- East Bay Prep Corner
NCS Finals Preview
By Matt Smith
Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 10:06 am in Boys soccer.
I can’t believe the season is ending tomorrow. It’s been a great season, too bad it has to end.
Let’s dive right in…
Division I
The matchup: No. 1 De La Salle (17-5-3) v. No. 6 California (16-3-6), 7:30 p.m.
The storyline: The De La Salle soccer team is a machine. Since a not-so-good showing in San Diego in December, this team has gone 12-1-2. As far as North Coast Section dominance the last two years, there is no finer team than the Spartans. They come into this game as the clearcut favorite.
“What can I say about De La Salle?,” California coach Chris Faidley said. “They finish second nationally last year and follow that up with another EBAL title. Brian’s (Voltattorni) got them playing so well, they’ve coasted through the playoffs so far. We’ll have to play a terrific game, limit mistakes and take advantage of opportunities. If everyone loves an underdog, they’ve got one in Cal.”
According to nearly every single person on this blog, the Grizzlies have no chance. That is exactly gives them a chance. Cal is going to be fired up after a very big, emotional come-from-behind win on top of getting no respect. The Grizzlies are loose and ready to play.
“I love these boys,” Faidley said. “I told them today they are good for me. I’m always thinking “What’s next? What do we need to do now?” These guys can find a way to laugh and enjoy life in any situation. They’ve helped me to slow down and enjoy the ride, occasionally.”
Key matchups: The obvious matchup would be to choose Cal’s attacking mid, Guillermo Rivas, against De La Salle’s center mid, in Wesley Moar. Clearly two of the best players in the East Bay. The players I will keep my eye on will be Cal’s Andrew Noble and Andre Rawls, and De La Salle’s Justin Howard and J.T. Tallarman.
Noble will need to spearhead a defense that had a couple of mental lapses against San Ramon Valley. Rawls, a very good keeper, is the reason that Cal was only facing a 3-0 deficit instead of a 5-0, or 6-0 hole on Wednesday.
Noble, Rawls and the rest of the Cal back line will have their hands full against the very talented Howard and Tallarman.
Division II
The matchup: No. 1 Bishop O’Dowd (20-0-5) v. No. 3 Dublin (19-3-3), 2:30 p.m.
The storyline: Only rivaled by De La Salle in NCS dominance, the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons have been the premier Division II team in the East Bay, and have been thoroughly dominant for the last two seasons, going 41-2-9. They are back in the Division II finals and looking to avenge last year’s loss to Acalanes in penalty kicks.
“They are very disciplined,” Dublin coach James Fulwiler said. “They aren’t purely an offensive team or a defensive team. They are balanced, and they play structured soccer. Our styles of play are actually very similar.”
So what’s the key difference between the two teams?
“They are absolutely huge,” Fulwiler said. “I need to get my boys not to be intimidated by their size.”
The Dragons know where the advantage lies as well.
“I think we match up with size,” Bishop O’Dowd coach Peter Belanger said. “I think the game could possibly come down to set pieces. We scored two goals on Acalanes, the first time anyone has scored two on them all year, when everyone said that we wouldn’t.”
There is another difference between the two teams. O’Dowd is used to being on this stage. This is a season of first’s for Dublin, including this first trip to the finals. But the Gaels are ready.
“We celebrated a little after Albany, but on Thursday there was no more time for celebration,” Fulwiler said. “We have to go through our second consecutive undefeated team if we want to win this championship.”
Key matchups: Jamie Somerville v. Charlie Ranahan in the middle would have been a great matchup, but unfortunately Ranahan, probably O’Dowd’s heart and soul, suffered a season-ending knee injury against Acalanes. The Dragons will have to adjust without the motor that makes them go.
“With Charlie out of the middle we’ll simply do the best we can,” Belanger said. “We’ve endured many things this year as a team and I think because of that we are stronger collectively.”
So where can O’Dowd make up for it? Well, it’s his twin brother, Drew Ranahan. The Dragons sweeper will be instrumental in locking down Dublin forwards Cody Hoster and Trevor Weir.
On the other end, with Max Ornstil, Taylor Reitz and Carson Swafford being extremely aggressive, Dublin’s sophomore sweeper, Oliver Castillo, will be relied upon a lot.
“He’s had a phenomenal NCS playoff run,” Fulwiler said. “Against Albany, anytime the runner’s came at him, he just kept shutting them down.”
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February 26th, 2010 at 11:52 am
Matt, do you think the Charlie Ranahan injury will play a part in the result of the game? Does it give Dublin the advantage heading in or do you think it’ll go unnoticed?
February 26th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I think the loss of Ranahan is going to be very big. He’s such a good player. He really facilitates the offense, and plays great defense when he falls back. I think it really closes the gap between the two teams.
It wasn’t a big gap to begin with, so I would say this is a 50/50 game, though most people probably consider O’Dowd the heavy favorite.
February 26th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Two Private Schools (with no geographical boundary restrictions on them) in the two division Section Finals.
Anyone care to continue the “they should have their own league/own playoffs” debate?
Old as mold here, but I remember the old Catholic Athletic League ( CAL) . Why is it that the WCAL still exists and thrives but our version on this side of the bay does not?
February 26th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Matt, Any word on post season EBAL awards?
I heard they were out.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Soccerfan –
Is there that much bitterness in you that you want to bring this subject up today and not on Monday after the championship games. Let me remind you that the SRV girls are going to their 5th straight Div 1 NCS championship on Saturday. I wonder why Monte Vista from the same city doesn’t seem to be on the same level for girls as SRV.
Just one point to ponder. There are many more arguements for both sides but please don’t take anything away from any of the 4 teams that have made this huge accomplishment by making it to the finals tomorrow.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
What about the home field advantage for Dublin? That should eliminate the gap.
And it is practically a home game for Cal as well (2.3 miles). That should close that gap as well.
By the way, two weeks ago the entry to the field at Dublin High was on the north end, not the usual south end. If that is still the case, its an extra 200 yards to the gate, unless you park south of the tennis courts.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
the main problem with doing a Catholic League here comes from football. Can you imagine DLS playing BOD, St. Mary’s, Salesian, or SPSV in football? That would be fun for no one. But the other issue is also the size of the schools. DLS is a little over 1,000 boys. Some of these other schools are co-ed and don’t even have that many students. Then you would hear complaints from those schools about how unfair it is that DLS is so big compared to them. In the WCAL although not exactly equal in terms of students, the disparity between the school sizes is much smaller then it would be should DLS be put into a league with the other Catholic/Christian schools. The EBAL works because those schools are very large and many of those schools also have shall we say well off student bodies and receive generous donations. It’s not like DLS is going out and playing schools where the equipment is 20 years old and the athletic facilities are run down.
But I agree with Bambam this discussion is for another time.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
home game for Cal? it’s not even a home game for Cal AT Cal when DLS shows up.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Sweeper,
I thought the same about home field advantage. And now with the loss of Ranahan, Dublin might have the edge. About the gate, it has been open the last two games for NCS, and it will be open once again on Saturday.
February 26th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
To everyone the south end of the Dublin field is open. I am in charge of concessions there and everything is a go. The field is in great shape and the water on the field drains well. This facility was meant to host championship games. Also come by the snack bar we will be serving smoked tri tip.
February 26th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
I’ve been told by Cal coach Chris Faidley that Andrew Noble, the Grizzlies top defender, will miss Saturday’s game due to a concussion he received at SRV on Wednesday.
It’s really too bad for him. Cal’s defense is really going to have to pull together without him.
February 26th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
#8 & #9, thanks for the gate information, back to normal. Trust Me, count me in for the awesome tri-tip. They run the best snack bar in the NCS at Dublin, “trust me.”
Matt, I forgot to say thanks for the finals preview. ESPN has got nothin’ on you. Tough news on the injuries, let’s hope for an injury free Saturday.
February 26th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Wouldn’t we all like to see DLS not win a championship in something?
Matt,
Just wanted to say you’re the man, you put in a lot of the time the other guys don’t. I think your final previews are right on tack. The two number #10′s in the Cal DLS game are huge, Moar and Rivas are excellent. At least one of them will be back next year in Rivas. Sorry Cal, DLS too much 2-0.
February 26th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Can’t wait for tomorrow, should be a blast
February 26th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Hi i would first like to say is pls lets have a round of applause for those california grizzlies!!! Have any of you seen a team score 4 GOALS in 20 minutes. Come on now, that is very immpressive. Back to the red the video shows an elbow up to the neck face area. In my book no matter what bias i have if an elbow comes up that high the result is a red no matter what! or who the player is!!!! DLS is a good team but Cal is going to put a rlly good team out on the field too. This isnt going to be a so called bye but a very tough game. The last game DLS got a luckey goal against us and we should of had 6 goals. The teams match up well and my prediction is a 1-0 game for Cal High just like last year but CAL coming up on top this time.
February 26th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
with andrew noble out CAL is going to need to pull together and get work done on the defense side of the ball. The entire back line minus who ever comes in new all are very good and i am sure can handle Howard and Talarman. They are good but they arent gods.
February 26th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
BamBam,
I’m sorry if my post came across as bitter. I really
didn’t mean it to be so. Actually, if I had brought it
up after the games, and the private schools had
won, I’m thinking that would have been more bitter.
Anyway, please accept my apologies.
My wishes for Saturday are for excellent competition,
close games and no injuries.
February 26th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Thank you Ebal Fan. And thank you everyone for making this blog amazing this year.
February 26th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
All quiet on the Western front…
I’ll be at both boys games tomorrow if anyone feels like saying hello.
February 26th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Soccerfan Thanks and understood
Matt We can tell that you put your heart and soul into this blog. All of us would want your job at least we would all like to come off like we can do it.
Especially the rankings. Some are obvious selections and others are questionable. For the most part you were pretty close. The difference between you doing the rankings and us doing it, is that we don’t want anyone to know our real names. You stand up and take accountability for your selections. The girls blog has about 7 responses this week and yours had over 800 in the last two weeks. I hope the paper takes notice of that and appreciates your efforts.
Thx
February 26th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Side note
I think that we can all agree that this year there has been some exceptional coaches taking teams farther then in years past.
I’m sure other than Dublin High players, Who out there thought that Dublin would be playing at home in the D-2 finals? Wow to Dublin!!!!
February 26th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Bambam, I can tell you that it is going to be an amazing experience for Dublin.
But as for home field, Bishop has done all they can to take out the word “home” and make it neutral. As of right now, thanks to Bishop’s AD and parents calling multiple times to complain, Bishop will be sitting on the home side, forcing Dublin and their fans to move accross the field. Now I see the players and parents complying, but as or the student section from DHS, I hear little whispers of rebellion. So with the Dublin supporters coming out warring red tomorrow, I’d bet my life that BOTH sides will be submerged in red.
Bishop O’Dowd, you can take our side, but you will never take our stadium or our fans.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
It doesn’t matter which side of the field the Dublin fans have to sit on, heck you could put them on lawn chairs in the parking lot….it just won’t matter…Bishop will know all game who’s field they are on and the roar of the fans will be ringing in their ears long after the game is concluded regardless of the winner. So I will sit in the visitors stands and still soak up every second of what is sure to be an amazing game. Win or Lose, near side of the field or far side of the field, everyone that comes to the game will see, the only ones with more heart than the Dublin fans, are the Dublin Players. GO GAELS! Best of Luck!
February 26th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
I agree with Bambam’s statement about coaches. Some very impressive jobs turned in by several this year. My decision on coach of the year is going to be a very, very hard one.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Matt,
as I remember, both teams sat on the same side and all the fans sat on that opposite side. not sure how its working this year.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
That’s what I remember too.
I also remember the bats flying around and scaring the crap out of me.
February 26th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Matt
See now if you were to stop listening to REO Speedwagon and started listening to OZZY then you wouldn’t be afraid of the bats but you would rather try to eat them.
February 26th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
I’m gonna take the crazy train to Dublin tomorrow.
February 26th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Tack –
“Bishop” shouldn’t be having to play at Dublin. There is nothing “neutral” about that. I’ve been reading this blog for weeks. “Bishop” is the albatross. They’ve played hard, and they have earned their spot. The private v. public argument is old and stale. How the final ended up at Dublin is beyond comprehension, and how pathetic if the “student section” from Dublin decides to behave like toddlers. But,”Bishop” can handle it. That’s what they got from the Acalanes’ student section on Wednesday, and they still won — without playing dirty.
Congrats to all of the teams who made it to the finals. Now, let’s just appreciate all of the incredible high school athletic talent that has made it this far, and wish them well, rather than incite things like “you’ll never take our stadium or our fans.”
May the best team win tomorrow, with dignity, and without mayhem on the sidelines, or on the field.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Sad to hear about standout Andrew Noble not being able to play Saturday. He was big reason Cal got there. Deserves all-league selection. Can be proud of great effort and year.
February 27th, 2010 at 6:22 am
You are Iron Man, Matt.
February 27th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Sorry to hear about Andrew Noble. He is a great player and will be missed on the CAL defense.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:15 am
Soccerfan,
Did you notice there are Two EBAL Teams in the NCS Soccer Finals today?
I say let’s break up the EBAL!
They must have some unfair advantage as well!
Hopefully the weather will allow us all to watch and play
in decent conditions!
Good luck to all and Enjoy the day!
February 27th, 2010 at 8:19 am
just a comment about the BOD ad and parents complaining about home field; didn’t BOD host Acalanes last year in the d2 championship game? How neutral was that with the Acalanes parents shunted off to the margins of the stadium seating.BOD sounds whiny. Go Dublin!
February 27th, 2010 at 9:41 am
What I meant to say was
“did you notice that 3/4 of the D1 Championship Game participants are from the EBAL?”
February 27th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Let’s have some fun tonight and enjoy it for what it is, the Best High School Soccer played in Nor Cal!
“The Grizzly will not Quit……….The Grizzly will not Die”
February 27th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
O’Dowd hosted both 2A championship matches in 2005 (winning both) and again in 2009 (losing both). They should not be complaining. Besides, the quadruple header is awesome. Come on out to the field.
February 27th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Dublin 1 ODowd 0 @half
February 27th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
1-1 @Dublin 23m to go
February 27th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Going to OT @Dublin 1-1
February 27th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
pk’s?
February 27th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
in pks’s 1-1 both sides have missed
February 27th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
dublin wins in pk
February 27th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Congrats to Dublin 4-3 winners in PKs
February 27th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Amazing season, congratulations to Dublin High!
February 27th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
LL should have won this year. two wins against champ dublin.
Bishop O’WHAT??? Bishop O’ MY GOD WE LOST AGAIN!
February 27th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Really Bboy? Do you have that much disrespect? I believe that you were out in the first round.
So as we sit eating free pizza at our victory dinner, our team, not just me, has only one thing to say to you:
“KISS OUR GOLD MEDALS”
Ohhhhh and stop hating on Bishop O’Dowd. They played AMAZING, and they diserve everythig they got.
So you can kiss their silver medals too.
Have respect.
But thank you for doubting us, we couldn’t have done it without you.
February 27th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
SRV 1. CV 0 @half, Handball in the box & PK
February 27th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
CV up 2-1 with 20 left. Wide open game though
February 27th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Good job Dublin on ncs championship. Great game.
February 27th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
CV up 2-1 on 2 direct free kicks
February 27th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Tack- 3 losses of which two were to Las Lomas; I would say you had a good year perhaps even a great year.Welcome to the DFAL champions club that has dominated NCS in D2. Perhaps a thought to share; your joy is understandable and Bboy is a bit more than ungracious however you should have some respect for the one team you couldn’t handle this year. But hey,congratulations on the win. It wasn’t pretty but you pulled it out.Way to go….
February 27th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
CV wins 2-1 congrats
February 27th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Bboy is cracking me up. First “LL” had every opportunity that Dublin did, but they didn’t rise to the occassion to enough about LL. Hats off to Bishop who played a heck of a game today. As a fan it was amazing to watch the battle between these two outstanding teams. Congrats to Bishop on their great season. Way to go Dublin Gaels. Thank you for bringing the NCS Championship Title to our home. I will never forget the skill, heart and determination you have exhibited throughout the year. You should all be very proud of what you have accomplished. I for one will never forget this magical season. GO GAELS!!!
February 27th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
any updates on the cal dls game? how’s it looking so far?
February 27th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
DLS v. Cal is about 15 minutes away.
I got to meet Tack and The Sweeper today. It was awesome.
February 27th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
im the captain at Las Lomas and ive read the posts recently, i just want to congratulate Dublin on their First NCS title. i cant front you guys are a good team and we’ve had great games playing you. it was a great season for DFAL.
Thanks Matt you’ve kept the blog so alive and busy. i think this year has been one of the most competitive if not the most in the past few years.
Congrats to bishop as well on a great season.
February 27th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
- #3
February 27th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Castro Valley Girls showe class and passion with an awsome win…Congratulations ladies!!!
February 27th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
good championship win for the NCS. shows it’s not the haves and have nots. CV has done it and not only that got past the semis for their first time since SR’s reign. My only thought is the Castains are seniors so they really went out with a bang. However what will this mean for next year, already thinking about next year let’s hope they can repeat! also you never know how SR comes back next season either… I presume silver ain’t bad after 4 years of gold either
February 27th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Matt
Any score yet?
February 27th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
The Castain’s are just the start of a great program. Lot’s of talent coming back but yes, the Castain’s are special a long with Bunny Maes. Good luck at Wash St. to all three.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
#29 Grownupsoccerfan
What you should know is that Dublin applied to host the Championship game. Your BOD AD never applied to host, they assumed Dublin would never make the finals. If you have an issue with Dublin talk to your AD.
As for the game tonight the Dublin fans packed the stands in a sea of RED. The fans were respectful and quite loud. Much louder than the BOD side. Your assumption that Dublin fans are toddlers, and would lack dignity just shows your ignorance.
You came to a state of the art facilty, were outcheered by the Dublin fans, and you lost.
Oh by the way – the fee to attend Dublin is $0.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
0-0 about 20 to go.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Sweeper, where do you get two direct free kicks for CV. Castain scored the first one on a break away.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
#63: Couldn’t have said it better. So “Shutyomouth” unbelievers.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
#63 Shutyomouth:
Congratulations to Dublin. I applaud your victory. I didn’t assume anything, I was responding to “Tack,” and hoping that he was simply full of hot air.
The “Sea of Red” was dramatic and well noted. I found one of the highlights of the game to be when one of your players assisted one of our players on the field with a severe cramp.
And, “oh, by the way,” I’ll ignore the rest of your nastiness.
Congratulations to the Gaels. Job well done.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Congrats to Dublin my Santos boys shined today go Nico and Jaime…. so proud of them and their team. A night they will remember for the rest of thier lives!!
February 27th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
any score for cal and dls??
February 27th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
S.Fan, you are correct. I just remember her firing uncontestd from about 28 yards out. It was a beautiful blast.
Again, congrats to CV for an unbeaten NCS championship season. Now you can brag.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
1-0 DLS at half.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
DLS scored on what looked like a defensive mistake by Cal on a free kick from about 45 yards out.
1-0 @ start of H2.
February 27th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
All – My first post on this blog, but I wanted to make some statements for all.
DFAL Teams – Every team that we faced this year in DFAL is incredibly talented. LL, Acalanes, DV, Campo, Alhambra, Miramonte, are all well coached, and have players that are amazing. In All of the games we played against these teams, they displayed a huge amount of character. Never had fights, dirty play or issues. You are all awesome, and we are proud to be a member of the DFAL league. On any given night any team can win, I think we can all agree on this.
Playoffs – St Marys played very disciplined soccer. A classy team, a hard playing team, and a good coach.
Ygnacio Valley was one of the most dynamic offensive teams we faced this year. Those boys could run like the wind and they had great technical skills. The captains on this team showed a lot of class and never gave up. I would coach them any day.
Albany – They are everything you have heard. They can play in any league, they can beat any team, and the technical skills exhibited by these players were amazing. I have read the comments about their schedule but make no mistake they are that good. A lot of character was shown after this game. They shook hands and stood proud of their accomplishments. Just an amazing team.
BOD – Big, Strong well coached by Coach Peter. These kids played hard tonight, and it is sad that someone has to lose. I have much respect for this team and the coaches. They play amazing soccer and never played dirty. We knew we had to play mistake free defense to have any chance against them.
Dublin – Thank you parents, friends, fans, and faculty. Your support and belief in our boys was amazing. You never gave up hope on us. It has been a great year, and your unconditional support has meant the world to us. Our seniors will always remember this year thanks to you. Go Gaels!!!
February 27th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
any final score?
February 27th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
who scored the goal?
February 27th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
DLS is hard to beat at the start of the game, let alone leading 1-0 going into the 2nd half. If anyone could post the result of the game, that would be awesome as not all of us were lucky enough to be able to attend the game.
Matt, thank you for all your hard work this season. This notebook has been a great opportunity for creative discussion. I look forward to it for next year.
February 27th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
De La Salle 1, Cal 0
Final
February 27th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
1 0 De La Salle over Cal
Cal had 3-4 shots right at the goal that they missed on the last possession. Great game, congrats to De La Salle
February 27th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
BTW- who are the Santos? Drinkin Mom keeps refering to them like that means meaningful or relevant?? WTF..
February 27th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
the Santos is the club team that a lot of the EBAL players around the league play for.
February 27th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Is the Santos any good?
February 27th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Keep it clean The Truth Says!! sounds a bit inmature to me. This website is for all of us to give props to the teams and the players.
February 27th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Congrats to DLS!
Sweeper and mostly everyone on this blog gave Cal no shot, DLS dominates first half with Cal having a few chances, but the second half was all Cal, you have to give it to them, they had 4 clear chances with one going off the post, they gave it their everything and should be respected for that. DLS showed the heart of a champion holding on and Cal by never quitting. Once again, DLS defensively stays tight and compact, Rivas and Moar battle all game, both players in my opinion should be all east bay, I don’t know who picks that though
February 27th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Santos was Pele’s original professional team in Brazil where he started playing at 15. A fitting name for a team of high achievers.
I was indeed a great 2010 NCS winter soccer season and championship playoffs. Congratulations to today’s champions. I hope the NCS sticks with the quadruple header format.
Thanks again to Matt Smith for his diligence and soccer knowledge, with far and away the most popular blog following for local high school sports. Cheers.
February 27th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Congratulations to De La Salle and their 1-0 win over California and their repeat as NCS Division 1 Champions.
I would like to take this time to thank and congratulate the players and coaches at Clayton Valley for being DVAL Champions and for being Quarterfinalists in this year’s NCS playoffs. From winning just one game two years ago to being league champions is a great accomplishment and the start of big things to come. I am so proud to be an Eagle and am excited to build on this year’s strong showing.
February 27th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I just want to say thank you to everyone this year. You guys have made this a wonderful season. I’m sad it’s over.
Today was very cool. I got to talk to a lot of players, who knew who I was without me having to say anything, I got to meet some of my most dedicated followers and I got to see some great soccer.
I also want to apologize to De La Salle and Cal players, coaches and fans. The game ended really close to my deadline, so my story that will be in Sunday’s paper on that game is not my best work. It was rushed, I don’t feel like it flowed well and I didn’t get to use all my quotes. I will do an expanded version when I put the final rankings up either tomorrow night or Monday.
Thanks again everyone.
February 28th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Thanks Matt..ur the man. Look forward to next year!
February 28th, 2010 at 1:03 am
2 cents, tough call but I give MVP of that game to Austin Rogers, the GK’r for DLS. Good midfield battle, for sure, though if you count the number of turnovers you’d have to take your shoes off about 40 times (but most from FB’s?). DLS pulled back a lot to try to hold that lead, it seemed, and were not as aggressive to the ball all game as Volpe/Leidheisl et al for Cal; if not for Rogers consistent focused play, game gets tied at some point. Rawls spectacular in early flurry, and rest of game really too. DiBernardi great in setting things up, moving around when necessary, etc., complementing Moar. Good game by E Anderson for Cal, lots of touches on the ball, created attack opportunities. Denmark for Cal couple great crosses for most dangerous chances but then pulled(?). DLS seemed to swarm lightly on Rivas as he found his way closer to the goal, but well-done, always had extra eye going. More 2 cents, only opinion, Cal needed Whip Kelly (scored v. SRV) for more offense but brought him in too late even though 13, 14 good. J Howard usual good tough game also. Cal can be proud, no Noble, etc., and still almost tied it in intense flurries towards end. Again, Rogers man of the match in my opinion, even though not too much work in first half; whoever thought he was “too small” was wrong (see last sequence with 4 minutes left as example). Free kicks here all pretty good, crowd OK, ref seemed very very good job – at least game was controlled, and evenly called, even if stopped too much, too long perhaps? All in all, though, great final, well worth the ticket price! Great job by all. Matt rocks too.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:38 am
rodgers does not deserve mvp of the game. he did play good but also got quite lucky. man of match would have to go to decosta. he truly shut down the cal attack.
February 28th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Actually 85, “Lucky” in GK’ing is also superior positioning, read of the game, anticipation, getting close enough to any action in front of the goal to stop it just enough that it gets stopped. On the spot is not ‘lucky’ all the time. He was spot-on, top grade on all those, dives and puches too. DeCosta good, yes, but DLS on heels too much particularly second half, somewhat due to not as aggressive as usual. Sweeney great too, but I still give it to GK for those reasons. All opinions.
February 28th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Matt – Will you be realeasing the final computer rankings as well?
February 28th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Matt and Sweeper, I would love to hear both of your takes on the DLS Cal game last night.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
One of our fans that comments does the computer rankings, so I don’t know if he’ll do them again. I haven’t heard from him in a while…
As far as De La Salle v. Cal match, this is what I think. DLS came out like gangbusters and for the first 10-15 minutes, Cal was just trying to hold it together. DLS could have scored 2-3 times in that first 15 minutes. Cal started to get a little more organized after that, and then actually started to put together some chances. The rest of the first half was pretty even. The second half was really dominated by Cal. Even the DLS players said afterwards that Cal came out firing and they were happy that they held them off.
The one goal came on a very nice free kick by Anthony DeCosta, but I think Cal feels that it shouldn’t have happened. Things kinda became a mess in front of the net and the ball keep floating.
Well played game, that’s for sure, and a heck of a dog fight. Very impressed with DLS this season. They took everyone’s best shot all year long.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Matt
Will you also get to the all league results? I think you said some leagues had not got their results in yet.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I am still waiting on the DVAL, EBAL and HAAL.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Matt well said, very impressed with DLS, they held it off unlike SRV did. I was very impressed with Cal even with their defeat, the boys put it on the line, nobody gave them a shot and I feel like they went home thinking they deserved to win the game.
February 28th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Cal sure lost without Noble..where’s EBAL gonna be next year? DLS again all the way
February 28th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Because all of the semifinal games were held at the same time, I couldn’t be at the SRV/Cal game. Reading about it, I really wanted to see them play DLS but I felt there was little chance they would be able to put back-to-back emotionally fueled games together. Was I wrong! They played with everything they had. If the injury time out hadn’t occurred, they’d have kept up their flurry of emotion and will, with an excellent chance the ball would have eventually broken through. And that’s not to take anything away from DLS. These were two excellent teams playing great ball. Terrific to see! Speaking of which, maybe the game start times could be staggered next year? Most players play on club teams with teammates on different high school teams. There were a number of games I would like to have attended. The NCS could increase their gate with staggered starts and be able to afford a fourth much-needed ref at semifinal games. While I am making suggestions for improvements, I would also like to see semifinals and finals held only on fields that provide seating on two sides of the field. Sorry to say, but games are often marred by nasty spectators. It is a very unpleasant experience in mixed stands.
February 28th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
ManO’War- It is definitaly opinion. Everyone is intitled to their own. Either way, DLS had an all-star line up which would make it hard for anyone to beat them. I believe the best final would have been SRV vs. DLS but unfortunatly they couldn’t make it past Cal. Credit of course to Cal for the win, whether bad reffing or hard play, they still got the win. Thats all that matters in the end right?
February 28th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
#86 (Man)
I agree with everything you stated about effective GKing; however, I did not see all that much of it from Rogers last night. To be certain, he did make a few excellent saves and he is very sound in goal. Big props to him. However, if it wasn’t for DLS stacking the goal line with defenders who were the true deflectors of most of the shots on goal Cal, could potentially have scored several times.
Defenders blocked at least 3 shots off the line and headed away countless others. For that reason my MVP choice does not go to Rogers but goes to the DLS guy who put his body on the Cal keeper to create the goal opportunity. Without that contact we would still be shooting PKs.
February 28th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Ebal Fan,
It was a hard fought final between Cal and DLS. As Matt stated, DLS came out fast and put heavy pressure on Cal. Each team aggressively challenged for the ball time and again, forcing the official to tighten the game, but not unduly change the tone or tempo. There were literally dozens of fouls called but only a few yellows. There was one noted sequence where the ref waived off 3 consecutive fouls as DLS maintained control: “Play on!” was the call.
The goal by DLS at the end of the first half seemed to be a misplay, a split second pause, but I could not hear what the keeper called.
Cal ratcheted up the pace in the second half, while DLS played conservatively from a defensive standpoint with the 1-0 lead. The last 10 minutes was just as frantic as the semifinal at SRV, leading to several near miss shots but no goal for Cal. Good luck and bad luck played a roll in the final outcome. Cal was fortunate not giving up 1 or 2 goals early in the match, but fortune was not on their side during the final 10 minutes. DLS had some bad luck early in the match not scoring, but the lone goal was fortunate: was the free kick even touched?
The outcome was appropriate, but it could have gone the other way. Each team should be proud.
February 28th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Sweeper, well said I just wanted to hear your take on it. The game was excellent, much more even that I had anticipated. Nobody gave Cal a shot but they played with hearts out there and that was the difference. The referring was overall very good in my eyes. There was a call that a Cal player asked for a hand ball in the box and in my eyes it was a handball but thats the way soccer is.
February 28th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Question? Matt, (or anyone else that was at the game), was there some question as to whether the DLS goal should have been the result of a free kick or a throw in? My sources say the ball went out of bounds, but the Ref awarded a free kick, instead of a throw in….
Apparently, the ball was already out of bounds when the Ref “decided” it was a free kick, as opposed to a throw in….
LTG
February 28th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
The ball did end up out of bounds, and it was really close to already being out of bounds, but it look to me like the foul happened just in the field of play. I thought it should have been a free kick.
February 28th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Thanks Matt, for the clarification.
February 28th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
FYI, All, Soccer season is not over, many of your favorite players will be playing next weekend on the Peninsula, (Palo Alto, Redwood City, etc.) with their “Club Teams”. Go MUSTANG!!!!!
February 28th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
The season has ended for the high school soccer season. I was going to end my Bam Bam blogger career last night but I thought I would comment on a couple of todays post.
Rawls and Rogers each had good games last night and for the most part both teams were in the game because of them. Rawls misjudged the flight of Decosta’s free kick and was caught up in traffic or obstructed from getting back on it. I believe that it hit about 2 yds out and bounced to the back of the net. From that point Cal attacked in my opinion as the DLS played passive. CAL played with alot of heart from that point but if that goal doesn’t go in then I’m sure DLS would have kept on the offensive and who knows what would have happened. My opinion is that DLS would have stayed one step ahead of CAL because if you watched them all year then you would know that is how DLS played. They beat Foothill by one goal only in both games that they played each other.
MVP – There is no MVP award for the game, so that is not worth arguing about. DLS wins NCS with a solid team effort and CAL had a fantastic season too. Moar-Sweeney-Rogers-Howard-Talerman These are the only seniors leaving and they all had a great year and helped the team to go 4-0 in NCS while scoring 10 goals for and 1 against in the process.
I’ll tell you this, Rivas and Decosta will battle next year in EBAL. Rivas is magic and Decosta is as solid as they come on defense.
February 28th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
I heard that the goal was on CAL High Sports. I will watch it and maybe I will be able to see a second time what actually happened on the Decosta free kick. Last night it looked like Rawls came up on it and got caught up in traffic getting back but that was live.
None the less Rawls kept them in the game and CAL wouldn’t have made it to the finals without him.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:14 am
Correction or addition
(Moar-Sweeney-Rogers-Howard-Talerman) These are seniors that are leaving that started every game. We had other senior players that contributed all year that will also be leaving.
More than anything else, I believe the coaching staff is the reason for the repeat.
Props to The Dublin Gaels for winning their 1st NCS title
March 1st, 2010 at 12:41 am
Ebal Fan #98,
There was in fact a situation late in the match (last 4 minutes?) in the DLS box where Rivas asked the official for a hand ball call. From my view I could not see the play clearly and no other Cal players made an animated protest, if you know what I mean.
Later, at least 3 others up top at the stadium said that they saw a possible hand ball, including a few independent witnesses (they asked me directly if I saw the hand ball). I did not see a hand ball.
That said, the head ref was on the spot and had a direct dialog with the Cal captain, but I do not know what the HR said to Cal#10.
It was probably a 50:50 call and the head ref chose not to make the call. I will say this, the HR did consistently consult with the ARs during the course of the match: as one would expect the best in class would.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:51 am
Was the HR a bald guy with gray hair?
March 1st, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Possible hand balls usually are not, they are the ball hitting the hand, not someone trying to use their hands on the ball unfairly. Way too many hand balls are called, mainly because ‘intent’ is hard to judge presumably, but also because of the misunderstanding of the rules where every little nick draws a gasp and plea for a PK. (Otherwise, we should call the game ‘dodgeball’ because good players (like Rivas let’s say) can flick the ball up at an unsuspecting player and hit his arms/hands without too much difficulty – probably not a bad idea with some refs you get!)