East Bay Boys Soccer Notes: Divisions, Rankings, Standings, Stats

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Matt Smith

In my mind, it’s never too early to talk about the playoff situation. The North Coast Section seeding meeting is just five weeks away, so for many teams that’s about 10-12 matches, give or take one or two.

As many of you readers know, from the past, as the playoffs get closer I will start to breakdown the playoff teams in terms of locks, should be in and on the bubble.
For this early look, however, we’re going to talk about the favorites (teams expected to get in at this point) and the hopefuls (teams who appear to have a chance to get in).
Let’s break it down…

Division I

Favorites: Berkeley, California, Clayton Valley, De La Salle, Deer Valley, Mt. Eden, Monte Vista, Newark Memorial, San Ramon Valley.

Hopefuls: Amador Valley, Foothill, Heritage, Logan, Liberty, Livermore, Mission San Jose, Pittsburg, Richmond, Washington.

By my count that is 19 teams for 16 spots, as of right now. Just to clarify, I am considering anyone that is four games over .500 as a favorite, and anything under that, within two or three games of .500, is a hopeful. Hence Livermore being on the hopeful list, even though I am almost certain this team will get in. They are too good, and will probably be a very high seed.
The surprise team on the favorites list is Mt. Eden. I have them at 8-2-3 and maxpreps has them at 8-3-3 (I was told the CP match was a scrimmage), so either way they are in good shape. Every team on the favorites list should be in the playoffs. It would take a very poor month or so from those teams not to get in.
Now for the hopefuls. The team in the most trouble is Amador, despite being a team that can beat anyone (i.e. Newark). However, at 5-8-1 and playing in the toughest league, it’s not looking good right now. Foothill is in the same boat at 4-6-2. The Falcons are going to need some league wins.
Heritage and Liberty need to play pretty well in league to have a chance, while fellow BVAL member Pittsburg is in pretty decent shape at 4-3-2. I think the Pirates are a very good team, and should be NCS bound.
Logan is in good shape, and I would be surprised not to see Richmond make it, even sitting just a game above .500. Mission San Jose and Washington, both sitting exactly .500, will have to outdo one another in the MVAL.

Division II

Favorites: Acalanes, Bishop O’Dowd, Campolindo, Concord, Dublin, Hayward, Piedmont, San Lorenzo, St. Mary’s, Ygnacio Valley.

Hopefuls: Albany, Alhambra, Dougherty Valley, Kennedy-Richmond, Las Lomas, Pinole Valley.

Same thing applies here, where the favorites are at least four games over .500. The Pinole Valley situation is just like Livermore. They are also 7-4-2, but they are in great shape and could get a very high seed.
As of right now, I have 16 teams, meaning that if a bubble team or two doesn’t make it, the top seed or top two seeds could end up with a bye.
The most surprising team on the favorites list is Hayward. After starting the year 0-1-3, the Farmers have won six straight and sit in great shape. Concord is going to have its hands full with two matches against Clayton, and one more each with College Park and Ygnacio Valley, so the Minutemen will be tested.
As for the rest of the hopefuls, they all sit at two games above .500 and are in decent shape. Three of them are DFAL teams and could play a part in knocking each other out of the picture. Kennedy is exactly .500 right now, so they are a bubble team in the truest sense.

Rankings

Onto the rankings. I’m going to take a lot of heat this week, I can feel it. But the rankings needed some big changes. I will talk about almost every team and why they are where they are.
So I couldn’t move an undefeated Cal team down for one tie. I didn’t see a legitimate argument for a new No. 1 team. Some might argue Newark Memorial shouldn’t be No. 2, but a win over SRV was good and they opened league with a win. I didn’t feel like another team deserved to be No. 2 over them.
Now De La Salle deserved a bump. They deserved it last week, but I waited to see how they did with Livermore. The Spartans have won seven of eight, including two straight in the EBAL and earned the six-spot jump.
I was pretty easy on Campo and San Lorenzo, dropping them just two spots each after SLZ’s tough loss to Hayward and Campo’s two ties, games in which the Cougars led late. I think those two teams will have plenty of opportunity to crack the top three again. A lot of parody in the East Bay this year.
Livermore, anyone? The team is legit and deserved a bump despite the loss to DLS. The win over SRV was enough for me. Clayton may feel snubbed, and I might hear it from them, but they are next in line for a jump if they keep the ship steering in the right direction.
As for Acalanes, I will never doubt them again and last week is proof why I don’t do predictions. Two good wins for the Dons, who jump four spots.
The other team that could have a huge beef is Berkeley, and for good reason. They dropped six spots for one loss. But the thing was, if I only dropped them three or four, then Clayton, or Deer Valley get bumped down a spot. So Berkeley will just have to work its way back up the list, and they have a chance at a good win at home with Richmond on Tuesday. I will be there.
I think the rest of the rankings are pretty self explanatory. Teams moving down for losses, standing pat for maintaining with Pinole and Hayward jumping in for very good reason.
The last team I want to address is YV. They keep winning, but I can’t find a way to move them up just yet. They were supposed to play Pitt this weekend, but it didn’t work out. That would have helped. But they play Clayton on Thursday, which is a big chance for them.

1. California (11-0-1)
2. Newark Memorial (11-3-0)
3. De La Salle (9-3-0)
4. Campolindo (11-0-3)
5. San Lorenzo (9-1-1)
6. Livermore (7-4-2)
7. Clayton Valley (7-1-3)
8. Deer Valley (6-2-3)
9. Acalanes (7-2-2)
10. Berkeley (6-2-2)
11. Monte Vista (7-2-2)
12. San Ramon Valley (8-4-1)
13. Bishop O’Dowd (8-2-2)
14. Pinole Valley (7-4-2)
15. Hayward (6-1-3)

Others considered: Richmond (5-4-1), Dublin (8-4-2), Las Lomas (6-4-2), Pittsburg (4-3-2), Ygnacio Valley (6-1-0), Dougherty Valley (6-4-3), Logan (6-4-2), Concord (5-1-1), St. Mary’s (5-1-0), Albany (4-2-2).

Standings

ACCAL
Team Overall League Points
Pinole Valley (7-4-2) 3-0-0 9
Alameda (2-8-2) 1-1-1 4
Richmond (5-4-1) 1-1-1 4
Berkeley (6-2-2) 1-1-0 3
Hercules (1-6-0) 1-2-0 3
El Cerrito (0-5-4) 0-0-2 2
De Anza (2-8-0) 0-2-0 0

BSAL
Team Overall League Points
Piedmont (6-2-3) 6-1-1 19
St. Mary’s (5-1-0) 5-1-0 15
Kennedy (6-6-0) 4-2-0 12
Encinal (2-4-1) 2-2-1 7
St. Joseph Notre Dame (2-4-3) 2-2-1 7
Albany (4-2-2) 2-1-0 6
St. Patrick-St. Vincent (1-4-0) 1-4-0 3
Salesian (0-2-2) 0-2-1 1
Swett (0-8-0) 0-6-0

BVAL
Team Overall League Points
Antioch (0-7-3) 0-0-0 0
Deer Valley (6-2-3) 0-0-0 0
Freedom (2-6-1) 0-0-0 0
Heritage (2-4-3) 0-0-0 0
Liberty (3-4-0) 0-0-0 0
Pittsburg (4-3-2) 0-0-0 0

DFAL
Team Overall League Points
Campolindo (11-0-3) 4-0-2 14
Acalanes (7-2-2) 3-1-1 10
Alhambra (7-5-2) 2-2-1 7
Dublin (8-4-2) 2-3-0 6
Dougherty Valley (6-4-3) 1-2-2 5
Las Lomas (6-4-2) 1-2-2 5
Miramonte (1-6-3) 0-3-2 2

DVAL
Team Overall League Points
Clayton Valley (7-1-3) 3-0-0 9
Concord (5-1-1) 2-1-1 7
Ygnacio Valley (6-1-0) 2-1-0 6
Berean Christian (2-9-2) 1-2-1 4
College Park (2-7-4) 1-1-1 4
Northgate (1-8-3) 1-1-1 4
Mt. Diablo (2-4-0) 0-4-0 0

EBAL
Team Overall League Points
California (11-0-1) 3-0-1 10
Monte Vista (7-2-2) 3-0-1 10
San Ramon Valley (8-4-1) 3-1-0 9
De La Salle (9-3-0) 2-2-0 6
Livermore (7-4-2) 2-2-0 6
Granada (1-8-5) 1-2-1 4
Foothill (4-6-2) 0-3-1 1
Amador Valley (5-8-1) 0-4-0 0

HAAL
Team Overall League Points
Hayward (6-1-3) 5-1-0 15
San Lorenzo (9-1-1) 5-1-0 15
Bishop O’Dowd (8-2-2) 4-1-1 13
Mt. Eden (8-2-3) 4-1-1 13
Castro Valley (2-7-2) 2-2-1 7
San Leandro (2-8-1) 2-3-1 7
Tennyson (3-7-2) 1-5-0 3
Arroyo (2-8-3) 0-3-3 3
Moreau Catholic (1-6-1) 0-5-0 0

MVAL
Team Overall League Points
Logan (6-4-2) 1-0-0 3
Newark Memorial (11-3-0) 1-0-0 3
Kennedy (1-3-3) 0-0-1 1
Washington (3-3-4) 0-0-1 1
Irvington (1-6-3) 0-1-0 0
Mission San Jose (5-5-2) 0-1-0 0

OAL
Team Overall League Points
Castlemont (0-0-0) 0-0-0 0
Fremont (0-0-0) 0-0-0 0
Oakland (0-0-0) 0-0-0 0
Oakland Tech (1-1-1) 0-0-0 0
Skyline (0-0-0) 0-0-0 0

Statistics

Name, School Goals
Pagliuca, Cal 13
Aguila, Richmond 10
Parisi, Dougherty 10
Villa, Pitt 10
Ulloa, Logan 10
Navarro, Newark 9
Fagenson, Cal 8
Reshke, Campo 8
Hartland, Dublin 8
Ramirez, Newark 7
Tobin, DLS 7
Morales, Liv 7

Name, School Assists
Vazquez, Pitt 7
Hodges, LL 7
Oranstil, BOD 6
Shaiwany, Dougherty 6
Fagenson, Cal 5
Danielson, Cal 5
Tavecchio, Campo 5
Gomzez, Clayton 5
Ramirez, Newark 5
Bochenek, Dougherty 5
Chaussy, SRV 5

Matt Smith

Scoreboard

2-0 DLS over Amador. Made the trek after doing a bit of shopping at Stoneridge mall. Amador looked much better than their record shows – the #15 is a terrific player in the back. Amador had chances but lacked the quality to put the ball in the net..DLS scored both in half two – one from deep and the other a header from a set play. DLS efficient closing things out.
Sounds like Cal v SRV and B O’D v SLZ were entertaining matches from tonight. Congrats to all the winning sides!
ebal fan

I will put my two cents about the CAL game.
CAL wins 2 to 1 against SRV but that doesn’t tell the story of the game. CAL was the better team for 70 minutes and scored an early goal with a nice combination with Rivas #10 and #9 for CAL were their best players. CAL also had another play where Rivas went in alone but either slipped or got tripped. SRV off a throw in and rebound goal. CAL’s second goal comes off a cross very nice combination. They were the better team connecting passes, getting shots in front of the net and hitting the post in the second half. Easily could have been 3 or 4 to 1.

The difference only shows as CAL’s coach likes to make subs and that gave SRV momentum in a small part of the first half. CAL needs to play a full game where they keep attacking and don’t play the entire half defending and they also need to put their chances away. CAL definitely shows why they have a two game lead in EBAL.
ebal fan

Livermore 3 MV 2.
Livermore up 2-0 at half but MV comes back.
AVFan

Any news on AV-DLS? AV having tough year…
MonsterMan

Agreed…AV in down cycle this year. This could be the year Foothill finally beats Amador Valley. AV has not lost to Foothill since NCS playoffs 2003…but all streaks come to an end.
Scoreboard

DLS 2 – AV 0
Matt Smith

YV 1, Clayton 1.

O’Dowd, YV and Pitt have thrown a wrench into my rankings this week…
ebaljunkie

CAL looked like its starting with a new lineup? There is a new defender and they moved one of their center defenders to a defensive mid and I think this slight move is making a huge difference in how CAL is defending teams. CAL’s defense is the best in EBAL.
EBAL Spektator

Cal vs SRV
1st half CAL was the better attacking team despite relatively even possession play.
Cal had the quicker counter and has good attacking team.
2nd half was dominated by SRV in the mid field and tried to equalize but lacked the finishing players. Cal had some quick counter attacks and nearly scored again.
The game ended with SRV pressing. Rivas was ok but was not dominant.
Some say Cal controlled game, not sure what game they were watching??

The story was San Ramon actually controlled the midfield, Cal had the quick counter and was better at finishing. One surprise for me was the Cal defense was not very strong and looks vulnerable, nothing like what I expected. Cal is a good attacking team but is bearable.
Paydirt

SRV-1, Grizzlies-2! as called by the announcer. I am eating crow because there were no shown yellow cards that I recall, though one player was directed to leave the field (injury/blood/other?). Regardless, kudos to the coaches and players for playing a cleaner than typical/expected match, and to the refs for keeping it under control from the git-go.

Five points on the match:

1) Cal dominated, but not 70 minutes (87.5%!?) as cited by others, as they played conservative for 10+ minutes in H1 and 15+ minutes in H2;

2) SRV repositioned a few players for the match and the initial overall shape and spacing in H1 was awkward at times, if not awful, including the 2 on 0 mismatch that resulted in the eventual winning goal at the end of the 1st half;

3) SRV corrected the shape and spacing issues after the break (good coaching adjustment?) and they were more aggressive challenging Cal, much like Foothill did;

4) Cal could not close the deal in H2, missing numerous opportunities by not completing the final pass or not shooting on frame (some credit does go to the SRV defense and keeper, but…);

5) There appeared to be a hand ball in the box with 40 seconds left in the match (ball struck the Cal player’s body/arm as the arm swung into the line of fire), but the referee did not call it. This was at least a 50:50 call, and Cal dodged a late bullet. Closing earlier avoids these situations.

I would like to see the Cal private screening tape on the late play in the box, but I give total credit to the ref for not calling it because the body block was there, and there was no shot on goal regardless (ie., not deserving of a PK at that moment). If healthy and better organized, SRV could score 2+ goals next match, but Cal should score 3+. Moral to the story, “Close the deal or put your fate in the hands of others.”
EBAL Spektator

One other thing I noticed in this Cal vs SRV game the clock stopped at 2 min in the first half which benefited Cal as they scored their second goal during this stoppage time. But in the second half the Cal scorekeeper ran it all the way to 0 taking the stoppage time out of the referees hand. Was this an honest mistake or true home field advantage??
The Sweeper

AKA Paydirt #109 (OOPS): Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Hey Matt, study well Padawan! Gotta love the Berkeley law scene, and good luck. Cheers!
Matt Smith

Ah, the Sweeper. He’s the man.
And I hate to admit it, but I didn’t have high enough grades or LSAT score to even apply at Berkeley law. I moved to SF and go here in the City.
MacG

Hey guys – new poster but have read the blog and board for years. After tonight’s SLZ vs O’Dowd match, had to jump in and comment. Both teams are legit – SLZ is very technical and gets forward fast with numbers. First time out O’Dowd was overwhelmed but they defended and countered very well tonight. Caught SLZ off guard and scored first 2 goals within the first 7 minutes, one an incredible crack from distance and the second a lovely ball swung left to right and a great service and finish. SLZ then took control and had the ball pretty much the rest of the game, pulled one back off a counter and then finished off a lovely effort right before half with a great finish. 2nd half was wide open but both teams stayed organized and there were few chances to be had. O’Dowd made a great adjustment dropping their holding mid to the center back and SLZ was done for the night after that. Last goal came off a great individual effort where #7 took a ball from his own defensive 3rd, beat two defenders, cut across the middle, took it to the top of the 18 and dropped it for attacking mid who buried it.

One of the best matches I’ve ever seen at HS level so I had to comment. Both teams were efficient and classy. O’Dowd played with heart and class and won out in the end but SLZ is very good and will be a force. I think D2 comes down to those two teams plus Campo and Acalanes, who I’ve seen play and are both very good.

Keep up the great work Matt, we all appreciate it and it gives us soccer junkies something to do when we’re supposed to be doing work or other things!
ebal fan

Sweeper comes out in another name. SRV usually plays a 3-4-3 but they were getting dominated early which caused a shift to a 3-5-2. I do agree with the non call at the end of the game, you can’t give that away there unless it’s clear. CAL played better soccer and looked to combine as their first goal came off that and another chance where it was Rivas slipped. CAL needs to continue improving. SRV is built for next year and Chaussy is a transnational checking forward
Closeup

Tough loss for MV. A gallant comeback effort falls short. After going down 0-2 in 2 minutes(with one unearned goal), MV more than held their own in the second half and made it interesting.
futbol26

Now after watching Pitt and a few local teams in the east bay … I take a few things back… Pitt is holding strong and playing well. There coach is making the correct reads on how to move the team around. I made time to go and see the second half of the YV – Clayton game… It was exciting to the last seconds… Bodies flying , pushing , strong and well executed game . I believe YV was the stronger team of the two … Very unlucky the linesman didn’t see CV player offsides by 5 yards, yes five yards. CV tied the game on a very unfortunate miss call. That’s soccer. YV is young, but so very dangerous. I have not seen another team defend like YV does, they cover great. I understand they havent played the strongest teams around, but no mistakes in the back add up. If you look at the stats on players, they are well distributed around. If i had called them a pony once, I’m a bigger donkey. Great game.
Old HAAL Dad

ODowd/SLZ – Great match one of the best I’ve seen this year. BOD is a much different team on turf, they’re tough to beat on their little cracker box field. When these two met on the heavy grass field at SLZ BOD was down 3 zip before you could yell “hand ball”. SLZ went down 2 nil early but kept their composure and tied it up. BOD kept the pressure on in the second half and pushed the winner across late but what a game. SlZ has great ball skills really a fun team to watch but definitely had a tough time adjusting to the speed of the surface. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these two teams in the NCS D-2 final. P.S. I wonder how much additional money BOD has to budget for addition balls to replace the ones that go over the fence down to 98th Ave.
Matt Smith

Hey EBAL Spektator, in response to your post, #110…

The EBAL, for some reason, runs the clock down to zero and deals with added time by stopping the clock every time the ref does, and they are usually quick to stop it for any reason because of the fact they are running it all the way down.
I am guessing the first half of stopping it at 2:00 was the mistake and the ref let them know that in the EBAL they go down to zero, so they did so in the second half.
Again, I’m not sure why the EBAL does it that way, and I’m not a big fan of it, but they have been doing so the last couple of seasons.
Old HAAL Dad

MacG, I haven’t seen Campolindo yet, plan to next week, but have seen Acalanes and right now I would say both BOD & SLZ would handle them easily but that’s why they play the games right!
soccerfan

YV 1 Clayton 1

It was a great game. CV started the game strong and almost had a goal in the first 5 minutes. the shot hit off the crossbar and it was cleared from almost going in. That’s probably the best chance of the first half.

2ND Half was dominated by YV. The coach made some adjustments at half and they paid off. They had at least 6 really good shots that were close to going in, one of them the keeper made a great save and the ball hit off the crossbar. YV scored with about 20 minutes left in the game with a pass behind the defense and the forwards effort to fight for the ball resulted in a goal. CV goal came with about 1 minute left on a questionable call. The keeper made a good save and the follow up was from the CV striker who looked to be way offside. The linesmen couldn’t keep up with the play. That’s they way most high school refs are so we need to get used to it. Some YV guys were hurt in this match so they might be missing tomorrow against O’Dowd but, I think other guys will step up and make a difference.
CoachF

Old HAAL Dad, I don’t think any team in the area is going to beat Acalanes easily. It has not happened for the past 2 years and may not happen for the next two years. And if I remember correctly, the last two games between the Dons & BOD were very competitive (2009 NCS Final & 2010 Semi-final). Also, both teams know each other very well, with players in both schools who have been playing club soccer together for a long time at Bay Oaks.
Soccerfan

By suggesting the D2 final will come down to two non DFAL teams oldHAAL dad shows he has no knowledge of soccer and history. 8 of the 9 last D2 champions have come from the DFAL and I do believe BOD was handled by Dougherty earlier this year 4-2. They are in like 4th or 5th place in the DFAL. But this is why they play the games…
Saint

Acalanes 2 -1 over Miramonte. Acalanes controlled the game leading 2-0 into the 2nd half and Miramonte put up a valiant fight, scoring a goal and controlling the game late. What were the other DFAL scores?
SoccerScout

Both Logan and Newark are undefeated in MVAL play. Each won their games 4-0 yesterday as Logan overpowered Kennedy, while Newark stomped out Mission San Jose. Logan sit up-top the boards with 11 GF 0 GA, and Newark with 9 GF 0 GA.

On Wednesday, they both will play for first place in the MVAL at Newark Memorial. This is most definitely a game to watch Matt, see if Logan can adapt it’s game play to Newark’s swampy field around this time. Game starts at 6 according to MaxPreps. Most def will be there.
Scout

#120!

You obviously don’t know what your talking about because.. SLZ has played campo and if campo put away many of there chances that game would’ve been 4-0! Let’s take a step back to last years NCS quarterfinals BOD vs campo and how BOD only one off of one of the worst pk calls by the keeper in history campo hasn’t lost a game this year and it doesn’t look like they are going too. They have piedmont and acalanes as their next two games and the acalanes game with probably decide the league winner and the #1 D2 seeded team for NCS. Campo in legue is 5-0-2 and those 2 ties should’ve been wins with a few coaching errors but they just can’t be beat defensible lead by their senior core
Dougherty Valley Fan

Campo 2
Dougherty Valley 1
Chris Goodman

Matt,

not sure if this is proper form but if appropriate I wanted to let people know that some pictures of Thursday’s Cal-SRV game are posted at http://www.fjphotoguy.com/CalHighSoccer2010-2011/Cal-High-vsSRV
Matt Smith

I agree with SoccerScout that the game of the day on Wednesday is Logan and Newark. Unfortunately I have an appointment that will keep me in Oakland until close to 6:00, so I have to catch something closer to that area.
I will catch Logan and Newark the second time around. The MVAL got rid of the league tournament, right?
dfal1

Game of the season, for D2 anyways, will be on Wednesday, January 26 when Acalanes travels to Campo. The winner likely wins the DFAL and the #1 seed in the playoffs. Two very good programs. Much motivation for Acalanes with Campo giving them their only loss on their home field. But this seems to be Campo’s year. There is likely not a better defensive backfield & GK in all of NCS.
The Truth

Much credit to both Campo and Acalanes for continuing to uphold their soccer program pedigree.As I have said in other posts the main difference between D1 and D2 is, simply put, the quantity of good players.Both of the aforementioned schools are fortunate that year and year out they have the ability to reload.Las Lomas is another school in D2 that normally has this pool to choose from and in fact I would of thought this year they would have been more competetitive since they only graduated 4-5 players( although 3 were studs and first team DFAL).
I have seen Campo,Acalanes ,BOD,San Lorenzo and a few others as well. BOD is good but the coach is not. Campo wins it all this year because they have the best keeper in the East Bay.
SoccerScout

Matt,

Yes I believe the second time it’s on the 4th of February with a 6 PM kickoff at Logan. And yes the MVAL doesn’t have the shaugnessy playoffs anymore so the winner of the league gets the automatic berth into NCS instead of the top 4 teams battling it out.
U-Mustbeinsane

#119 Matt, you are probably right. I was at the game and noticed the ref going to the booth at the half. Your guess that clock management was addressed may be spot on.
Golden Boot

YV tied 0-0 at the half and dominating against O’Dowd. Not sure O’Dowd has all their starters and not sure why if that’s the case.
Diego

Do you not post any comments of Albany’s High school soccer ? It was a show on yesterdays game Pilots & Albany , the score was 7 ( albany ) 0 ( pilots ) 3 red cards for Pilots, 2 players and one for the coach .
Soccer_83

Matt, time for some Pre NCS seeds? I think everyone agrees to hear what you think
Scout

Matt time for ncs seeds? Alittle pre championship gitters to get us started haha
Matt Smith

Hey Diego,

Thanks for talking about Albany. The truth is I haven’t heard much from them this year as far as information or results.

Scout, I’m doing something a little different this week, then NCS seeding projections next week, I promise!
DVAL1

What was the final score of O’Dowd -YV? Anyone know any info on the game?
Waterboy

Berkeley beats Pittsburgh 1 to 0.
Any updates on Richmond DLS Game?
Soccerfan

I have got to say the refs screwed Pittsburg over in a one team advantage against berkely.
bambam

DLS 4 Rch 0 final
soccerguy

DLS looked solid in scoring three first-half goals against Richmond tonight. They simply hung back in their final third for most of the night, applying low pressure while Richmond knocked it around trying to find a non-existent opening in DLS defense. The Oilers never really threatened despite maintaining possession.

It was good to see DeCosta back in the line-up and Bernardi is always fun to watch, but they were missing Tobin up top, unfortunately. Matt Bravo was all over the field again, playing forward early and then moving into the back line in the second half.

The Spartans looked dangerous on counter-attacks, throw-ins and free kicks into the box. The Richmond keeper struggled with DLS pressure on the first goal.

The DLS match-up Tuesday at Cal should be a fantastic one.
Waterboy

Soccerfan

I would have to disagree, I thought the refs were fair, they did give out two or three yellows, I think they were all awarded to Pittsburgh, but there was a lot of banging on both sides and play was not stopped.

Berkeley did miss three or four close shots, the game could have easily been 3 to 0
bvaldad

I would agree with waterboy. The ref let the game go and both sides were playing hard.

I saw the game totally different than that. I saw berkeley dominate possession in the first half but did not do much with it besides the 2 shots and one was a goal. Pitt had 4 shots one on a break away that they missed. The second half pitt dominated with possession and berkeley countered and had a couple of chances as well as pitt. I thought it should have been 1-1.

Berkeleys def is one of the best I have seen especially with a lead. They dropped back and did not let pitt get in. I saw pitt play liberty and today they are a good team but we will see how they stack up come playoffs.
Matt Smith

O’Dowd beat YV 1-0.
Anonymous

DFAL analysis:

Campolindo: Currently the powerhouse leader of the DFAL, but could easily be threatened by Acalanes. Tough ties against Alhambra (1-1) and Las Lomas (2-2) should not hurt their NCS seeding too much, but could create some trouble for them with a surging Acalanes threatening to take the league title. With a win over Acalanes, they should seal up the DFAL and most likely a #1 or #2 seed in NCS.

Acalanes: I would expect to see Acalanes move up in the rankings after 4 wins against SRV (1-0), Piedmont (2-0), Las Lomas (4-0), and Miramonte (2-1) this past week to compile nine straight wins now. This team seems to have definitely found their composure after losing some key players from last year. With a win over Campo next week, they could find themselves very close to a #1 or #2 seed in NCS.

Dublin: Seems to have regained their composure after a 0-2 loss to Acalanes to pull three straight victories, including a respectable win against Dougherty Valley 3-1. Definitely a rebuilding year for this team after losing 12 seniors from their NCS championship team last year. Still a strong side in D2 and expect them to do some damage in NCS.

Alhambra: They seem a little bit out of form, and have not been able to post a win in their last 7 games. A nice tie against Campo (1-1), but tough losses to Dougherty Valley (0-3) and Miramonte (0-1) will certainly not help their cause for NCS seedings. However, Alhambra is a scrappy team that can find a way to string wins together in big games. As with any DFAL team, should certainly qualify for NCS and could win a few games there.

Miramonte: Certainly a stronger side this year than last, despite graduating their star player. They have shown to be able to compete in every DFAL game, but have unfortunately only been able to come up with one win. Certainly another rebuilding year for Miramonte but expect them to return to strong form in the next couple of years. Miramonte has traditionally had a very strong soccer program. They have an interesting schedule with teams outside of NCS (good to see them play games out of league which they haven’t done for the past few years).

Dougherty Valley: Started out very strong with a great showing in the Winter Classic. Have had some success outside of league, with solid wins over BOD (4-2) and Piedmont (4-1). Unlucky showing thus far in league, but still post an overall winning record so expect to see this team in NCS and can always threat to do some damage. As with every team in the DFAL, I still believe that they could beat any other team in the DFAL with a strong showing.

Las Lomas: I was very surprised to find the knights in last place in the DFAL. They have traditionally had a very strong program and did not graduate very many players from last year’s squad. However, they too have a winning record, so we may see six teams from the DFAL in NCS. I would not be surprised to see them regain their composure and possibly be a threat in NCS.

Overall, I find the DFAL to be the top D2 league in the east bay with all seven teams being strong sides. I should expect them to get some strong seeds in NCS, and as a league they will certainly threaten for a championship that they have won 8 out of the last 9 years. San Lorenzo and Bishop O’Dowd also seem to be great sides that I wish the best of luck. I just hope that the BSAL does not get as lucky of seedings as they did last year over the DFAL (several DFAL teams have defeated Piedmont {the current leader of the BSAL}).
Scout

That was a great analysis of the dfal leg breakdown I agree with acalanes and campo being the top two teams but with campo already beating acalanes this year I think it gives them the upper hand for come 1/26 when they play again at campo. That will be the biggest game this year and the winner will most likely take the #1 spot in ncs. I still feel this is campos year because of 3 things:

1,) best goalie is the east bay
2.) their solid defense
3.) secret weapons and te idea of a new hero every game