EAnderson on the head goals maybe?
February 24th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Congrats to Dublin or winning they are off to the finals!! Our Santos boys are on fire from Dublin to Cal way to go boys!!
February 24th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
#92
sounds like you got there late and missed much of the game and the refs involvement, you may have misunderstood, everyone felt the referee had a hand in this CAL win and more than likley the kids were telling the ref that he sucked.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
#94 thats what happens when you play the season as the dirtiest team in the league, and you’re the dirtiest player on that team. You get tossed if it’s a close call. The player has a reputation, and the ref knows that.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Yes, Anderson on both of the head goals.
#93 Yellows were given to both players. Srv player went over the Cal player and took him to the ground. Cal player threw an elbow and both of them were carded.
Did you miss that part? O_o
February 24th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
S.Fan,
I’m sorry, but in terms of reffing travesties, you did not see anything as bad as the San Ramon-Cal High boys game.
With the Wolves cruising 3-0, and threatening to make it more, the center ref, well I don’t know what happened, but he just went bad. He gave a straight red card to San Ramon Sweeper, yes TT, on a hard play that at worst was a yellow card, i’d say. But no, a straight red. Then he proceeds to continue with the calls in the Grizzlies favor, am I showing my bias here?, Cal gets a goal and the steam roll is on against a 10 man San Ramon team.
San Ramon Assistant Coach gets Red carded as well.
Don’t know why, perhaps he had issue with the way the calls were going? go figure. But trust me this was very very bad. Cal completes the comeback with 30 seconds left in the match.
Defense Mom, you don’t do yourself any credit by showing joy at a teams loss.
I’m really at a loss to describe what a spectacle this was.
Matt, I think was at the game, I’m chomping at the bit to hear his take on this one.
NCS Soccer took a hit tonight.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Meh. Meant #93, not 94.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Cal and Dublin not Santos only, defense_mom – year-older guys on there playing -uhum -small part maybe?… How many Santos guys seniors?
February 24th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
What a game! I couldn’t even believe it. SRV dominates the entire game until red card. When the red card happened it was 3-1 as Rivas had put one in to give hope. Then comes a ball through and Rivas just moves out of the way for his teammate to finish. Then with 8 left, long throw Anderson on the header to score and tie it at 3-3. Lastly, last minute Rivas through to Anderson as he puts it over the keeper. SRV’s keeper struggled in that second half.
On the red card, I thought it was a very bad tackle, he went up with his elbow to the face. Knowing the kids reputation it was an easy call.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Anderson incredible on head goals – best header in the league my opinion….
February 24th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
#98, what do you mean up 3-0 threatening to make it more?
The red came after the first Cal goal.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Soccerfan
you can’t say NCS took a hit tonight. the Cal boys didn’t quit when they were down.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
I was quite surprised that there was not 4th official in this match, officiating in a big game like this should be done by out of the area refs, who are unbiased, this center ref clearly was biased!! he probably went to cal or has buddy on the team and that is the travesty.
Cal will need more that biased refs to beat DLS, and this time there will be lots of people to witness.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
yeah I just wanted to say what I say from standing near the sidelines at the SRV goal. I heard plenty of parents telling the ref on that 4th goal how bad of position he was in to call it, but I mean wow I know 10 vs 11 isnt equal and a ref ruining the game like that is crazy but when you got 30 seconds before it goes into OT… to lose composure because the ref’s let the better team fail. thats what nobody wants to see. when the better team isn’t allowed to show their worth. I really feel that poor goalie was wishing he had that back, but the whole team should’ve known how crazy that game was, they shouldn’t have let it end as crazy as that. Idk these things happen
I’m sure we’re all aware of Foothill’s girls team last year, and sometimes when you feel like its going to finally end in your favor, the game gets turned upside down
February 24th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Was the SRV-Cal ref a bald guy?
February 24th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
the sideline judge was, he gave the assistant coach a red and missed 2 offside goals in CALs Favor,
btw #105 I was at the Foothil game and I can tell you the officiating was ok there,
this was unprecedented,
February 24th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
yes sir the one down by the SRV goal was. line judge on the SRV home sideline by the SRV goal where he probably wasn’t making any friends with the coaching staff at the 50yd,, he was balder than Bruce Willis
February 24th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Not so much the officiating which was incredible but the way a game can turn out to be completely un-precedented. If there are any Foothill fans out there, you probably know how the SRV fans are reeling right now that in their biggest game so far they it gets away…
February 24th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Yamon,
my bad!
yes it was 3-1 when the Red card was awarded.
But at 3-0 SR was still aggressively attacking and had chances to score more goals, thats what I meant by threatening to make it more. They could have easily had a couple more goals with better finishing.
I do give CAL major credit for hanging in and keeping up the attack. But if there was a spot for “Victory assist” on the score sheet it would go to the referees! plain and simple on this one.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Dublin went up 1-0 in the first half, and Albany was being denied at the goal, but don’t get me wring. ALBANY PLAYED AMAZING and everything just Dublin wanted it more. With less than 30 seconds in the game Albany brought all 10 field up on a corner, but the ball was put into the net by a dublin defender. Own goal. Game ended 1-1 and not much in overtime, but then PKs.
Here’s what happened:
Albany makes it left while keeper dives right.
Dublin makes it right, Keeper left.
1-1
Albany left, hits post and fires out.
Dublin center, keeper too far left
2-1 Dublin
Albany right, keeper right and diving save.
Dublin left, keeper right
3-1 Dublin
Albany makes in Right, keeper left
Dublin right, keeper froze.
4-2 Dublin
Matt and Sweeper you missed a truely amazing game, with both teams playing the est soccer of their lives. Wish you were there.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
officiating at Foothill-SRV 09.. not tonite.. just the result shocks the team that was up all game and loses 4-3..
February 24th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Not there, but we have all seen poorly ref’d unfair games. The “hit” one takes here is ANY poor referreeing especially in meaningful games. Ruins soccer purity, if any there is. Principles of fairness get kicked aside by the striped who are’nt even kicking…. How many players does the sport lose because of the unfairness, politics, etc.? The most beautiful game… and the players to be commended so highly… but please please PLEASE get good refs! Yeah, i know, the solution they say is to be “3 goals better” than your opposition so you can equalize bad calls – yeah sure and the Easter Bunny might leave you a twenty- right. No matter what a reputation though, in a champ game like this you have to be fair based on the game, not ‘history’. Players play to the level of what is transpiring good or bad.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
ManO’War – The Easter Bunny does leave 20 every year. Fwiw.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
well said #113
and what about the fiasco around the Richmond Berekley game, does no one at NCS do any strategic planning,
wow…..these boys deserve better than this, come on NCS, whatare you going to do about it, there is video on tonight game, review it and take action against this ref…..
February 24th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
#110, Yah, I understand that. SRV was definately still attacking but Cal had gained a bit of momentum back.
While it may have been bad officiating, it was simply a stupid play on TT’s part. It was a dangerous play and a dirty player is going to get in trouble for something like that. A forearm to the neck is not a good idea in a game of this magnitude
February 24th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
#115 where do you get your information, I heard the coach say that TT has never been red carded in any game this year, it was not a dirty play it was aggressive, I have been around soccer all my life and know the difference
February 24th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
ALL YOU SRV PEOPLE NEED TO REALIZE THIS. TT WENT UP FOR A HEADER AND THREW AN ELBOW UP AND HIT THE PLAYER IN THE FACE. THE REF WAS RIGHT THERE AND SAW EVERYTHING. TT WAS RUNNING HIS MOUTH AND FINALLY GOT THE RED. IT WAS A RED AND DESERVED THE RED. WHAT WAS HE EVEN DOINNG PUTTING HIS ELBOW UP WHEN YOUR UP 3-1???? NOT A SMART PLAY BY A GREAT PLAYER.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Yo Yamon, have to ask on 115, what part does a season of poor ref’ing play that led to the decision to foul like that in that circumstance I wonder…. Hard to say? Would you agree it may have played a role? Point is, if so, we need to raise the tide of the ref’ing level. Inconsistency shines through – sometimes players get away with incredibly rough and blatant play, sometimes not – you never know until you see part of the game how “involved” or tolerating the ref is going to be for any given roughness dirty or not. If a red comes out of “nowhere” based on what has trasnpired all through the game to that point… do you have to wonder about the call?
February 24th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
There is a fine line between and aggressive and a dirty play. Hitting a blind opponent in the face with a forearm crosses that line.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
DefenseBaby,
On the play in question, both players went up for the header and they were not facing each other, they were both looking in the same direction. So to say he threw an elbow and hit him in the face would NOT be accurate.
The SR defender jumped higher from behind the CAL player and probably through the CAL player. That was why it was a foul. I still hold firm, that while a foul, and maybe a yellow card, it did not warrant a red card. I think this is especially true when, if you were to look for consistency from the center, that there were many other situations that could have been carded that weren’t and for him to go straight red on this play was perplexing.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
3 – 0 DLS. Two goals and an assist for Talarman
February 24th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Yamon,
I am not going to banter with you on that call, there were elbows being thrown all over the field and the truth is I did not see one on that play,
are you a player, perhaps you were closer than I was, clearly your a parent or a player for CAL so I am done addressing your biased comments
February 24th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
What is going on?Richmond got screwed because of a referee and now SRV.
Lets get some better refs,seriously.
Especially for the playoffs.Someone needs to evaluate them or coaches vote who
deserves to officiate in important games like this.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
118
That call did not come out of nowhere. It was a dirty play and should be called as such. There were 2 yellows given prior to that call. I couldn’t tell you what happened out on the pitch, whether warnings had been issued to players or anything.
I also can’t tell you whether or not that was a good or bad call. All I can say you is that it was a dirty play from my angle.
“, what part does a season of poor ref’ing play that led to the decision to foul like that in that circumstance I wonder”
could you clarify that statement?
February 24th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
To be honest. I laughed when Ebal Spektator called someone else biased, when he has been the most biased on this message board.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
122
And you’re definitely not associated in any way with SRV.
You see, I can tell by your incisive and completely impartial remarks on the game as well.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
119, we can agree on that. 123, appreciated, question is what extent did allowing dirty plays to occur previously, or inconsistent ref’ing, play a factor in player’s split-second decision to foul that way at that time? I’m not condoning it, there’s no room for dirty rough play. Yet if dirty rough play has been tolerated to some extent all year – you’re likely to see it again. Players do play to the level of what has been occurring. One ref’s view seems to be another ref’s blind spot.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
I see everyones point here, but SRV up 3-1 with 15 left with a man down and they keep their 4-3-2, in that position you drop everyone back.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
126, hard to argue that… but sometimes if you are taking it to a team and then you let your foot off the gas, you sputter and lose your edge, and let ‘em back in. Hard to balance sometimes but in hindsight – pack the box, one forward to run around and make sure none of the fullbacks score. If AN in there at FB for Cal, for example, you’d have to pressure that if he came up for a possible shot.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
btw DLS 3 Berk 0
Berkeley played well and never gave up. They looked and played like an EBAL team.
Congrats to them for making it to the semi’s.
Congrats to CAL and sorry to hear about the way the game went down. The SRV girls tied the match against Corondelet with less than two minutes left and then won in pk’s. Between this years semi and last years finals they live a charmed life. It helps to be a good team too of course.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Props to SRV. What a team. They were men among boys out there.
SRV fans, stop putting the blame on the refs. The red card was deserved. #9 has been a red card waiting to happen all season. He had 2 previous plays where yellows could have been called. He was warned on one of them. Then he goes up and throws an elbow at the head in a game as big as this. Even had SRV won he would not have been eligible for the championship and his season would have ended tonight. He’s a great defender, hard-nosed and combative; however, he lacks self-discipline. I mean no disrespect but I call it as I see it.
A Cal parent commented that the SRV coach generously substituted after getting their 3-0 lead. At 3-1 he put the starters back in but they weren’t as sharp. After the red the defense look totally unorganized and Cal was able to send the ball deep and beat them in transition. The keeper (backup?) was caught too often off his line and got burned.
Cal’s keeper did keep them in the game with aggressive play in goal. Cal’s defense played poorly and did not match up well with the speed of the outside mids. They blew right by the defenders. SRV scored 3 but it could have been 6 but for the Cal GK.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Right, I understand what you’re saying. It’s an inconsistency that plagues every sport and there is no answer as long as humans continue to ref games. Hopefully a good referee communicates to the players on the pitch and attempts to let them know what is acceptable through both the calls on the field and his words.
I don’t see a solution to the problem and it’s something all sports teams unfortunately have to live with and attempt to adapt too.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Hey Bam, 1) SRV girls played against the Caron team overloaded with lots Mustang, so sounds like good “we know you” area-player rivalry game?
2) DLS defense vs. Cal offense coming up? DLS offense versus Cal defense interesting match-up… Buy your tickets now man, wow. Could midfield play make the difference?
February 24th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
cal is going to get killed in the finals srv would have matched up a lot better against dls
February 24th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
i just wanna congratulate Albany on a fantastic season. They played great tonite, and technically still keep their undefeated record. The kept fighting until the very end which made for the most exciting game of soccer. Thank you.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
#129
were you at the game? the red card was deserved, no one agrees with you except your buddy Yamon. watch some english league soccer bud and learn about intense soccer!!
and btw…goal #2 and goal #3 were off sides and the line judge (bald guy) was not in position to call it and did not….that is quite a turn in momentum what should be 3 to 1 became 3 to 3. with a red carded player and coach. Yes the keeper mad mistakes but it is overwhelming to 16 year olds when the ref is biased.
And not to mention that the ref was keeping the clock time and went 6 minutes over the 2 minute stop, and blew the whistle 45 seconds after Cal scored…..sorry to tell it how it is, but looks and smells like a conspiracy.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
btw, SRV fans…
AT NO TIME IS IT OK TO VERBALLY ABUSE AN INJURED PLAYER. If you were among the ones doing so and are too stupid to be embarrassed by your own behavior then I am embarrassed for you.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
129, we were hearing AR in goal was keeping Cal in the game, courtesy Sweeper. Two great GK’s coming up in the final, DLS Rogers, Cal Rawls, wow!
130, Yam, agreed, but wait a minute please, this is well more pronounced in soccer compared to other sports, especially high school soccer … and I do think we can improve the quality by a lot if we tried – just a little harder.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
133 How could goal number three have been offsides. it was on a throw in? good call buddy.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
ManO’War –
The game vs CAL probably lost some luster though as the Spartans took some hits tonight. We lost Howard,Moar and Sweeney to injuries tonight. Our goalie got a red card, so he is probably out for the next game. Good thing that we have 26 players on our roster for NCS. I’m sure the rest of the boys will step up in there place.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
137 – man I hope you are KIDDING!!
February 24th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
#133
so YOU were in position for those calls?
February 24th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
prediction for finals
DLS 3 CAL 0
unless they get the same ref….then who knows…
February 24th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
133
See comment 136
also, yes. You’re right.
It’s a conspiracy, duh
February 24th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
138, PS, Oh no, I hope we’re not into another ‘soccer is ruined by bad refs’ discussion. I said my piece already… I’m out.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
ManO’War –
Yes, I was kidding. We received some bruises but other than that are players are ok. Berk received a red tonight for punching our player in the face while on the ground.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
143, you get a red for way too dirty play! May the PK hit you in the noggin…. haha u got me
(and I already had my tickets)…. ugh
February 24th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Bam,
Was the red justified? In English League Soccer it is my understanding that punching in the face when down is allowed.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
EBAL spekator left since he claims the third goal was offsides when it came off a throw. good call man.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
#145 It looked like it was warranted as it happened right in front of us. As their fan yelled across the pitch, “it was with an open hand so it shouldn’t count” lol Their fans were very loud and in force. Props to them for supporting their team and giving them a boost for a tough match up. They looked ready very up for the game and the DLS boys were calm and workman like. No doubt that Berk came to play tonight but in the end made a few costly mistakes. The biggest was probably in the last 20 seconds of the first half that gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
The debate of the SRV v. Cal match is over. Crappy officiating leads to a crappy result. In 34 matches that I have seen this season in the east bay and the south bay (quality matches only), I have only seen one (1) straight red, and that was tonight. WTH???
DLS will easily win the ship, probably 3-0 or 4-1, it is practically a bye. Cal should be totally grateful for the gift.
I hope the 2A ship will not get crappy officiating.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
O’Dowd dragons completely dominated Acalanes tonight in their 2-1 victory. After giving up an own goal in the first half, they seemed unphased as Rietz and Swafford combined for Swafford’s finish. O’Dowd continued to fight hard to earn their second goal, a Rietz header off of an immaculate Ornstil cross. Outstanding defensive play in their back line shut down every Acalanes attempt. Our best wishes go out to Charlie Ranahan, who seemed to have suffered a serious knee injury after an intentful, late challenge that earned Acalanes defender #3 a straight red. They played with an unrivaled passion, heart, and unity. It will be interesting to see Dublin try to match it this saturday.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
WOW – What an amazing game Albany Vs Dublin. You guys missed the match of the year.No cotroversy but an awesome match between 2 terrific teams.
Dublins heralded defense came to play out really gave Albany’s fits. Dublin had an amzing Goal when Hoster went sky high and header a ball into the goal only to have official call it back saying Hoster knee’d someone on the way down. 2 extra periods controled by Dublin and a PK shotout.
Anyone know why the Dublin coach switched keepers for the PK’s? Brilliant move as that big keeper won the game for Dublin.
The Albany players were very dignified in the lost and showed true character. Just a great game by two great teams.
It’s my first time watching Dublin this year, and they are very impressive and balanced. BOD is in trouble.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Bambam,
My sources texted me that SRV tied Carondelet with 8 minutes to go in the match, but you have it at 2 minutes to go, a real nail-biter. I also heard that the SRV girl’s starting keeper did not make it to the end of the match, and their back-up keeper had to step up. Is that true?
On Saturday, DLS just needs to play their game and the championship is theirs. Good luck and it has been great fun this season.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Sweeper,
I just saw the video and there are a couple of things you missed. Shortly before that play there was a foul resulting in a retaliation in which both players were yellow carded. The initial foul probably should have been a red as the SRV player jumped on the Cal defender’s back with his arm around his neck bringing him to the ground. The defender was trailing the play and was not around the ball. Several players had to be separated.
On the play in question there was a definite forearm to the neck. Whether that in and of itself was worthy of a straight red will remain the great debate; however, the ref was in the right position to evaluate the play. On another night without the previous near brawl, maybe he makes it a yellow. However, tonight, on this night, given these conditions the red probably is justified. The ref was trying to control the game not change the outcome.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Congrats to Cal & DLS, and the SRV and CV girls. And BOD is in both 2A finals, with Dublin on the boys side and Alhambra on the other. Good luck to all 8 teams in the finals.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:20 am
#150, your ‘facts’ are just a bit off base. The ref never had control of the match from the start. SRV dominated for 60+ minutes despite the officiating incompetence. I was sitting with a college scout and he told me that the officiating was “intolerable, where do they get these bozos?”
Matt is surprisingly silent, and I do not blame him. The total work of the officiating tonight was just plain incompetent and any parsing of the results is irrelevant
DLS will win, its over, stay home and save the $9.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:21 am
I think the bickering has finally stopped. Congratulations to everyone this far. SRV played a great game against Cal, and everyone can think the referee had part in it but the Cal guys for not quitting. It’s time to show respect where its due. Rawls, Anderson, Rivas deserve a bunch of credit.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:27 am
#111, Tack, great postings on the Dublin v. Albany match. You have maintained objectivity, and you saw a truly great match tonight, unlike the bizarro-world officiating that we witnessed at SRV tonight.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Matt,
Any word on the location of the finals? Can we also know who will be officiating each match? Inquiring minds want to know…or save the cash and watch the Olympics on tape delay, thanks NBC.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:33 am
Albany vs. Dublin, great game. it truly was the battle that everyone had talked up. while albany played the nicer style, dublin did their job. they held it tight on defense, packing it in and not allowing albany’s attack to cut them up like they did most teams this year. both teams played hard and physical. dublin tried to play the counter attack with their two big forwards but were unsuccessful. albany’s defense held them to nothing. dublin won because of set pieces and fresh legs. they had big guys who worked hard, tackled hard, and went up for every ball. albany on the other hand rarely made subs. dublins hard work is what kept them in the game. i would not say, however, that dublin wanted it more. they had more subs and therefore more energy, but albany wanted it just as bad. tonight, neither team was truly better, the tie was legit. pk’s go the way they do. great game to both teams.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:39 am
Ladies and gentleman,
I went immediately to get dinner with a friend after I typed my story. Then I sat there for an hour and a half while she basically told me she didn’t like me as much as I thought. Why do I share my personal life with you guys? Well, because you’re my cyber-friends, that’s why.
Just got home, showered and I just read each and every comment that came in tonight. Wow. All I can say is wow.
I am going to do something that Sweeper and the rest of the gang is going to hate. I’m going to toe the line. If we talk in person, I’m way more willing to give my unfiltered opinion.
I was at Cal v. SRV tonight, and yes, the officiating was absolutely horrible. Early on it was established that it was going to be a very physical game as the center ref let everything go. Then all of a sudden a switch and the most ticky, tacky things were fouls. It was plain bad.
San Ramon Valley dominated, and I mean thoroughly dominated, the game for 60 minutes. It was actually to the point where I started typing my story. Sweeper was right when he said Rawls is the only reason Cal was even close enough to comeback.
Then the craziest ending to a boys soccer game I’ve seen transpired. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Cal finally scored a goal, and got a little momentum. Then almost immediately, the event that is already infamous, the TT red card.
I am only going to say this: From my vantage point, it looked like it was a 50/50 ball and Tow just played it aggressively. It was very borderline yellow card worthy from what I saw. I heard after people saying that he threw an elbow into the kids head and the ref saw it. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but I didn’t see it. The momentum, obviously, swung from there.
We are getting pretty caught up in this, and it’s a huge, huge deal, but SRV still had a 3-1 lead with 16 minutes to play. Even SRV coach Don Busboom gave me a quote that said something to the effect that if they can’t protect a three-goal lead with 20 minutes to play, then they don’t deserve to win. He made no excuses.
I have to give a ton of credit to Cal for not quitting.
Whew…
With all that being said, that red card call was a monster and more than just playing a man down, the air went out of the stadium, SRV got timid and some people were thinking about playing in the finals without Tow instead of the task at hand.
Losing a very good defender like TT hurts, and SRV was already without Scatterday who left early in the game. But just as much of a physical loss it was to be without TT and be a man down, it was a huge, huge mental blow for SRV who I think started to panic especially after Cal’s second goal.
Cal rode a huge wave of emotion and played like a team should when they have the man advantage.
Agree, disagree? Can’t wait to hear because there are a bunch of takes on this. And mine is humble, at best.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:41 am
Looks like we have a quadruple header at Dublin. Awesome.
Dublin v. BOD boys at 2:30 and De La Salle v. Cal at 7:30. D I girls is in between and D II girls starts the day off at noon.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:48 am
Sweeper –
They scored with about 2:40 left on the clock on a header from just inside the 18. The ball was heaed high in the air and towards the corner of the goal. It bounced once at an angle to where the goalie couldn’t reach it towards the corner of the goal. The SRV goalie collided with I believe McQquiston and both left the game. It was around the 4:00 mark in the second overtime. The SRV coach brought Ritter back in with less than 45 seconds left in the overtime to ensure that she was there for the pk’s.
Side note is good and bad. Her parents probably had a good and bad night. The brother sounds like he had a tough night on the pitch during the CAL game and their daughter came out blocking the final pk vs Corondelet. Tough life as a keeper parent I guess.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:03 am
Matt,
I want to be the first to say great work all season, and we greatly appreciate your candor, diligence and judgment.
While you captured salient details of the SRV v. Cal match, the truth of the matter is that in this case the officiating did in fact affect and change the outcome of the match, no ifs, ands or buts. Your comments confirm that the red card foul was barely a yellow infraction, enough said.
There is no apology for this level of officiating incompetence and the NCS will be “notified”, if you know what I mean.
It has been a fantastic season. DLS by 3 in the final, Cal’s defense is way too weak.
I have nothing to add.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:19 am
Bambam,
On the spot again. Thanks for the insight on the girls semi match. I was getting 2nd hand updates of the match via my daughter who was working and getting 2nd hand texts, ergo my vague postings.
Given the 4-match schedule on Saturday, we are in for at least 3 competitive matches. Congrats to DLS, you have a bye..LOL. What is your call Matt?
I will watch the 3 matches and then read Matt’s report of the mismatch on Sunday. LOL!!!
February 25th, 2010 at 1:24 am
Ahh, Sweeper. Seriously, you are hilarious.
DLS appears to be a heavy favorite, but I’m not counting out this Cal team. Chris Faidley is getting so much out of these guys.
Is a comeback win like the one they had against SRV enough to make it possible they carry the momentum over to the DLS match?
I think the Dublin v. O’Dowd game will be very, very good.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Question…
Why am I still awake?
February 25th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Matt,
Go ahead and put it out there: DLS will lose to Cal. HAH!!! Seriously, SRV should have won 5-1 or 6-1 and you know it. What is your counter-point? Cal “won” 4-3? That is not a legitimate counter. Give us any legitimate “skills and talent” reason why Cal will win against DLS, not just Cal hustles after being down 3-0 and the head ref makes a STUPID red card call.
In truth, SRV dominated the match for 60+ minutes, should have been up at least 4-1, and then the head ref changed the match. THEN, and only then, Cal finally woke up and hustled with an 11 on 10 advantage, and with the single best defender in the EBAL off the field. DOH! The result was not rocket science, and this proved the EBAL MVP importance of TT.
Matt, what have you say??? I will take the answer with coffee in the morning.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:54 am
Sweeper -
Stop giving CAL locker room wall paper. CAL played us tough last time at their field. They have as good any team including as good as DLS. SRV vs DLS would have been classic but CAL vs DLS will be tough none the less.
Matt – seems to be a fortune teller though. When he said last week that DLS had one of the strongest offenses, I sort of said what!!!! DLS had no more than 3 goals against anybody except for Antioch in the second game of the year. Only twice in league did they score 3 goals. The 3 playoff games they have score 10 total goals.
Matt- also stuck with his DLS prediction after DLS went to San Diego and lost 3 straight games. Most people thought the he must have been smoking something but he knew his stuff.
Sweeper – The SRV game sounded very jaded but don’t take away from CAL’S victory as they still needed to come back from 3-0. It sounded like a referee problem not CAL’s problem. We all knew and worried about the officiating especially since all EBAL teams all play pretty physical.
DLS vs CAL will be a good game to watch and tighter than what you think.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:00 am
Sweeper
Trevor played with my son a year ago on his club team and your right, he is one of the top defenders in high school. Missing him had to hurt SRV but did the coach change his formation or leave it as is minus the sweeper?
February 25th, 2010 at 4:03 am
EBAL Spektator
Is this play allowed in English League soccer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9THyblP3l0M
I believe this is the reason the ref had no tolerance for TT’s forearm placed ever so gently on the neck of the Cal player. Cal should have had a man advantage 8 mins earlier than what they did.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:34 am
Matt
thank you for speaking the truth, YOU ARE SPOT ON
The final score last night was
SRV 3
Cal 1
Referee 3
I hope that this is escalated as we have video to show this injustice. I know it’s hard to be a referee and we lose them every year, but this guys should be dealt with.
He clearly had a bias here, I don’t know what, maybe he went to cal or has friends at DLS, who know, I only know that I can not go to work fail at my job and everything be ok….
this was a TRAVESTY!!
February 25th, 2010 at 7:53 am
168
I realize that you wont admit to any fault for the loss, but have you given up on the 2 offsides calls yet, LOL.
I personally would like to see tape of the hit again before I say anything. Although both Matt and Sweeper saw nothing, from my angle I am almost positive I saw a forearm shiver. Maybe if someone posts a video, we can analyze the video more impartially, a day or 2 later after all the excitement.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:54 am
btw… I do not want to take anything from CAL
I know alot of those boys and have watched them play from many years, they did not quit, for that they should be proud.
But for the parents to use this blog as a forum to make up the SRV player throwing elbows and a derserved red card is shameful. I would rather lose a game than win the way you did. best of luck to you in the finals, you will need it.
And for the record the last time these two teams met in the SRV arena, with better officiating the story was SRV 3 to 0 shut out (at the time Cal was undefeated!!) handing them their first loss, and it was as much a domination as it was last night, it could have been 4 or 5 to 0 that night.
The difference no bias referee,
man I would love to know this refs connection/affiliation to the CAL team……but game over, it is what it is, such is life…it just not always fair…
Coach Busboom is a class act, he deserves better
If I were coach I would have gone ballistic..
Good luck to the finals CAL vs DLS
prediction DLS 3 Cal 0
February 25th, 2010 at 7:58 am
# 169
Yamon,
my mistake was on the goal #
it was goal #1 and goal #2 that were off sides from my vantage point, btw the red card header was on the SRV side so not sure how you got such a great look at a flying elbow from 100 yards away?? Duh
February 25th, 2010 at 9:03 am
EBAL Spektator
as previously stated. I believe the red was based on a zero-tolerance for any more overly aggressive play. actually, the Cal sideline did have a better view of the foul because both players were turned away from the SRV side. TTs forearm was in plain sight to the ref and the Cal side. btw, the AR was quick to call the foul as well. Don’t know if he saw the elbow but he definitely saw the effect of the hit on the players head.
perhaps the only bias the refs had was the one they developed during the game from the SRV players yelling at them, the SRV coaches yelling at them and the obnoxious SRV fans yelling at them. I think the officiating was fine… the game needed better fans!
February 25th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Let me start this post by stating that I was not at the game so my comments are based on the video posted by the Cal side.
Point 1: The yellow card was issued for a very dirty play. It was a rodeo move at best and in my mind, it should have resulted in a red card.
Point 2: I would agree with the people who say that the hard red does not seem to be justified. While it appears that he lead with his elbow it probably would have resulted in a yellow 50% of the time in league play. This said, if it was a yellow would it lead to the to the same result – man down for SRV?
Point 3 – Post 170 refers back to the first game between SRV and Cal at SRV which was a 3-0 win for SRV. EBAL spektator seems to make the point that if the same refs were there SRV would have won last night. That was a long time ago and more recent history would show that these teams are more evenly matched now. The second game between Cal and SRV on 2/5 ended in a tie despite the fact that the referee chose not to call two hard fouls in the SRV box (I believe by the player who received the red) in the last two minutes – the ref clearly decided that game in favor of SRV in my mind.
Point 4 – Does SRV have video of the game to post like the Cal team did? It would be great to see the two cards from a different angle so everyone can be more informed.
All this said, the players from both Cal and SRV have dedicated a huge part of their lives to soccer and have achieved so much. It is unfortunate that the season has to close for SRV players on a controversial note but EVERY player on the field last night has a lot to be proud of, these are dedicated hard working young men.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:17 am
What did the ref look like at Cal vs SRV game. He sounds familiar.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Well Berkeley played even until a mistake with 20 seconds to go before the half.
Berkeley broke down in the second half, with DLS pressuring with a great balanced attack.
Want to thank Matt and others for the fun of being on this Blog for the last two weeks.
My son the Berkeley Sweeper and two other players are two weeks late for Varsity Berkeley Baseball.
Regards,
WB
February 25th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Footy Fan #156
For the most part you are correct. It was a great game by two terrific teams. Albany showed a lot of class and Dublin played very hard. I would only add that Dublin had 13 shots on goal to Albany’s 6. Remember Dublin had 3 goals pulled out of the net. 1 for an offside on a throw in, 1 on Hoster for kneeing the keeper on his way down after scoring a header goal in the air, and one for a foul away from the ball after the goal was scored. Albany never really had an attack tonight.
As for wanting it more. Dublin had a lot of calls against them for fouling Albany. If you watch closely most of these calls were because Dublin would attack the ball while Albany waited for the ball to come to them. Dublin also only played 13 players last night, so your fresh legs comments are not valid. Dublin is conditioned and if Albany’s coach is not strtaegic enough to prepare his bench for an NCS run then shame on him.
As for the Albany players, from the stands you could see the heart and disappointment in them after the match. They are a team full of character and class. No complaining, no arguing or dirty play. A really good team with some great kids.
I wish everyone could have watched this match. It really is what NCS is all about.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:57 am
About officiating:
The officials that get chosen to work NCS games are generally the top officials from their respective associations. Every once in awhile, there is an assignment given based on popularity, but its rare. The officials are approved by the coaches from their league before the start of NCS. The NCS does not pay for a fourth official on semi-final matches. Only the finals have a fourth official, however on the TT send off, it wouldn’t have mattered.
In soccer, any deliberate strike to the head or neck is an automatic send-off. It’s one of those things you just don’t do. The NFHS soccer rules are very explicit about how and why you send players and/or coaches off.
If someone wants to complain that the officiating is bad because it was inconsistent, thats fine. I don’t take issue with that.
But it seems like many of you, including you matt, are saying that from your angle you didn’t see anything, then in the next sentence, say he should have gotten a yellow card. I ask, if you didn’t see anything, why should he have been cautioned, why call a foul at all?
The answer is clear, you obviously missed something that the referee saw. You don’t have his vantage point. You aren’t trained to look for the things that the referee is watching. You are over 100 yards away sitting high in the stands while the referee is probably less than 10 yeards away with a great angle. The referee is watching the players before the ball arrives while the spectators and players are watching the ball in flight. The referee checks to see if the player is focusing on the ball, or his opponents head.
I’m wasn’t at the game, I don’t know exactly what happened, but I know that its pretty much impossible for a bad or biased referee to be assigned to this kind of game. I think a lot of you are just sore about the loss and need a scapegoat.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:40 am
Former Farmer,
you make some very valid points.
The viewpoint of players and refs and spectators will always be different.
The video link, obviously taken from the CAL high bench, was clear evidence of the earlier foul that could very easily have been a red for the San Ramon Player.
That play was so much more deserving of a card then the play with the SR center back.
I’m curious, wouldn’t the CAL sideline have video of that play as well? C’mon you guys!
The Referee, from my spectator viewpoint, had a clear and dramatic effect on the outcome of this match. period. It’s not supposed to be that way.
I too, think that the lack of discipline in the CAL back line, showcased last night, will be their downfall against the Spartans. However, “that’s why they play the games” is a famous saying for a reason.
Matt, the young lady is missing out, her loss. I mean doesn’t she read your postings to appreciate your brilliance, insight and human frailties. Don’t women always appreciate frailties? More fish in the seas, Matt , more fish in the sea.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:44 am
FF, well said. Thank you.
the foolish argument about referee bias in the Cal game is unsupported by the facts. if the CR did favor a Cal outcome why didn’t he pull the red on the earlier play where it was totally warranted? instead he gave each player a yellow even though the Cal player had just reacted to be attacked from behind. no one complained about the ref prior to that play. SRV was leading 3-0 and running away with the game and very few calls were made. after that penalty the ref demonstrated less tolerance for aggressive contact. oh, yeah. that’s also when he apparently developed his Cal bias which he waited to reveal until the last 20 mins of the game. right? wrong!
February 25th, 2010 at 11:58 am
#177
yes. I do have video of TT’s foul. With my video angle what is clear in the video is the contact, the raised forearm, the impact on the Cal player and the position of the CR and AR. however, to clearly see in the video the arm impacting the player’s neck you need to view in slow-mo and zoom which cannot be done on YouTube.
if I post the video all that would happen is the Cal fans would see the hard foul and the SRV fans would not.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
U-Must
Oh let us be the judge of that
in the other video, shown from your bench, I think it’s pretty easy to see the SRV player committing the foul
I think it would be valid to compare the two
besides we can make it a full screen view and see pretty well
and, just a conspiracy theorist here, but by NOT posting what you have, it would tend to validate some opinions of the SRV mindset
so please, post away
February 25th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
nice try Fan but let’s let the conspirators have their fun.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, Your Honor,
I submit Exhibit B to show that the play in question did NOT warrant a Red Card and in the process CLEARLY changed the outcome of the NCS Semi-Final Soccer match.
Oh wait, there is NO EXHIBIT B!!! Judge(Matt), can’t you order Exhibit B to be produced?
The opposition has even stated that , and I quote, “if I post the video all that would happen is the Cal fans would see the hard foul and the SRV fans would not.”
That statement, in and of itself, proves that there is extreme doubt about the severity of the incident and the appropriateness of the penalty.
Judge I move for dismissal, I don’t know of what, but I move for it anyway.
How about a match replay?
Best of luck in the NCS Finals Grizzlies!
February 25th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
and 1 more thing Your Honor,
I’d like to call as a witness, Your Honor (Matt),
Please tell the courtroom what you saw
Matt
“I am only going to say this: From my vantage point, it looked like it was a 50/50 ball and Tow just played it aggressively. It was very borderline yellow card worthy from what I saw. I heard after people saying that he threw an elbow into the kids head and the ref saw it. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but I didn’t see it. The momentum, obviously, swung from there.”
Your Honor and Jury, I, FINALLY, rest my case.
your witness
February 25th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Fan, you rock! (they still say that?)
February 25th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I posted this 3 days ago.
SRV vs CAL
(If it is anything like their first match up then Rivas will be key. The cards were flying and Rivas was
a marked man in that match.
SRV needs to be careful and so does Rivas as the CR might pull Red this time.)
Easy RED card prediction if you know the parties that were involved in CAL vs SRV game.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
You guys are all pretty much awesome. This is good banter.
I think this call will be talked about for a long time.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Matt
Do you want me to hook you up my wifes friend. Don’t ask what she looks like, She does have a great personality. lol
I met you at a DLS game and you seem like a good person. You find someone that is on the same page as you. Heck i’d give you mine but she makes too much $$ to give her up. lol
February 25th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Spectator honestly bud enough whining. The kid went up with an elbow to the throat and everyone knows he has a history of being a dirty player. Even with the red a championship team deals with the controversy and pulls out a win regardless which srv failed to do. It was a great game that needs to be remembered not by the reffs but by the effort put out by both sides.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
This morning I watched both the double yellow and the red off of u-must’s youtube channel. Its not that hard to click on his youtube account name and watch the video soccerfan.
The angle is not as good as the double yellow play, but you can definately see the raised forearm.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Re: Officiating
Here is one FACT I will share with all of you regarding officiating. I will even take it off the pitch, and on to the football field. While watching a football team go up on the opposition, 21-0 in the first 7 or 8 minutes, the “White Hat” was overheard by the “chain gang” telling the other officials, “We better start calling some penalties or this game is going to get out of hand.”
The final score was 35-0, and the winning team had 4-5 times the number of penalties as the losing team.
Now, I am not saying that anything like that happened at the CAL/SRV game, I am just saying that it “can” happen. I was not there, and I surely missed an incredible match, from many standpoints.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Albany vs Dublin so exciting it came down to PKs very physical game from what i saw Dublin would sub players in every 4 minutes or so and they don’t know how to play soccer all they could do is clear and the forwards would head the ball up more Albany Defense were very tough also.For the person who said Dublin wanted it more not true at all.Albany had more control of the game its hard for a team to create shot if you put 9 players in the back and 2 up top who just can header the ball.I mean not the better team wins but Albany was the better team Pks are basically lucky some times you win sometimes you loose i mean you saw Richmond vs Berkeley.Congrats to both team very good game to watch.BOD probably will win.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Soccerfan,
Re#182 As we all know, only “reasonable doubt” is necessary for aquittal. (Not Extreme doubt.)
February 25th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
LTG,
I know, I got a little excited with my cross examination.
I’ll keep it under control for here on out.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Exhibit B
love the intro
“welcome to depression, it hasn’t been good”
“Yellow?” echo “Yellow”
“Not much of a chance is there?”
http://www.youtube.com/user/calsoccer2010#p/u/1/OvrvrynWYYY
February 25th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Well Fan,
I’m almost afraid to ask this but what did u see?
February 25th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
So..I just watched the you tube footage of the Cal vs SRV game and uh, what poor defending by SRV on basically all of the goals. Give Cal credit for putting the ball in the net though-however, not sure the ref had much influence on any of those finishes. Sure SRV was a man down due to that red card and on the clip you see that the player appeared to lead with his elbow. Tough call to make under the circumstances but we’ve all had calls go against us at one time or another. With regards to the comments that say Tow deserved this card for his play throughout the year, I don’t buy that. Behavior should be judged on a game by game basis..Although he does tend to be a bit feisty
Either way, looking forward to Saturday’s games. Best of luck to all of those involved and congrats again for those who didn’t quite make it this far..
100
February 25th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Alright, Who’s hiding what. the video has been removed!! Why?
February 25th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Bambam, your offer was hilarious.
I think I’ll manage, on my own though, lol.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Scoreboard said it right, the referees had nothing to do with any of the goals.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Bambam,
Whereas the Cal families, for which that particular clip was intended, will want to play the it over and over again, there are as many SRV families that may find the spirited cheering and jubilation hurtful. Therefore, I removed it.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Matt, you can be my “wing man” anytime I am in the Bay Area, or for that matter, anytime you make it up to Tahoe….the North Shore of course, the Best Shore.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
…..and for all of you that wanted to crash at my pad in Tahoe…..sorry, since Granada got “upset”, you will have to find your own place to crash now. Had Granada knocked off DLS in the finals, my place would have been “ParTay Central”!
Matt, are the All League selections up anywhere?
February 25th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
I make a heck of a wing man, I tell ya. Might have to hang out with LTG for a weekend.
All-League hasn’t run yet. I’m hoping to have them all very soon.
February 25th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Matt, anytime you want to come up and hang in Tahoe, just give me some notice, I have a “home field” advantage. Not that we couldn’t have a great time in the tri-valley also….
February 25th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
I have a clear memory of the play where the red card was called and my view was from the opposite side 50 yards closer to the play than “the video”. I will download my memory of play for all to see…oh wait, my tech support guy says it cannot be done. My memory exists so you will have to trust me on this one. Yeah right. What a load. LOL!
The truth of the matter is the ref let numerous hard challenges go(more than 20 by my count both ways, odd to count such a thing, but something seemed off from the start, I’m sure you can see it in “the video”).
Cards were not flying as Bambam predicted, as the ref called no more than 4 fouls in the first half. The ref did not call any over the back calls on long kick headers while there were many both ways, none, until the play. The tone of lenient (read poor) officiating was set, “the play” was indeed aggressive, but it was on par with what was allowed all night long, and was certainly not “dangerous” per se (Oh wait, let’s check “the video”). I’ll grant a weak yellow to those viewing from the grassy knoll, as an appropriate warning to all that the calling was going to get tighter, but not a red without warning. That is the definition of incompetent officiating, a horrible “body of work” and in fact a corpse.
Regarding the ref having no hand in any goal, I get your point but it misses THE point. Let me explain in simple terms. Cal won the game for three reasons: 1) their keeper play was stellar (even giving up 3 goals), 2) the straight red card on the best defender on the field, and 3) scoring 3 times up one player, with the best defender off the field. Without #1, #2 is not relevant, and without #2, #3 does not happen. Is that clear enough? BTW, even if there was a controversial goal, this guy would not have got that call right either. DOH!
Next up, the quadruple-header. For once the NCS got it right. The NCS would serve most teams well (except Cal) by not allowing the ref that I now call “RED” to officiate any match on Saturday. See you at the field and bring your video-cams so you can keep the videos to yourself. I am glad to share my memories with all…
February 25th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Let me start out by saying that I am a San Ramon player. Obviously I will have some bias, but I will try to be neutral.
On the play where the youtube link was located, I was actually the player that played the forward the ball, and was about 5 yards away from the play when it happened. The forward for San Ramon was attempting to get around the cal player, and almost did a “swim move” (football). The cal high player at the same time ducked down slightly. This was in no way the San Ramon player trying to tackle the Cal player. Think about it. Up 2 or 3 to 0 at the time (I forget what the score was at that instance), why would our player risk that? It makes no sense.
Here is what you cannot see from the video. After the two players went down, the CAL players landed on top of the SRV player, with his chest to the SRV players back, and the SRV players chest and back to the ground. He then drove his elbow into the SRV players back. This was not seen by the Ref or many other people besides perhaps me, the two involved in the incident, and the players immediately surrounding the ball. The referee was close enough to see this, so I do not know why I call was made. I was surprised both players received yellows, I thought it was more of a tangle up then an attempt to hurt someone. You can not really see this in the video, and you will just have to take my word for it. If you do not believe me, that is fine. Nothing I can do.
As far as the rest of the match goes, yes the red card was not deserved. But things like that happen in soccer. I have rarely seen a team score 4 goals in 20 minutes. That is an amazing feat and I give great credit to Cal. Although my team did lose momentum for the red card, it is in no way an excuse for the loss. We lost because we failed to keep Cal from scoring 4 goals in 20 minutes. We controlled what we could, and Cal came out on top. Sometimes, thats the way it is in soccer. It was a hard way to end my high school soccer career, but only one out of the 16 teams in NCS will not suffer a hard ending.
Congratulations to Cal.
And yes, a video of TTs red card would be nice U-mustbeinsane.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Sweeper,
AWEsome!! We all appreciate your candor and unbiased views.
LTG
February 25th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
To SRV player,
I honestly respect you for coming out here and being honest and not making an excuse on why you lost the game. He was part of and understands none of the goals were the referee, the only part that was the referee was the red card. I’m my eyes it was a red, rules protect a players head. But once again props to SRV on a great year and to the kid above a lot of respect.
February 25th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Ebal player read number 198,
and unfortunately this game will be ALWAYS remembered by the manner in which this referee impacted this game.
let me draw a parrallel, how about your goalie gets red carded, you know the guy making all the saves and keeping the game from being 10-0….
oh and then let’s red card your coach too… unreal!!!
who does this ref think he is, he is not above the law, what an enormous ego, this game was suppose to be about the kids playing it not the ref….the league should fire him. period.
February 25th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
ebal player are you the son of ebal Fan and the brother of the witty Yamon aka spin doctor??
February 25th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
181- video does not look like TT; was it? 188- TrustMe, too funny! haha …191Farmer – Some good points, BUT when you say someone “… obviously missed something that the referee saw…You aren’t trained to look for the things that the referee is watching,” WHO you kiddin?! The ‘training’ is ‘your turn, try refereeing’; there’s no real ‘what to watch for’ any better than anyone else who ever played the game- and most refs never did at any high level. 221 – your description of the play in the video we COULD watch does make sense.
Not sure tho’ why the posting party UBinsane would leave that one video up – doesn’t that also tend to ‘incite’ with ‘spirited cheering’, jabbering, whatever? … So… What, now take that one down too? Maybe that’s better than trying to pick and choose half a story on what someone else “should” see (like 194)…
February 25th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
I somehow doubt that the ref thinks he’s above the law…
SRV player
Bias or not, players on the field generally are able to assess the flow of the game much better than us spectators. I figured the “tackle” had to be accidental but he appeared to not only attempt a swim move but also jump on top of him. Momentum or not, it looked bad. I did see the elbow thrown by the cal player as well, I think the call was pretty appropriate, yellows for both, FK for cal.
I don’t know whether the red was the correct call. What I am arguing with is Sweepers assertion that the call was completely and utterly undeserved. As others have said earlier, I believe the call was a direct result of the tangle up and elbow thrown 8 minutes earlier and that was the refs reasoning behind tightening up the game.
Regardless, you’ve been very classy and gracious, far more so than I could ever have been in your situation.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
The problem lies when a Referee lets the game get out of hand in the first half. At half he and his assistant Referee’s talk about things going on out there. The second half starts, then Bam Bam and you have a different called game while the players were on go very hard mode. Unfortunately, They were not told that the game plan had changed at half. This doesn’t excuse dirty or dangerous plays of course. If a warning had gone out to protect the players then both teams should have throttled back but if no warnings was told to both benches then there lies the problem.
My thoughts on what I have seen this year in some of the DLS games but we seem to adjust as it happens.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
#226 You sound like a lawyer or referee. What is it?
lol
February 25th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Hey Bam I like ur 228, but, if I’m a lawyer, you’re a cartoon character
No mistake: As Gary Myrick said,
“I stand for justice.
I stand for happi-ness.
I am a Warr-i-or,
I Stand for love.”
February 25th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Man O’ War wins the contest for best comment of the year. Any time you squeeze Gary Myrick in, it’s an instant winner.
I love 80′s music.
February 25th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Matt, when do you plan to do the finals previews?
February 25th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Matt, I knew I liked you, great soccer articles and discussion, but Myrick seals that. (And at least you didn’t call me a “Living Disaster”
)
February 25th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
In regards to the previous comments by SoccerFANATIC. Obviously an Albany fan. Frankly based on your comments, I am not sure you were even at the game. Dublin players absolutely know how to play soccer. I think they have proved it regardless and deserve the right to play in the championship. They out played Albany on every level. They out ran them, out defensed them, and out offensed them. If anything was lucky it was Albany finally scoring a goal with seconds left in the game. PK’s Luck? Perhaps, but all of the Dublin Players made their shots…how did Albany’s players do? Oh that’s right they missed one and had one blocked. So the only thing lucky about last nights game, was the fact stopage time went on long enough for Albany to finally score. As far as putting subs in, hey when you have a bench of solid players each one possessing more speed than the next, then well sub away coach sub away. Hats off to Albany players for a great season and providing the fans on both sides of the field with such a great and competitive game. So SoccerFANATIC feel free to come out to Dublin on Saturday and the Gaels and possibly pick up on the fact that they do Know How To Play Soccer!
February 25th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Matt, I’m sorry this isn’t about soccer, but MSJ’s boys volleyball team just beat Serra 3-1. 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23.
February 25th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
former farmer #191,
I am just reading your comments, and you offer an interesting perspective, which comes into clairty when you end saying “I wasn’t at the game last night and I don’t know exactly what happened…”…are you really serious…?
I can tell you that I have been to over one thousand, youth, highschool, and professional games, I too have referreed and I have never seen a referee make such an arrogant bad call and the game be so influenced. I did see what happened…
If you think I’m biased read Matt’s comments again he is unbiased, objective and 100% DEAD ON.
btw…borderline yellow means that at worst a yellow would have been awarded, and at best no call is made, you misinterpreted Matts comments.
It was obvious even to the CAL parents, some of which had an embarrased look on their faces as they walked out, as if they had just walked out of a mall and the cashier had slipped merchandise into their bag. Reality is what happened last night was just plain wrong and a blow to High School Soccer that should be felt by all, and everyojne who attended knows this deep down…as I said before it was a travesty.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
“And that’s the oldest story in the world, lost the key to paradise.”
I think most people think I’m a disaster when I’m rocking the REO Speedwagon driving down Telegraph Ave.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Hey Tack,
I’m actually working on my finals previews right now. I’ve got calls and/or emails out to all four coaches.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Chris,
That’s a huge win for MSJ boys. I’m sure Dan Kwon is stoked.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Ok can’t wait. You do a great job.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
I think the reason the red was unwarranted was because the referee had not given any warnings that he was ready to pull the red. He had given a yellow to two players, who were involved in a scrum, which was warranted. He let the game flow most of the time, meaning he did not really make many calls. He did not make any call of headers in terms of going over the back or pushing off the back or anything like that. When TT went into the header, he was going for the ball. I know him much better than anyone on this forum. He is an aggressive player, but not dirty. He would never intentially throw an elbow to the face. I think the referee was already against him from things that had happened earlier in the game. I ref games also and I know that players can get on your nerves. But that is why yellow cards are around. He should have cautioned him, not thrown him out of the game.
My initial thought was that the ref had accidentally pulled out the wrong card,and meant to give him a yellow. Unfortunately that was not true.
Having said all that, whats done is done. The game is over and it can not be changed.
For the finals, I predict a final score of 2-0 DLS. DLS goes up 1-0 in the first half, and when Cal comes with the full field press late in the second half DLS capitalizes on a counter attack.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
#234
Great piece of fiction. Dublin outscored Albany on PKs, that much you got right- must have seen it in the boxscore.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
224 Spektator – agree with good point there, your parallel about your goalie gets red carded, you know the guy making all the saves: ANY player ejection can definitely affect the game’s outcome. Sure, it could be 3-1 and you lose a lead based also on other factors, but that does not mean the game was not majorly affected by the red card incident. So, thought-provoking question is, was the red card justified, game was obviously changed. Some say yes based on type of foul, some say no based on lack of calls before, were there warnings, was this retaliation, who saw what, etc. – all legitimate questions and concerns even tho’ we are taught that the ref trumps all, respect the game, etc… Still, ‘it ain’t fair’ we complain, and sometimes for good reason, but seems to me that on the other hand, we have to give some latitude of course to what ref sees, ‘cuz he or she is in there after all, somebody has to do that job (and they won’t if they are always criticized even though likely deserved). Tough issue. I admit not seeing this game, so cannot comment.
One problem though is refs guessing about player motives, judging plays by previous ones, etc. Should there be ‘retaliation’ like this by refs, atoning for other calls, what they perceive, etc., or should they just judge each play itself on its own merits…? (They do have pattern of conduct fouls though.)…
And, let’s face it parenthetically, a related problem is the parents who comment negatively to the youth refs, who figure out real fast they don’t want to keep ref’ing because they get hammered by adults’ rantings, so they quit. Not good.
I agree players deserve good refs though at this level, especially meaningful games, and this is crucial – we ought to do THAT job of picking, well.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
First of all I was at the Dublin game last night and it was a great game. Dublin outplayed Albany who looked a little shell shocked. Also the CR took away 2 goals from Dublin. The goal for Albany was an own goal off a defender trying to head it out. The officiating seemed to favor Albany but then the aggressiveness by Dublin was probably what caused it. Albany is a great team who was beat by a DFAL team. The DFAL is the best DIV2 league who can match up well with the EBAL. Most of these players from both leagues will be seeing each other in state cup. Also to all the Las Lomas fans you are not a top 15 team this year.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
241 I applaud you. Thank you for mature perspective, and hard to disagree with you. (Not sure on your prediction, but good reasoning to support it, so could be….)
February 25th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
I was at the Albany-Dublin match as well. Dublin was the superior team in the first half. After Albany got accustomed to the fact that Dublin was going to go through players to get to the ball, the game was more even. By the way, I would say the ref favored Dublin by only calling fouls when a player was actually knocked to the ground. I would say that Albany even controlled stretches of the second half. The CR didn’t “take away” any goals. A Dublin player scored from an offsides position on the first one. On the second, a Dublin player pushed an Albany defender into the goalie as he was about to catch the shot. Dublin played well enough to get the tie and then proved to be the superior team on PKs.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
ManO’War
I respect your perspective
good comments
February 25th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
To borrow from the great Rodney Dangerfield, “I went to a soccer match and a WWF decision happened! SRV got no respect I tell ya, no respect.” LOL!
You get the idea…and if you don’t…
February 25th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
#244- How many losses did Dublin have this year?
February 25th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Createability #234 you are spot on in your comments.
Soccerfanatic #206 – You really need to ask your coach for the game film. Your comments are just silly and speaks to your lack of unbiased soccer credibility.
As a parent of one of the Dublin players, Dublin’s DEFENSE shut Albany down. Borgess got 1 shot on goal off and your entire team only had 6 shots all night. That includes 2 header shots. What other team was able to do that against you? From the first moment of the game Dublin was more physical and forced you to play backwards. Your team knew they were in trouble immediately. Remember the 3 other goals pulled out of the net because of poor official calls? You had ZERO goals called back. You should have lost 4-0. Be thankful the officials calls went your way.
As for PK’s – It’s part of the game. Any coach worth his salt knows that they come into play in NCS games. Defense is part of the game, Goal Keeping is part of the game. All Albany has is several midfielders that attack. The reason Dublin played you in the air is because your team is small and unable to run with Dublin for 80 minutes. Your defenders wanted nothing to do with the ball after 30 minutes of chasing Dublin’s 2 forwards.
During the PK’s Your keeper looked completely lost never even touching a ball. Your player choked when he hit the goal post on his shot and Dublin’s 6’3″ keeper stopped your other PK. For a team that has a hyped up offense, your team COULD NOT handle the pressure. My son told me the Dublin coach has been working with his keepers and players on PK’s everyday for 2 weeks. I guarantee your team has not.
Bottom line – YOU LOST, YOUR OFFENSE WAS SHUT DOWN, and DUBLIN is a better team
February 25th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
#249 – Who just eliminated Albany and their UNDEFEATED Season?
Have them play in DFAL Acalanes, Las Lomas, Dougherty Valley and Campo have just as strong teams and defenses as Dublin.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
ManO’War
Are you sure your not a lawyer? You seem to write like one and I certainly don’t want a bill from you later for all of your advice.
Matt –
Can you give Matt some free advice about his love life, since you both seem to like the same music. Maybe if you get him to like AC/DC instead REO Speedwagon then things will pick uo for him. Lol
February 25th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Sweeper
I can guarantee one thing on this blog. Every team respects SRV on the pitch.
Of course, I just got called a cartoon by ManO’War, so what do I know.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Bambam,
I was not referring to the teams…just the officials.
BTW, ManO’War is correct. You are in fact a legendary toon. Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, Dino, Pebbles and THE Bamster. True. Take a bow.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Correction to #253: should have ended with YABBA-DABBA-DOO!!!
I resisted ending with DOH! Wrong cartoon. Just like “RED”.
See you at the fields on Friday.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Does that mean I’m married to Pebbles? If so, i better not tell my wife about her. lol
February 25th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Not necessarily, but you are a true cartoon icon. My handle has zero cartoon value. Had I known…who knows? BugsBunny, TopCat, MightyMouse, YogiBear, DeputyDawg, RefereeRED, the list goes on.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Now that’s funny
Will you be wearing your A’s cap on Saturday?
February 25th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Sweeper, I would have to say that “TopCat” suits you the best…..only Matt has better posts/info than you.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
No, a Flintstones costume…out of respect. LOL.
Matt will know my true identity, as Alfred would know Batman’s true identity…
Matt, what games will you watch/cover on Saturday? The Sweeper will be in the house and will stop by at some point.
February 26th, 2010 at 12:14 am
LTG, Good knowledge. I was totally a TopCat guy in the day with Chooch and the crew. But deep down I am a Bugs Bunny guy, semi-political, semi-satirical, a seldom serious critic who always questions authority.
I am also a follower of the Ministry of Silly Walks…
February 26th, 2010 at 12:45 am
The “old” cartoons are definitely the best. Most people don’t realize that they were actually “shorts” before the main movie that was being shown in the theater. Bugs Bunny, The Road Runner, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester the Cat, etc. all came from shorts, before the main movie. The “double entendre”, the jokes that parents would get, but could still have their children watch them as well, were classic.
February 26th, 2010 at 12:47 am
Even Geico uses them today…..”I’m hunting “wabbit”.
Bugs and Elmer Fudd…..gotta love it.
February 26th, 2010 at 6:19 am
Nice comments. No fiction here. Dublin Won and Albany Lost. On any given night the results could have been different. My comments weren’t fiction in any way. Dublin did outplay Albany, and Albany was lucky to get the goal (thanks to a Dublin defender trying to clear the ball). I agree that Albany came out in the second half more agressive than Dublin, but Dublin quickly picked up the pace and held them solid…just almost long enough. Cudos to Albany for keeping the pressure on at the end of the game to force the goal. Then both teams had an equal opportunity to win the game. Dublin executed their PK’s perfectly and Albany did not. Dublin Wins. People have been hating on Dublin all season, yet here they are. Don’t you think it is time someone gave them their props? Wins and Losses aside (and their record was outstanding none the less) Dublin has shown they deserve to be here. So all you haters out there that are touting your teams expertise, the bad luck calls (or whatever), and are at home licking your wounds…Dublin Gaels are still playing soccer.
February 26th, 2010 at 7:21 am
#263- Dublin had a very good season and I hope that you win on Saturday.Any thoughts on how Albany would have done against other DFAL teams? Who would have matched up with them?
February 26th, 2010 at 7:54 am
The warner bro cartoons had a lot references that were subtle to overtly bigoted. From speedy gonzales, to making a character similar to stepin fetchit, to outright blackface. Thank the lord that crap era is over.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Yes, thank goodness
the present day images in our media are soooooooo much better.
Back to Soccer (The REAL Football)
What will we do come Monday?
I guess argue/discuss for a day or two
but then?
Thanks everyone, The Judge (Matt Smith) especially
enjoyed talking about the game we all appreciate and have the ability to respect, unlike most of our countrymen
February 26th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Oh, U-Mustbe…..
I forgot to answer your question about the video
and I apologize if my posting the link caused problems, I blame Yamon, he told me it was possible
anyway, in viewing your video, I definitely saw a foul
but not a red. I didn’t see the intent that I think needs to be present for a red card to be given.
And to repeat and to Echo the statement from the SR player (very well written and mature by the way)
give credit to CAL, they scored the goals they had to to win the match.
I will be honest with you, I’d like to see CAL win on Saturday. I don’t think it’s going to happen but I ‘d like to see it. Heck I didn’t think they had a chance against SR, so who knows. Go Grizzlies??
February 26th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Thx soccerfan. I, too, think that a win against DLS is a long shot. Winning against them has been a long shot for teams all year. They are the real deal. However, the match-ups are key. We played Granada tough all year because we matched up well against them. We played poorly against SRV because we did not. Against DLS we played one game under water and they were better swimmers. The other game was the last game of the year and DLS was not as motivated as they will be Sat night. So, the previous 2 meetings don’t really give me a sense of how Cal will do this time.
This game will be about not letting DLS execute their runs. Disrupt the passing lanes, force play to the edge and absorb all the contact you can get. They also play you close all game and then surprise you and take it over the top. Cal’s D has to be ready to play all 80+ minutes, plus OT. On offense, try to squeak out a goal and hold on. If we need more than one… not good.
Now, as for the infamous foul. It was hard enough to see the arm to the neck from that distance. And it was impossible to see the intent. The CR and AR had a much better vantage point for that determination.
February 26th, 2010 at 10:48 am
I was sitting 25 yards from the double yellow call. The yellow on SRV was obvious and deserved, though it looked like a “soft” grab of the Cal player’s head as a result of their relative positions while colliding, not a chokehold or a slap. You should have seen the look on the SRV coach’s face to his player: something to the effect of “What the heck was that?”
It was not immediately clear that RefRED was calling a double foul at first because his attention was only on the SRV player, but then the Cal player said something that caused the RefRED to turn to the Cal player and hold him to that spot. Is that in the video?
February 26th, 2010 at 11:26 am
#241 “SRV Player”
You say you know TT better than anyone on this forum and that he “is an aggressive player, but not dirty.” Since you know him well (and you don’t have to be exact here), can you say how many yellow cards TT has received this season and how many red cards TT received this season?
February 26th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
We played both Albany and Dublin. Both teams are very good. Dublin does defend a lot but that’s their game style. Defence wins championships. Albany has close to the same style we do but I can’t tell you how good they really are since we didn’t play them with a full team.
We are a very small team in size. Probably the smallest in all NCS. In our game with Dublin we had a few chances to take the lead in the first half but didn’t really get many clear chances cause Dublin defends really well. We controlled most of the game with great possesion and speed.
Once Dublin scored it was hard for us to get back into the game. They started to control the game and had more chances while we pushed up to try and get the tying goal and Dublin took advantage and got a 2nd goal.
I want to wish Dublin luck in the championship game! will be watching the game and cheering you guys on.
I also want to thank my coaches and players at YV for a great season. YV has coaches that actually care about the players and academics. YV will be a force for years to come. And I wish them the best.
Matt-thank you for your hard work all season! Matt is the MVP of the season!!
February 26th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
EBAL spektator
YOUR THE BIGGEST BABY EVER. GROW UP
YOUR PROBABLE SOME PARENT SITTING AT HOME CRYING THAT A BETTER TEAM BEAT SRV! YOU NEED TO OPEN YOUR EYES….SERIOUSLY!
February 26th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Another boys volleyball bit: Logan just stunned SRV 3-0 on the road. One question I’m sure you’ll have, Matt: how far will SRV go without Tommy Crow?
February 26th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Any predictions for who will win the finals? My moneys on Dublin.
February 26th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Thanks YV Player- well said and very gracious.
February 26th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
#271 Soccer fan- That was TTs first red of the year. He probably has had 3 yellows for fouls, and 2 for talking to the referee. This is just my best guess. Could be more, could be less. I don’t really keep track of yellow cards.
Soccermaniac- Thank you for being mature. Everybody appreciates your valuable comment.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
The Truth #265
Albany is good enough to play in any league. As a Dublin player, We played them and we do respect them. If they played in DFAL, they would contend but no way they go undefeated. Acalanes has an amazing defense designed to stop teams like Albany. Campo, DV, and Las Lomas are balanced defensively and offensively.
As our coaches always say – There is never an Off Night or automatic win in DFAL.
Remember Las Lomas, Dublin, Acalanes are all great teams and each of them lost at least 2 league games to each other
With No disrespect intended, My Guess is that Albany loses 3 league games in DFAL, if they were to use the defense they currently have.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
#272 YV player
After our game against you we all agreed that your team is very formidable and you guys played with class. No unsportsmanship at all. Your offense is just as potent as Albany and you guys played physical. Big props to Ygnacio Valley.
-Dublin Mid Fielder
February 27th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Winger dad ..Post # 250
Why are you so upset ? No reason to brag about who is better, you guys won !
I really think Dublin is an excellent team, but not because Albany lost against you means their not . Small team .. well maybe but they were up there with an undefeated title and like 106 goals in favor and only about 13 against. You did win, congrats ! much luck in the finals, but you can’t beat those scores. I have seen Bishop O’Dowd played and think it’s a very strong team, you can lose against them, when Albany ( the small team ) tied with them, you never know what can happen…….
February 27th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Dublin wins 2-1 on PKs 4-3
February 27th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
soccer maniac,
sounds like projection,
so your a Cal daddy
look whos crying now…
March 1st, 2010 at 4:19 am
Socer fan, soccer is the real football, in europe! But not in the usa! Just like the REAL talent in soccer is from outside the usa. Nothing like good old soccer in high scholl, truly mediocre watching kids who are too slow, and not big or fast enough or tough enough to play real football or athletic enough to hoop! And before any of you get on me for this, don’t, because you know its true!