- East Bay Prep Corner
East Bay Boys Soccer Notes: Playoffs, Rankings, Standings, Stats
By Matt Smith
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 at 9:06 pm in Boys soccer.
So I can’t seed all teams one through 16 yet, it would just be too hard. So, instead, I will pick who I think the top four seeds are for both divisions. We will also do locks, should get in and on the bubble for each division. Next week, we’ll break down the league races.
Locks are teams that are definitely in. Should get in are teams who could mathematically not get in, but are more than likely going barring a collapse. Bubble teams are within a game or two of .500 overall or in league.
Oh ya, the fact we haven’t cracked 200 comments on any post yet is killing me. Let’s make that happen.
Division I
Locks: Berkeley, California, Clayton Valley, De La Salle, Deer Valley, Monte Vista, Mt. Eden, Newark Memorial.
Should get in: Logan, Livermore, Pittsburg, Richmond, San Ramon Valley.
On the bubble: Alameda, Antioch, Arroyo, Castro Valley, College Park, Freedom, Granada, Mission San Jose, Washington.
That’s 22 teams by my count. Here’s a question. What do we know about Mt. Eden? I didn’t even know their mascot until I looked it up. I’m kidding. But that’s about all I know, and that they are going to the playoffs. They are the only 11-3-3 team that could ever fly under my radar.
There are three bubble teams that could get in according to this scenario. Alameda, Arroyo, College Park, Freedom and Granada are in the lead right now, seeing as all of them are a game or better above .500 in league. Watch out for Freedom. They are quietly 5-2-1 in their last eight games.
Top four seeds: California, Newark Memorial, Berkeley, Monte Vista.
Division II
Locks: Acalanes, Albany, Bishop O’Dowd, Campolindo, Dublin, Piedmont, San Lorenzo, St. Mary’s, Ygnacio Valley.
Should get in: Concord, Hayward, Pinole Valley.
On the bubble: Alhambra, Dougherty Valley, Kennedy-Richmond, Las Lomas, St. Joseph.
That’s 17 teams with a legitimate chance by my count. There are a few more with an outside chance.
Concord, Hayward and Pinole Valley are very close to being locks as I look at their upcoming schedule, but I decided to wait one more week before considering them a lock. Those teams are in great shape, however.
Of the five teams on the bubble, three of them are above .500 in one of the categories so they are in pretty good shape. Both Las Lomas and St. Joe’s are behind the eight ball and need to finish strong.
Top four seeds: Campolindo, Acalanes, San Lorenzo, Bishop O’Dowd.
Rankings
Another weak, and another chance for me to get raked over the coal’s. I expect some people to be happy, but most people won’t be. Berkeley climbs up three spots to No. 4, while Monte Vista jumps nine spots to No. 5 after going 2-0-1 over a brutal stretch.
Here is some thinking behind that. MV is 1-0-1 against De La Salle, and almost went 2-0 against them. I felt MV should be above DLS for now, and I couldn’t move DLS down too far after a tough stretch at Cal and vs. MV. So there’s that. I also couldn’t move Acalanes down more than one spot for losing on an own-goal to Berkeley.
And if you look closely at the rankings, every team (except SRV and SLZ) with one loss and no draw, moved down one spot exactly.
I’m having a hard time finding a way to move Clayton Valley and Deer Valley up, who keep winning. It boils down to teams like DLS not deserving like a six-spot drop, but also I tend to jump teams when they have a big win, or wins. Now, it’s not Clayton or DV’s fault that they don’t play in a league like the EBAL where every night is a battle, but thankfully the playoffs are just a few weeks away, and if they keep winning (which they will) and stay in the top ten (which they will, likely climbing soon) they will have their chance to make a big jump.
Both those teams are due a big jump soon and will climb at the next slip up by a team directly, or slightly, above them. They are both great teams, capable of extended runs in the playoffs, and DV has tough games in the next 10 days with Clayton and Pittsburg.
Clayton will play DV, Campo and YV all in about two weeks from now. CV has a chance to make a big, big statement.
1. California (14-0-2)
2. Newark Memorial (15-3-0)
3. Campolindo (13-0-3)
4. Berkeley (11-2-2)
5. Monte Vista (10-4-3)
6. De La Salle (12-4-1)
7. Acalanes (11-3-2)
8. Clayton Valley (11-1-4)
9. Deer Valley (10-2-4)
10. Livermore (9-5-3)
11. Bishop O’Dowd (12-3-2)
12. Ygnacio Valley (9-2-1)
13. San Ramon Valley (10-6-1)
14. San Lorenzo (11-3-1)
15. Dublin (10-4-2)
Others considered: Mt. Eden (11-3-3), Hayward (8-3-3), Pittsburg (8-4-3), Logan (9-5-2), St. Mary’s (10-1-0), Albany (10-2-2), Pinole Valley (9-5-3), Arroyo (6-8-3), Richmond (8-7-1), Concord (6-2-2).
Standings
ACCAL
Team Overall League Points
Pinole Valley (9-5-3) 5-1-1 16
Berkeley (12-2-2) 5-1-0 15
Richmond (8-7-1) 4-2-1 13
Alameda (4-9-3) 3-2-2 11
Hercules (2-8-0) 2-4-0 6
El Cerrito (1-11-4) 1-4-2 5
De Anza (2-12-0) 0-6-0 0
BSAL
Team Overall League Points
St. Mary’s (10-1-0) 9-1-0 27
Piedmont (8-4-2) 8-2-1 25
Albany (10-2-2) 7-1-0 21
Kennedy (9-8-0) 7-4-0 21
St. Joseph Notre Dame (4-7-3) 4-5-1 13
Salesian (3-6-2) 3-6-1 10
Encinal (2-7-1) 2-5-1 7
St. Patrick-St. Vincent (2-7-0) 2-7-0 6
Swett (0-12-0) 0-10-0
BVAL
Team Overall League Points
Deer Valley (10-2-4) 3-0-1 10
Freedom (5-7-2) 2-1-1 7
Pittsburg (8-4-3) 2-1-1 7
Antioch (1-9-4) 1-2-1 4
Liberty (4-7-0) 1-3-0 3
Heritage (2-7-5) 0-2-2 2
DFAL
Team Overall League Points
Campolindo (13-0-3) 5-0-2 17
Acalanes (11-3-2) 5-1-1 16
Dublin (10-4-2) 3-3-0 9
Alhambra (7-6-3) 2-3-2 8
Las Lomas (5-7-3) 1-3-3 6
Dougherty Valley (7-6-4) 1-4-2 5
Miramonte (2-7-3) 1-4-2 5
DVAL
Team Overall League Points
Clayton Valley (11-1-4) 6-0-1 19
Ygnacio Valley (9-2-1) 5-1-1 16
College Park (5-8-4) 4-2-1 13
Concord (6-2-2) 3-2-1 10
Berean Christian (2-13-2) 1-4-1 4
Northgate (1-11-3) 1-4-1 4
Mt. Diablo (2-7-0) 0-7-0 0
EBAL
Team Overall League Points
California (14-0-2) 6-0-2 20
San Ramon Valley (10-6-1) 5-3-0 15
Monte Vista (10-4-3) 4-2-2 14
De La Salle (12-4-1) 4-3-1 13
Livermore (9-5-3) 4-3-1 13
Granada (4-9-5) 4-3-1 13
Foothill (5-10-2) 1-6-1 4
Amador Valley (5-12-1) 0-8-0 0
HAAL
Team Overall League Points
Bishop O’Dowd (12-3-2) 7-2-1 22
Mt. Eden (11-3-3) 7-2-1 22
Hayward (8-3-3) 7-3-0 21
San Lorenzo (11-3-1) 7-3-0 21
Arroyo (6-8-3) 4-3-3 15
Castro Valley (4-11-2) 4-5-0 12
San Leandro (2-12-1) 2-7-1 7
Tennyson (3-9-1) 1-7-0 3
Moreau Catholic (2-10-1) 1-8-0 3
MVAL
Team Overall League Points
Newark Memorial (15-3-0) 5-0-0 15
Logan (9-5-2) 4-1-0 12
Washington (4-5-5) 1-2-2 5
Mission San Jose (6-8-3) 1-3-1 4
Kennedy (2-6-3) 1-3-1 4
Irvington (2-9-3) 1-4-0 3
OAL
Team Overall League Points
Fremont (2-0-1) 2-0-1 7
Oakland Tech (2-2-2) 1-1-1 4
Oakland (0-1-1) 0-1-1 1
Skyline (0-0-1) 0-0-1 1
Statistics
Name, School Goals
Pagliuca, Cal 14
Ulloa, Logan 14
Padilla, Clayton 12
Parisi, Dougherty 12
Navarro, Newark 12
Villa, Pitt 12
Reshke, Campo 11
Hartland, Dublin 11
Urcoyo, Livermore 10
Aguila, Richmond 10
Name, School Assists
Gomez, Clayton 8
Shaiwany, Dougherty 8
Oranstil, BOD 7
Danielson, Cal 7
Tavecchio, Campo 7
Hodges, LL 7
Vazquez, Pitt 7
Bochenek, Dougherty 6
Morales, Livermore 6
Romero-Pacheco, Logan 6
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January 22nd, 2011 at 10:46 pm
So i see that Berkeley is moving up in your ranks they most been playing good them.i heard they beat alcalanes 1-0 at alcalanes?
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:24 pm
Castro Valley is 5-5 in the HAAL and more than alive in the playoff picture. Just wanted to give them the mention they deserve.
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:09 am
Matt,
It was great that you could see and report on two matches east of the tunnel today. The Acalanes and Berkeley fans (parents) were genuinely appreciative of your reporting and I enjoyed the ‘chatter.’
Your playoff preview is spot on, given the many turns so far this season. BTW, alphabetically, Logan should be after Livermore unless you include the ‘James’ in Logan, or San Ramon Valley could be ahead of Richmond as Ramon Valley (PC alphabetization). Hah!
Rhetorical question 1: If Acalanes earns a win at Campolindo this week, does Campo drop 4 slots to below the Dons?
Rhetorical question 2: If SRV remains at least 1 point ahead of MV and DLS and Livermore in league, will SRV remain 8 and 7 and 3 slots behind each in the rankings, respectively?
Rhetorical question 3: When will the Matt Smith rankings become a factor in the NCS (read BCS) seeding process?
Cheers.
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:14 am
The Kidd,
Berkeley did beat Acalanes 1-0. I’m interested to hear more about what people think of Berkeley. They are a team that I think is designed to make a run at the NCS title. Health is a concern for them right now, but I think Oscar Padilla in the back and Elder Alegria at keeper is just about as good as any defensive combination in the area.
Ladies and Gentleman,
If you want to have a better understanding of soccer, spend a day with the Sweeper. That dude knows his stuff. And he’s a good guy. If you find out who he is at a game, definitely say hello.
The friendliness of the Acalanes fans was awesome. So if Acalanes beats Campo, I think they would jump up a couple of spots, and Campo would drop one spot below them. And if SRV remains ahead of those three teams in league, it means they probably played pretty well in the second half of league and will climb. This is the week that EBAL teams will drop a little in more in my rankings to make room for teams like Clayton Valley and Deer Valley to make jumps I think they deserve.
And you’re right about Logan, alphabetically. I was going straight down the list, as to not make any team more important than the other, and it’s the James part in James Logan that messed me up! Haha.
My roommate and I joked around about calling the rankings the Matt Smith rankings in hopes that they would become part of the seeding process, like the BCS, but I decided I can’t be pretentious and name them after myself. At least not yet!
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:59 am
I watched the first half of the Acalanes / Berkeley match, and I have to say that the game was choppy and neither team was really flowing. The referee was staying out of the way, so you can’t blame him, perhaps the boys are simply getting a little tired. I did hear one Acalanes J.V. player say that the team was thinking ahead to Campolindo, so perhaps that explains the lack of intensity I saw in the first half.
Mind you… the SECOND half could of been a different story altogether.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:05 am
Hey Matt You’re doing a great job! I was wondering if you’ll be covering baseball like soccer? I heard that there might be changes with the bats that could drop the home runs in half. Sorry about the baseball question on this blog. Keep up the great work, NCS should definitely use the “Matt Smith” Rankings.
January 23rd, 2011 at 10:15 am
Hey Mudhen, the second half was much better. I think both teams settled in.
And as far as baseball goes, I wish I had that beat. But I don’t. I would love it, if I did.
January 23rd, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Mt. Eden should have only 10 wins. Their game against Berean was a scrimmage.
January 23rd, 2011 at 4:36 pm
I think campio may have another win that isn’t in here
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Matt
Regarding teams that should get in and on the bubble, I noticed you left out Pinole. If I have it right they are 9-4-3 and 4-1-1 in league. If they beat Richmond at pinole, win the their remaining games except probably loosing to Berkeley at BHS, wouldn’t they be considered for the NCS placing second in league and having a decent win loss record?
It was nice meeting Sweeper at the Acalanes BHS game.
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Pinole certainly was mentioned. Division II.
I’m pretty sure I have their record accurate.
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Matt,
I’ve seen you at various games but have not had the pleasure to speak with you. I will approach you the next time to introduce myself.
I believe matts predictions are pretty much all on point. This blog gives a lot of credit to the ebal and dfal teams and not alot to any other leagues for the most part. The ebal has always been tradionally good but since mustang soccer club formed they have been even greater. The inclusion of DLS makes this league the top one but without dls year in and year out I dont think it would get the blog time it does.
January 23rd, 2011 at 7:28 pm
MV will dominate the Dons on Tuesday and Foothill on Thursday. This week is an easy week for the Stangs as we should march through with 2 steady wins. With the defense MV is sporting at this point of the season I cant wait to see them dominate these 2 mediocre teams.
GO STANGS!!!
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:10 pm
My mistake, forgot Pinole was Division 11
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:18 pm
WB, you’re still the man. I am hoping that one of you guys will email me and let me know how you guys are doing health-wise.
And I think Scout is referring to the Piedmont match for Campo, but that has been rescheduled, and I believe will resume 1-0 Campo in the 21st or 22nd minute.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:06 pm
This week’s East Bay boys soccer is like the end of the back stretch in a 1-3/8 mile stakes horse race, for contenders: “Can’t fall behind, but gotta go, gotta go, gotta go.”
I am looking forward to seeing Acalanes @Campo Wednesday, SRV @Livermore Thursday and Campo @Dublin Friday. Need to pick a Tuesday match, but getting to Owen Owens Field on Tuesday by 6pm is a commute problem.
Hey peanut gallery and cashew crowd, which match is “can’t miss” on Tuesday?
See you at the pitch…
January 24th, 2011 at 8:49 am
Ranking
I attended the Richmond MVHS game on Saturday, hoping to get some idea of the quality outside the EBAL. Realizing Richmond is not their best representative but they were completely dominated by MVHS while the coach substituted liberally. MVHS fans indicated some starters were also injured. Does this game begin to show teams like Cal and Livermore continue to battle playoff competition every Tuesday and Thursday?
January 24th, 2011 at 9:12 am
I have seen Albany play this year and i was impressed. they have a strong attack and a solid midfield. They lost both their goalies because of academic reasons but a starting defender stepped up. Unfortunatly they dont play in a tough league to put them in the mix. I excpect them to continue winning in league and be a scare for many teams in NCS.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:31 am
I’d like to see how Clayton Valley and Deer Valley fare this next couple of weeks. Based on their current records, they seem to deserve a serious look and a move up the standings. CV’s only loss was to MV and that was early in the season and perhaps got them pumped up. DV’s is a big, talented team that should pose challenges for any opponent but didn’t quite seem to “team up” as well when I last saw them. Love to see Granada give Cal a run for their money this week and perhaps upset the #1 team. Tough week for SRV this week running into DLS and Livermore and I think they might drop both. Newark wins my pick for most impressive team to watch, regardless of affiliation!
January 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Matt, thanks for the Castro Valley mention, I didn’t think their record was that good, there are a lot of holes in the Maxi Prep results. I think I’ll wait and see how they do against BOD tomorrow before I get too excited. I did catch the SLZ/Arroyo game last week and was surprised how well Arroyo did against a pretty tough SLZ team that seemed a little flat. Arroyo is for real but they only had thirteen player on the field and that will be a challenge if they get in the NCS. What a difference between playing on a heavy grass field versus a turf field the game really slowed down. The players are more willing to slide tackle on the grass which made for some hard fouls. Any how, the HAAL looks to be interesting in the second half. I went to the Acalanes/SRV game a couple of weeks ago and agree with your comment about their fans. My son and I sat in the middle of their rooting section found them engaging and very friendly. I didn’t see MV and Richmond but if it was anything like DLS and Richmond it probably wasn’t pretty. Richmond is having a tough time both with injuries and goal keeping and that’s not a good combo for taking on a tough MV side. I haven’t seen Foothill yet are they spoiler material?
January 24th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Futbollll,
You sure know how to put a target on a team!
There is NO EBAL match, and I mean none, that is a gimme. Never has been, never will be.
January 24th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
I hate to say I told you so but here is my 12/13 post about MV-
My dark horse prediction though is MV in the EBAL with Zamora owning the Cal ( and everybody else in the EBAL)midfield.MV has talent up and down,front and back and Zamora is the real deal…a true D1 prospect and probably the best player in the EBAL. Sorry to all the wannabe’s and good luck
They are doing it with out Zamora- for now- look out California High.
January 24th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
#21 is right. MV has yet to prove that can play at a high consistent level inspite of what on paper may look like easier competition. Let’s see if mv can come out and make a statement this week and prove otherwise!
January 24th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Still hoping to hear from some AV fans as to why there are so many quality players on the frosh and JV teams that have yet to be called up to the “big” squad. Are the Dons just throwing away this season and waiting until next year to return to relevance?
January 24th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
Mt eden is fast. Super fast. Lightning fast. They have an excellent goalkeeper but the back line is prone to error. I bet their record would be better if the HAAL fields weren’t so terrible.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
I’m a little late here I was out of town so I couldn’t get my two cents in. I don’t think MV should really be ranked above SRV as SRV is in second place in league but that’s why we have this blog.
Tough week for SRV again, see what they can do this time around vs DLS and Livermore.
Tomorrow, CAL has to be careful, Granada is hot, could be a trap game for them. I don’t know which game to catch.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Top four picks in Division 1 and again deer valley gets snubbed not to mention they’ve beaten 2 out of those four teams. I guess they will have to do it the hard way starting with Clayton valley and whoever is first in the NCS. I like their chances against most teams out there. I just haven’t seen the vaunted grizzly attack, but their stats are impressive. I guess they just need to sneak in and put doubters to rest. Those kids are having fun and it’s showing.
January 24th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
Matt-
Your breakdown of east bay soccer is excellent. My name is Zach Sullivan and I am the Merritt College Men’s Coach. I am looking for all of the top talent in the east bay and have seen some games, but really struggle to see all the talent out there. I was wondering if you had a list of players to watch or your views of top players in the area. Just thought i would ask since you are so involved.
Zach
January 25th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Matt going back to your coment on oscar padilla and elder alegria i also think that ryan towerr should get credit because no body passes him.he is a strong defence and really quick with his feet.when he goes up he is all close to scoring.
January 25th, 2011 at 8:32 am
DLS/SRV is tempting but I have to trek to Livermore and see first hand what all the buz is about with Granada. So Matt if Granada should happen to beat or tie Cal what would that do for them in your rankings? They’re currently unranked and on the bubble. Just curious.
January 25th, 2011 at 8:45 am
The Kidd is right. Ryan Tower is exceptional. I have a lot of respect for him. In fact, another reporter asked me who Berkeley’s best players were the other day, and I certainly included Ryan in the conversation.
As far as Granada goes, I was waiting to see how they did this week. They are a curious case for the rankings, indeed.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:13 am
Matt, I agree with you on Berkeley they’re for real and the player you mentioned above is a force. I believe the match Thursday with Pinole will go a long way in determing who’s boss in the ACCAL, I’ve got to attend that one to see for myself, parking in Berkeley is such a pain though.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:25 am
Parking at B-High can be hard. That’s why I loved when I lived just a five minute walk from there.
January 25th, 2011 at 11:23 am
Not associated with Amador, but have seen the freshman team and they are the best freshman team in a long time. Having not really been tested in any of their games, with multiple wins of 6-0, 8-1 with a 70 plus, about 6 against in goal differential tells me they are playing in much too low of a competitive environment.
Rumor has it they handed their own JV team a loss similar to the above score. Just curious, what is the philosophy of the powers that beat at Amador, regarding the development of the underclassmen programs?
January 25th, 2011 at 11:26 am
All I know is that on any given night, Campo, Acalanes, Dublin, Alhambra, Deer valley, Clayton Valley,and Ignacio valley can hold their own with anybody in any of the other leagues. Yeah, Cal and Berleley are good, but all it takes is a small mistake, and even the tightest match can be over.
January 25th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Hey Matt, with posting #28 you are now on the college coaches’ radar screen. We talked about this on Saturday, but now it is happening.
You could become the Mel Kiper Jr. of East Bay soccer: Matt Smith Enterprises, Inc. Now, if only the NCS selection committee would take heed we would be getting somewhere.
January 25th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
It never hurts to make contacts, right?
Haha, Mel Kiper Jr. Jr.
January 25th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Formerfarmer: let’s be honest Mt Eden is good has a great foward thir defense has some problems and their goalie is probably one of the best in league and yes they are in first place right now, but they haven’t really made a huge statement to make them a factor in the HAAL the only good team they have beaten is Hayward high and maybe Castro valley. MT needs to finish strong but in my eyes they will lose to Odowd, Arroyo, SLZ and maybe HHS. Not taking away anything from this team I enjoy they’re #9 and #10 and can upset any team but I don’t see them winning the league with the team they have
January 25th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Sweeper, I think you should start by getting Matt on the Rick Tittle afternoon radio show as a guest speaker for high school soccer. Rick is a pretty cool guy and he’s a big soccer fan also a Salesian alum. I would also suggest that you be Matt’s agent. See what happens when you plant the little seed, big things grow. You better WATCH OUT Mel Kiper!
January 25th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Tower of Berkeley has been one of the top defenders in the easy bay for a while but no one ever mentions his name. He is a shut down defender and has good speed. He is a nightmare when healthy and could easily stop the regions top offensive players.
January 25th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Haal Fanatic, I feel I have to respond to an HAAL fan because there’s not too many of us on here. I would agree that ME has an up hill climb but you never know. I’m just glad to see Five or Six teams in the mix, it didn’t always used to be that way. I don’t know how far you go back with the Farmers but I believe there’s a Farmer still playing in MLS, C.J.Brown with the Chicago Fire. C.J. has to be 35 so last year may have been his last but he was a force in high school that Hayward team was tough they used to have some epic battles with Castro Valley. Good luck the rest of the season.
January 25th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
I’m down for any radio show or anything to help get soccer some publicity.
And since I’m studying to be an agent, I gotta rep myself, but Sweeper can damn sure be my manager!
January 25th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Anybody want my predictions for tonight? I can’t believe nobody has asked…
January 25th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Old HAAL Dad: yeah your right this year has probably been the closest league showdown I’ve seen. In the last 4 years I think league champions have always been Cv, HHS, and BOD two years straight. I honestly feel the HAAL is underrated they have plenty of good players that play for top ranked clubs but don’t get the recognition they deserve. HHS SLZ BOD CV were always feared once it came to ncs time but many people don’t think they have it in them to take it. I know the HAAL will be a factor once it comes to ncs time
January 25th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
San Ramon 1-0 over DLS at half.
January 25th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
2-1 DLS 25 min left.
January 25th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Berkeley 5 Alameda 2
Nightmare small grass field that someone had watered, mud and water spots everywhere. Refs also had a bad night.
If you are coming to Berkeley, we open the gates on the West side at Bancroft and Martin Luther King, better parking on the off streets while construction is going on at the school
January 25th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Castro Valley 3-2 winners over Bishop O’Dowd
January 25th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Deer Valley 2-1 over Liberty, should have been 2-0, but goalie made mistake and had ball stolen from feet for a score. Choppy game with Deer Valley dominating play.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
What is going on with richmond this year?
Young team? Injuries?
When i saw them i thought they played some great soccer against berkeley
and were leading them 2-1 at berkeley 5min left of game
and lost on throw ins in the last minute.
I just thought they looked great.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
I believe they are young this year and no seniors what i hear.
But you are right sampito they can play some great soccer and
make it look so easy at times.Next week berkeley vs richmond should be
the game of the week.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
Cal 3 Granada 1 final. Rough play in the first half with a bunch of yellow cards and two soft reds in the second half. The referee had a serious case of “Rabbit Ears” and even yellow carded the Granada coach. Second half things settled down a bit and Cal took control. One of Cals goals was on a mistake by the Granada keeper and another was a penalty kick. Cal was defintely the better team tonight but I give Granada credit they played hard, they are very dangerous in the attacking third and nobody will look forward to playing them.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Cal 3-1 over Granada. Final.
Cal looked OK tonite. Granada looked lifeless after a second half penalty that was given as a gift on a mindless shove in the penalty box. Bad defending. 2 really efficient counter attacks by Cal accounted for the other 2 goals. Both teams had some chances. Cal finished theirs nicely. So many stoppages. So many lazy fouls by Granada. This game is one that Cal will be happy to forget. Collect 3 points and move on.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
I’m a College coach and had a privilege to attend DLS Showcase and was impressed of the type of soccer Richmond kids played.They looked very young but played tremendous soccer . When do they play VS berkeley ?
January 25th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Castro Valley beats BOD now things are really getting interesting in the HAAL. Where the heck was this team in the first half of the season? Hope they didn’t wait too long to make their run.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
I’m with you #50 I was a big Richmond fan and also saw the Berkeley match. I believe their best player is still injured maybe out for the year and they need help at keeper it looks like that position is being done by comittee. They sure play a pretty style of soccer though but they’re going to struggle to get into the big dance.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
I heard Amador/Monta Vista tied 1-1, anyone to confirm that.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
MV- AV 1-1. “Futboollll”(#13) Happy now? There are no sure things in soccer especially in EBAL, so please be respectful of the competition in the future. AV came to play and their big players dwarfed MV and got them off their game, playing slower than they have been playing and had poor touches. When MV finally got going in the second half, they just couldn’t put away their chances.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
The standings as of tonight (assuming DLS and LIV both won in addition to CAL):
California 23
De La Salle 16
Livermore 16
Monte Vista 15
San Ramon Valley 15
Granada 13
Foothill 4
Amador Valley 1
Cal now has a very comfortable cushion beneath them. With these standings, they only need three more games to win the title. As hard as they work, I don’t think it’s a problem for them.
January 25th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
SRV DLS game was very interesting
SRV controlled the first half and was up 1 to 0
Second half DLS became very physical and the ref let play go, including pushing in the back, at one point it looked like a wrestling match, DLS scored a nice equalizer on a cross to the far post. The second goal by DLS in the second half was on a throw in that should have been punched out by the keeper, instead he tried to catch it, mishandled it in the box and dropped it to a DLS player which was there to finish it.
A DLS player (captain I think) got a straight red card for punching another player with 15 minutes to go, but SRV played with no urgency in the last 15 minutes and did not take advantage of the extra player. Keeper was trying to pass the ball out on goal kicks while DLS set their defense. Really an ugly game because of the chippy pushing and shoving and the referee lost control of the game. SRV needs to learn to put two halves together if they want to make a run.
January 25th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Well said Closeup!
January 25th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
i’m not going to lie richmond does have a young team this year they only have 2 seniors. they play some really good soccer and have a lot of talent they play that “futbol latino” with a lot of one touch . richmonds gooalie doesnt play goalie in his club team he plays defence and there back up goalie is just a young freshman. i have alot of respect for the richmond team. next year they are going to have a solid squad. but remember the berkeley jv team is doing good this year so alot of them are goin to play varsitynext year because berkley is going to lose ALOT of players next year. berkeley plays richmond on the 3rd at richmond high at 530 or 6 they always change the time at the last moment
January 25th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
oh and yes their best player is out for the rest of the season but his little brother plays exactly like him but a little slower.better watch out for him he does alot of damage
January 25th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
I agree with the CAL vs Granada analysis, the game was ugly, Granada plays so physical that the ref had to take control of the game. Foster soared high for a header on a corner to make it 1-1 at half. The penalty kick was a little questionable but it was a foul and the ball was up in the air. Then on a ball coming out of the back, Rivas just dribbled the keeper to tap it in.
The sad thing is, two of CAL’s players went down, hope they can recover quickly.
So much for two wins for MV?
January 25th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Congrats to Cal for keeping the ball rolling..I attended the DLS SRV game due to the proximity to my house. Not sure I agree with the #60 as I saw DLS in control in half #1, only to basically gift SRV with a chance with a turnover deep in their defensive 3rd. Nice cross+finish by SRV gave them the lead..DLS coaches seemed to ignite the fire for half 2 and their persistence led to the 2 goals they needed to win. It seemed that both teams were a bit worn down as this was not the classic DLS SRV battle of years past. #9 from SRV struggled to find touches and they seemed like a team that was stuck between trying to knock the ball around or settling for the direct style of play. A personality is needed for the Wolves moving forward.
DLS-not as explosive as years past..BUT a solid GK and organization, they will have something to say as a 2-time defending champ.
I do think EBAL will have two of the top 3 seeds for NCS. Though with all the soccer left to be played anything can happen. Best of luck to all the programs and hopefully your players stay healthy.
January 25th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
Scoreboard,
You forgot your signature of 100. I’ve always wanted to know what it meant…
January 25th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
I think if CAL wins EBAL and with their win in the Winter Classic, they should be the #1 seed. Newark should follow as 2
January 25th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
ha ha..didn’t know if anyone ever noticed that! #67 I do think Cal gets the #1 if they win league. DLS/MV could argue for #3 depending on who finishes better with Newark as the 2. Berkeley could make a case though I haven’t looked at their results.
I have been a bit withdrawn from the blog this year because I feel that a lot of the participants have been to biased. I’ll be back in action now with NCS coming up! I’ll do my best to get around to different venues and get a true feel of whats happening. Perhaps I’ll reveal the true meaning of..
100
January 25th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
ha ha..didn’t know if anyone ever noticed that! #67 I do think Cal gets the #1 if they win league. DLS/MV could argue for #3 depending on who finishes better with Newark as the 2. Berkeley could make a case though I haven’t looked at their results.
I have been a bit withdrawn from the blog this year because I feel that a lot of the participants have been too biased. I’ll be back in action now with NCS coming up! I’ll do my best to get around to different venues and get a true feel of whats happening. Perhaps I’ll reveal the true meaning of..
100
January 25th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
#60 / Love The Game –
There you go with that wrong information once again…
Captains wear arm bands with the word captain on them or a big C or something of that nature…which the player who got ejected for the red clearly lacked…but nice job of assuming that he was a captain (or so you thought). Need I remind you of the saying that goes with the word assume? i didn’t think so…
Also, he pushed the other player and that came from the SRV’s players mouth after the game…
Another note, the REF said that the red wasn’t necessary but it was pulled so he had to follow through with his call…
again, know your facts buddy.
January 25th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
#62 YOU are right ,Richmond looks like a very young team.I saw them at DLS showcase and they emphasize on possessing the ball and movement of the ball with elegant 1 -2 touch and get out of pressure very quick.They must be playing together for a long time(same clubs) to be able to play like that.
What’s the name of their star player that is injured?
SRV is playing Richmond this Saturday.Should be an exiting
match.
January 26th, 2011 at 12:44 am
Running late, but yes Matt, would always like to hear your predictions, anytime…HAH! Hope to see you at the match of the night, if not the match of the week, on Wednesday.
Left the office a 5:55pm to see the first half of MV at AV and 0-0 at the half says it all. For MV, they were F-L-A-T and unimpressive, while AV was chipper and did not take MVs physical tactics. The reported 1-1 final result says loads, but was not worth sticking around to see: MV dudes, what say ye???
Left at the half and found Cal @Granada 1-1 with 40 to play. Much more interesting. The Granada PK foul on Cal four+ minutes into the 2nd half was legit, and Cal played well off of that. Rivas had a very artistic goal that earned no style points with the Granada fans. BUT, Granada never backed down and kept the attack at 3. Granada remains a team you do not want to face in the 1st round of NCS because they have three aggressive attackers.
BTW, there was a scary/weird near-field incident with some kids on the east side of the field and EMTs showed up and addressed the situation. I hope the patient is doing better.
I then headed to the MSC field in Danville to see the nationally ranked Carondelet and SRV girls teams battle for the lead in the EBAL. It was a very even match. SRV was denied a goal while shooting and scoring at literally 40:00.00 in the first half, and then Carondelet scored with 4 minutes in regulation after taking down the SRV stopper in the box. BTW, I saw each of the cited events directly above the goal in question less than 100′ away (luck of the draw) and possibly in a better position than the officials. The calls were quite obvious from my perspective. There were at least 3 people video-taping the action to the left and to the right of my position and I would love to see the videos posted.
In the final analysis, the officiating did not live up to the level of this match. Worst case, it should have been a tie at 1-1, but the officiating, while good at times, interfered (miss-calls) with the two key moments of the match. I hope that NCS playoff officiating will match the level of play.
See you at the pitch.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:45 am
pts gf ga +/-
CAL 7-0-2 23 19 5 +14
DLS 5-3-1 16 12 7 +5
LIV 5-3-1 16 15 10 +5
SRV 5-4-0 15 18 9 +9
MV 4-2-3 15 13 9 +4
GR 4-4-1 13 16 17 -1
FH 1-7-1 4 8 24 -16
AV 0-8-1 1 4 24 -20
January 26th, 2011 at 7:18 am
Hey guesswhat
Guess what – I said “I think” he was the captain, sound like a strong fact statement to you… ? Duh
Anyway whether he was or was not it does not matter for the outcome. And I’m sure the ref gave it to him on accident as you have said.
January 26th, 2011 at 8:34 am
Can anybody tell me how the Castro Valley BOD match went? Where are you HAAL Guys?
January 26th, 2011 at 9:13 am
#71 i agree with you.
They call him chikis
January 26th, 2011 at 10:59 am
HAAL Dad – I heard from my contact in the (510) area that BOD had the lead 2-1..From there the BOD GK lost his head and got a red card. Sounded like CV was able to take control from there. Not sure of all the details though he did say the GK made contact with the ref!
On a side note – Old HAAL dad..How “old?” I ask because I played against some HAAL opponents in the mid 90′s and I remember 2 years where CV was REALLY good. Like 94-96..The good old days
100
January 26th, 2011 at 11:23 am
Scoreboard – I hate to break my cover but my middle son played keeper for CV in their last NCS title run beating Foothill in the final. I believe that was in 1995. They got knocked out in the quarters by Newark in 1996 on that horrible Logan field and the semis in 1997 by Irvington. It was a great run while it lasted, lot of fun. Now I have to start thinking of a new pen name. I feel exposed!
January 26th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
#74 / Love The Game –
i mentioned that you said “i think” and that it was an assumption…never said anything about you saying it was for sure, nice rebuttal – oo wait. nevermind, it wasn’t a good one at all… This all comes down to knowing your facts which YOU clearly have none to support anything you say.
Whereas I know for a FACT that the ref is the uncle of one of my friends and regretted his decision..
sound like a fact to you….? Duh.
whether or not you believe it depends on your ignorance..
January 26th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Ah yes HAAL dad I now know your secret. I played against your son and I believe you had a midfielder who went to Cal Berkeley or something too. Let’s just say my team didn’t do very well against yours..
100
January 26th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Wow, I went to the Odowd-CV game and although both teams have some extremely good players, those are 2 of the worst coached teams I’ve seen in a long time. Neither team had any dicipline. CV had at least 5 yellows and a double-yellow, and Odowd had 3 yellows and a straight red card to the goalie. (the goalie was involved in an incident inside the net after CV tied it 2-2) And, most of the yellows came from talking back/complaining to the ref, not hard fouls!
These are usually the 2 best teams in the HAAL, and some of the Best in all of NCS. Too bad, because it looks like both of these programs have gone down-hill since the coaching changes…
January 26th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
Score Board the player you’re talking about is Jason Marsigean (I’m sure I butchered the spelling of that last name)a real sweet player. Hey I’m curious about the BOD GK incident because I’ve seen him play and he seems like a real cerebral kinda of kid, not too high or low. He’s a nice keeper though built like an NFL tight end. I guess we all have our button to push. I’m assuming it was a straight red and he’s out for the next match – which is Mt. Eden at Mt. Eden, tough loss if that’s the case. Can anybody out there verify the BOD keeper’s staus. And now Score Board I let my secret slip sooo I would like to know what the 100 stands for, fair is fair.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Guesswhat – I know I should keep my nose out of the beef going on between you and Love the game but sorry I just can’t help myself. What difference does it make now? The punch/shove whatever was a foul and the red was pulled whether or not it was a mistake is moot at this point. The bottom line now is the player sits out if it was a straight red and that hurts the TEEEEAM not the referee. If you ask me and no one is the referee should have kept his mouth shut. Making that statement accomplished nothing.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
OLD HAAL DAD / #83
Im just clearing up facts. no beef here buddy. just making sure people know the facts about what happened because some people lack facts….
but yes, nothing is accomplished from this and I understand that besides stating facts. thats all im here for. So im accomplishing something, or do facts not mean anything to you either? (rhetorical question bud).
Again, just stating facts. so sorry if i got your panties in a bunch.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Saw the 1st half of SRV-DLS with a slight SRV advantage. I felt DLS would come back since I have seen SRV lose form in the second half. SRV played well in the 1st half.
Raced to AV/MV game since I heard (from SRV parent)that MV’s Zamora was returning to action a couple of weeks earlier than expected. Certainly adds a different dimension to MV. He set up/started several good scoring opportunities that his teammates did not finish, but one. Great field vision and defends.
Agree with #72, many of the MV players were not completely into the game. AV scored on their only shot on goal in the 2nd half on a great cross and header. MV scored 35 seconds later. MV should have put away 3-4 more. Cudos to AV for playing hard all 80. MV needs to do this or they are going home early at NCS.
January 26th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
HAAL Supporter – I couldn’t agree with you more. I can’t speak for the BOD program but CV’s former coach Al Peacock would not have stood for those on field antics. Those players would have been removed from the field yellow card or not and given a severe A– chewing. I knew that team was left with some talent from last year and couldn’t figure out why they were doing so poorly. I’m still trying to find out why coach Peacock was let go after 20+ years of successful soccer with just a simple statement “We’re moving in a different direction”. He didn’t even get a “Thanks Al for all your sacrifice, time and service”. You’ve got schools crying for good coaches, read the paper each week and you turn this guy loose after 20+ years, two NCS titles, league titles and numerous NCS appearances. Are you kidding me? Coaches like this at least get a dinner of thanks and a plack in the gym not a kick in the pants. I guess you’ve figured out by now that I’m biased, you bet I am! I wrote the AD an email asking for an explanation and received nothing in response I should just consider the source and move on.”You reap what you sew” Castro Valley.
January 26th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
guesswhatteam09′, get a life
January 26th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Can’t wait for playoffs!!
January 26th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Guess What? Guess what I don’t wear panties but my rally thong was binding a bit. “Nothing but the facts Mam” You’re probably not old enough to know about the TV show Dragnet maybe your dad can tell you about the phrase above. You should use it the next time you pull a fact check on somebody else in this blog.
January 26th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
#87 – thanks baby ill keep that in mind.
OLD HAAL DAD – I actually know that phrase very well without asking my father. and you spelled Ma’am wrong…thats a fact but hey, who’s counting right? haha…have fun with that rally thong.
January 26th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Matt,
ok your not getting off the hook for Thursday,
Im asking, what are your predictions for EBAL play? as only 1 point separates 4 teams fighting for 2nd place.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
EBAL predictions you say? I’ll do my best.
Anybody have thoughts on this Campo v. Acalanes game I’ll be at?
January 26th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Guess what,
Is there something wrong that you would like to tell the blog? Or are you naturally this cranky?
January 26th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
I predict Acalindo, no wait, Campolanes will win tonight. Tough match to call a winner except for the home field advantage. I expect a 1-1 draw.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Mt. Eden d. Bishop O’Dowd 3-1
January 26th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Guess what, look in the dictionary mam is also acceptable but who is looking right. Now you can include spell check with fact check. This has become boring, I’m done, let’s move back to soccer.
January 26th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Dublin 5 – 1 Alhambra
Campo/Acalanes score?
January 26th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Acalanes 1, Campolindo 0
Dougherty 2, Miramonte 1
January 26th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
not in the context you provided. so no, it isn’t correct.
you’re right. this is boring, moving on to soccer…
i agree with love the game, im also interested to see matts predictions on gameplay for next week. between not only the EBAL but many other leagues as well. it’s getting down to the wire. seems like a lot of teams are separated by only a couple points near the end of season.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Do you guys think any team from BSAL has a chance on taking it this year?
By the way Albany might take the league again this year, Kennedy beat St.Marys 2-0 which gave them their second lost. So now it all depends in Albany, they have to stay focus and also beat or tie St.Marys.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Livermore 2, SRV 2- Gonna be a fun game. Wait and see.
MV 3, FH 1- The Mustangs aren’t happy about the draw with AV
Cal 2, AV 1- AV’s coming to play
DLS 3, Granada 1- home field advantage
January 26th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Dublin dominated Alhambra tonight at Alhambra. Campolindo and Dublin should be a great match on Friday. DFAL is not the runaway race everyone thought. If Dublin wins Friday, then 3 teams have a shot at the league title. Acalanes, Dublin, and Acalanes
January 26th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
I meant to say Acalanes, Dublin and Campolindo all have a shot at the title.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:47 am
Here is my take on the Acalindo v. Campolanes match…READ MATT SMITH’s REPORT THURSDAY in BANG newspapers.
That said, I expect these two teams to face off in the NCS D2 final. Others will have to earn their way to the final, unless the NCS screws up the D2 bracket.
Cheers to Ben (met tonight) and to the Mercedes convertible Don’s dad (you know).
See you at the pitch.
January 27th, 2011 at 4:52 am
Huge Game for Possibly the most interesting League(outside the EBAL) CV @ Arroyo today at 3:30(maybe 3:15). Both of these teams are on a roll and with Mt. Eden just beating BOD 3-1 the HAAL is up for grabs! The HAAL just might make some noise in the NCS this year. GO DONS!(Yeah I’m biased…just a little)
January 27th, 2011 at 7:56 am
Matt,
looks pretty good to me, I had the same thing on the Livermore SRV game or a 1-1 tie, this is a huge game for both of these guys and both teams will be pulling out all stops,
MV FH may be closer than you think, as Foothill has been scoring goals lately, and they have nothing to lose. Either way MV will be on top.
I think CAL may open up the game and win by 3 or 4 over AV.
AV is very aggressive but will not match well to the highly skillful play of the CAL attack.
DLS Granada looks right.
now watch the real results turn this upside down..
January 27th, 2011 at 8:13 am
Is it my imagination or are there more than the usual number of yellows, soft reds and straight reds being given this year? I’m not talking about any particular team, league or player because it seems to be happening all over. I went to a match the other night and the referee was handing out cards like he was dealing a texas holdem poker game. Then I went to a game the next night in a different league and the same thing happened. Is it the quality of referees, a failure of coaches to control there players, a lack of self control by the players to keep their mouths shut or all of the above? I’m curious.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Matt – You are crazy with the 3-1 DLS v Granada prediction. Granada has been playing some good ball, home or not. I believe Granada will come out on top. Hope I can say told you so later tonight.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:42 am
I think Albany and St. Mary’s are both legit in Division II.
Has anybody seen Borges this year? How’s he look?
I very well could be wrong about DLS v. Granada. I’m wrong a lot.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:49 am
I went to the MT Eden/BOD. BOD looked as flat as MV looked the night before. BOD did not look good against Castro Valley according to the BOD parents. Mt Eden played well and agressive this night. They were not as organized as other teams but finished opportunities.
#104 – The quality of refs is certainly low. The number of yellows is excessive and inconsistent. I only saw 2 yellows in a hotly contested game (good ref) and 6 yellows and 1 red in a game of two not very good teams (bad ref). Unfortunately, there are not the number of “good ” refs needed to cover games. A good ref ignores talking unless its abusive and a “bad” ref will pull a yellow on anything. The players need to learn the art to “reading” the ref just like an opponent. Everyone (players, coaches, parents) should be happy that we have what we have and move on. Otherwise, put on the yellow jersey.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:58 am
#108
If your right, then Granada would enter the top of the standings with a win against DLS. Their certainly capable, but DLS does a very good job of keying in on their opponents top players and sending player to mark them and try to take them out of their game, so you can bet that Foster and his mid field play maker will be covered like blankets, it would be nice to see Granada jump into the photo finish….we will see.
January 27th, 2011 at 9:00 am
with the photo finish, of course I am referencing 2nd place, Cal looks to be uncatchable up top…..
January 27th, 2011 at 10:15 am
Albany is in a real sweet place to win league. It is pretty much a two horse race with St. Marys but they lost to Kennedy yesterday. They are surprising me more everyday as they become a stronger team. Borges looks better every game. he smashed a lay off from 35 yards into the top right
January 27th, 2011 at 11:11 am
#110 I think it’s pretty clear that there aren’t enough good referees to go around, thank you for that Captain Obvious. You do make a excellent point though regarding the players reading the referee. I would just add to that by saying the coaches should do the same thing. The parents, they’re going to complain no matter who is in the middle. I disagree with you saying we should be happy with what we have. The Leagues, NCS, and the referees should all strive to get better and weed out the bad ones. Make them attend a match with a good referee and see how it’s done. I can’t believe how far HS soccer has come since I was around the game 10-15 years ago, the quality of play, the increase in parity between leagues and quality of the playing surfaces are all better. The quality of the officiating should improve along with it. I understand this isn’t an easy task but you can’t say let’s be happy with what we have that’s a cop out. As far putting on the yellow jersey I’ll let that pass.
January 27th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Who did Albany play on Wednesday and what was the score?
January 27th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
If any one is coming to Berkeley to see the Pinole game, Max Preps has game at 6pm but all ACAL games are scheduled for 5:30.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
Albany played Encinal yesterday. Don’t know the score, but gotta think they won that game given the 6-1win against same opponent less than a week ago.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Sad loss for St. Mary’s, they have a great team and have accomplished a lot since last season, I never see you mention much about them or Piedmont, Kennedy, Albany or much about their division,
they have all lost most of their seniors and still manage to come along with a strong play, Albany was not even in the lock a few weeks ago, they have a great player “Andre” that can jump so
high that manages to header the ball right in to the goal most of the times, not to mention in my opinion the fastest runner in the league Manny Ramirez, you should see him run ! Good luck to all of them they have done great despite losing most of their players.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
I talked about the BSAL in Tuesday’s paper. I talked about Piedmont, St. Mary’s, Albany and Kennedy and even a little about St. Joe’s.
The reason Albany wasn’t in the lock category is that they aren’t getting me their scores. I just recently started getting caught up. If I am sure I am missing a bunch of scores, I don’t tend to talk about them in the playoff picture.
I hate to say it, but the BSAL doesn’t make it easy to find results. Being in law school, I need people to participate in posting and emailing scores, and I don’t have a lot of time to be hunting them down. So if you guys ever know a score, let me know.
Speaking of that, how did Piedmont do on Wednesday?
January 27th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
The BSAL is the worst league in NCS. If they want respect they need to start playing teams outside their league.
January 27th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Yesterday Piedmont beat St. Pat’s of Vallejo 6-0.
January 27th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Thanks Matt !
January 27th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Just Sayin – Nothing wrong with rooting for your team a lot of guys on this blog do they just don’t admit it. Arroyo has as good a shot as anybody they’ve been playing great as of late. Have they brought any troops up from the JV squad to help during the stretch run or are they going with the same 13 I saw them with at SLZ? CV has made a nice little run lately but I don’t see them hanging in there, too undisciplined but you’re going to find out this afternoon. BOD seems to have imploded and I don’t why can you help me out there? Hayward and ME are both tough especially Hayward at home with excellent goal keeping and ME might just be the hottest team out there right now. Sorry but my pick is still SLZ they have way too much talent not to make a serious run at the title. In my oppinion they are a little weak at GK but their defense recovers well. We’ll see, Good Luck!
January 27th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Matt,
What are your thoughts on Campo lately? I know they are still playing strong but it seems to me that some steam has been lost (few ties and now the loss) ever since Mangles let in that goal only 10 minutes away from the state record. Also with Dublin on a 5 game win streak and needing a win to maintain a chance at DFAL do you think it’s possible for Campo to lose twice in one week?
January 27th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Hey Tack,
Campo being 2-1-3 in their last six matches isn’t a huge surprise. First of all, any team that starts off gangbusters like that is bound to hit a lull. They also have numbers working against them. Mathematically they are bound to have some ties and losses, so sometimes they come in bunches.
However, I’ve seen this a ton of times. A great team struggles for just a bit towards the latter part of the year, then turns it back on. I still think this team is the favorite in Division II.
As far as Friday goes, Campo needs to be ready to bounce back and not dwell on that loss to Acalanes, because Dublin will give them all they can handle.
January 27th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Matt- regarding Campo’s record of late I think the most relevant thing is that their aura of defensive perfection is gone.Teams now know they are beatable ( or able to at least grab a point) How? DFAL coaches have learned that defensively the coach man marks the most threatening offensive player with a center back(who is one of their better players).Pull that center back out of the middle and then they break down a little bit.A good team,such as Acalanes and perhaps even Dublin,has the tools to work around that marker and still be a threat in the attacking third.Campo also have a tendency to play a bit too ” aggressive” late in the game.This has opened up set play opportunities as well.That being said Campo is a very good side, a handful to play and a real NCS contender.
January 27th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Granada up 1-0 at half. De la salle jv harassing parents I hear. Wish they would let parents sit on other side. Very disrespectful for such a nice school.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
parents are allowed to sit on other side….
January 27th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
just walk on over.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Granada won 1-0. Love to say I told you so.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Please do.
I just got a text confirming that result. Granada bounces right back.
San Lorenzo beat San Leandro 7-1. That’s the only other result I’ve seen.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Livermore 1, SRV 1
January 27th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Hey guesswhat. Talk to your coach. He wouldn’t let parents over there. Shows what you know.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
yes. he would….shows what you dont know. many teams sit there….unless you can prove it
anyway, this is boring.. moving on to soccer…
anyone surprised about the 1-1 tie between SRV and LIV?
January 27th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Amador 1 CAL 1
January 27th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
DLS has not let parents on same side as players and coaches the past few years. We have had DLS Administrators tell SRV parents…no parents on the same side as players and coaches. It is unfortunate because the DLS kids (and a few parents) in the stands have been very disrespectful at times to visiting parents. However, I can understand the situation because I would not want parents yelling over the coaches as the stands are fairly close to the field at DLS. Not a great situation, but it’s what we have to work with. Can’t we all just get along!
January 27th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Berkeley 2 pinole 1
January 27th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Last year during the Berkeley vs DLS playoff game, DLS fans were very hostile to players and even grandparents! Grandparents?! I wish they would show some class.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
CAL 1 Amador 1
SRV 1 Livermore 1
DLS 0 Granada 1
MV won, don’t know the score.
This is why this is EBAL!!!! CAL now has a 6 point lead with 4 to go, two wins and they are champions. I think they pull through.
Amador Valley playing spoiler twice this week wow.
Granada going on the road to win. Love soccer season.
January 27th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Today was the only day I work late, couldn’t make any games. I called my friends around and found out that CAL tied even as they keep being the better team and just can’t finish. Heard that #10 and #11 for CAL played their hearts out.
Also, heard that Livermore dominated the entire game.
January 27th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Berkeley 2 Pinole 1 Not a bad game, interesting scoring. Pinole scored first when a ball was sent into the area and the Berkeley GK punched it out but to a Pinole player. The GK took a pretty hard knock to the head and fell in a heap, the pinole player knocked it into an open net. The GK was taken out for the rest of the game and seemed OK on the sideline but he was defintely seeing stars on the way off. Berkeley got the equalizer on a sweet move and great shot. The winner came on a set piece sent into the Pinole box and after bouncing around for while seemed to be kicked in by a Berkeley player sprawled on the pitch. Anybody got any HAAL scores?
January 27th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
MV 3-1 over Foothill
If l have it right
Cal 7-0-3 24pts
MV 5-2-3 18pts
Liv 5-3-2 17pts
SRV 5-4-1 16pts
DLS 5-4-1 16pts
Granada 5-4-1 16pts
Foothill 1-8-1 4pts
Amador 0-8-2 2pts
4 EBAL matches to go
6 EBAL teams into NCS? Looks likely, as long as Granada finishes .500 or better
January 27th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
castro valley 1 arroyo 1
hey #123 why don’t you gather all your FACTS 1st. regarding the jv’s before you spout off again. #83 all we hear about is how you can’t help yourself, well maybe you should HELP YOURSELF OUT for the av mention (loaded jv. & frosh soph talent in last weeks blog was probably for AMADOR VALLEY not Arroyo get it (av not ar) i think Arroyo can barely field a full jv team, also let alone a third team that does not exist
January 27th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
EBAL standings:
California 24, 7-0-3
Monte Vista 18, 5-2-3
Livermore 17, 5-3-2
San Ramon Valley 16, 5-4-1
Granada 16, 5-4-1
De La Salle 16, 5-4-1
Foothill 4, 1-8-1
Amador Valley 2, 0-8-2
California can win the EBAL title with wins over MV and one other team, such as FOOT. Keep up the hard work Grizzlies!
January 27th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Dublin is very overrated. Tack talks them up a lot because he is on the team.
January 27th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Granada collects 3 lovely points at De La tonite.
Very pretty goal starting with Trevor Long who receives the ball and moves it out to Joey Martinez who sends the ball to Foster who then finds a streaking Trevor Long down the middle. After beating his defender, Long gets in on the goalie and calmly slots it into the side netting. Sweet! The goal actually stands as the difference.
De La Salle comes on very strong to end the game, and certainly had their chances. Unfortunately, coming up empty handed each time.
Late in the game, Foster gets a breakaway. After beating his mark accelerating to goal with blazing speed, gets tripped from behind in the box for what looked like a penalty kick. Only to have the referee hold both hands out as if to say ” I’m sorry Mr. Foster, you are clearly to fast for these defenders. It just isn’t fair for De La Salle to have to defend you all night!
In the end it didn’t matter. G-men 1 De La 0 Final. Go Mats!
January 27th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
Cal vs Amador
EBAL fan, you heard correctly. Cal’s #11 and #10 had great games. They both set up their teammates numerous times tonight but to no avail. They both should have had multiple assists! #11 was the one that cracked a beautiful lower left corner goal early in the game. The rest of the game was the two players trying to set up their Cal teammates. #10 dropped a great ball back to teammate in front of the goal after drawing in everyone including the goalie but no goal. Tough night for the Cal offense.
Interesting adjustments by Amador at half time. i thought Amador did a fine job of getting Cal out of their game in the first half, but they went to a less aggresive game in the second half which ended up hurting them on possesion i felt but they still kept it out of the net for the tie. Kudos to them! (might have been all of the yellow cards they were getting in the first half) Even first half with Cal dominating the second half I felt.
Like we said in the beginning, EBAL teams beating up on each other!! Very interesting night!!
January 27th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
147,
that was exactly what I heard, late in the game CAL should have scored as they had what some would call an open net with a beautiful, unselfish pass from #10. #11 on the other hand, was very dominating defensively as well as going forward. I heard all my information from an AV parent but physical, hard fought game with a lot of yellow cards
January 27th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Haal- Your right I made a mistake but it dosn’t change the fact that Arroyo could use some help right? I meant no disrespect to Arroyo. Relax, read all the blogs I give Arroyo a lot praise I just don’t pick them to win the HAAL. Everyone is entitled to an opinion even you. Don’t take this stuff so personal.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I have seen all the leagues in the area and I do have to agree that the BSAL is the weakest of the larger leagues as a whole. The bottom five, six teams are very poor skill wise. St.Marys can give a few teams a scare with their organized play but Albany is a serious threat. It is not the Albany players’ fault they dont get the competitive play every week. I have interviewed several of their playes and they crave the opportunity to prove themselves against an Acalanes or Campolindo. Just wait for NCS everbody, this team is legit.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
#145 Anonymous –
Correction: I talk them up because my son is on their team. It’s my duty, and of course I will be biased. However I am interested in DFAL as a whole and love to hear what Matt thinks of the competition.
Correction #2: Dublin is overrated? Hmmm last time I checked being ranked 15th and not even a top seed prediction is far from overrated.
Lastly, I will continue to talk them up and look back to the last Campo/Dublin match and “boldy” predict a 2-0 win for the home team.
Correct me if I’m wrong
January 27th, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Albany beat Encinal 6-0 yesterday. they scored five in the first half and put in a complete new squad composed of JV and bench players with limited play for the second half.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
I’ve met Tack and Tack is awesome. That’s all I’ve got.
Should be a great match tomorrow.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
Saw SRV at Livermore tonight, 1-1 tie. Livermore did not dominate the entire match as reported above. The Wolves scored in the 4th minute, and clearly out-hustled the Cowboys in the first half winning 60%+ of the 50:50 balls and playing in your face checking. But SRV gave up a goal in the 39th minute on a loose ball situation in the box (sloppy, tired, whatever, not a good trend).
The Livermore coach must have challenged his team to pick it up a notch at halftime and the Cowboys responded by dominating 30 minutes of the second half, but they could not close the deal. In the 17th minute a booming Livermore shot hit the crossbar (the crossbar appeared to bend upward, Uri Geller anyone?) and went straight down to the goal line, probably crossing the goal line by 75% and reversing spinning back to the playing field. The AR was on the spot and immediately signaled no goal, to loud howls from the hometown fans sitting 40-80 yards from the goal-line. Four minutes later the SRV keeper saved the tie with a terrific one handed dive save of a crossing rocket shot from 5 yards right and 10 yards from the goal line (Premier League quality save folks, would love to see the replay).
I did not see #17 play for SRV (injury?) so the Wolves were not quite as physical in the middle, and I am curious if the Cowboys are still waiting for players to return from injury.
Next up, watch Campo regroup and travel to Dublin Friday. See you at the pitch.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
What’s up with Amador? Did they finally move some of their stellar underclassmen up to the varsity team? Nice turnaround!
January 27th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
I have pictures of the Cal – Amador Valley game available for viewing at http://www.fjphotoguy.com/CalHighSoccer2010-2011/Cal-High-vs-Amador-Valley-1-27
Amador appears to have the best lit field in the league, the pictures are clearer than normal.
Enjoy!
The FJ Photo Guy
January 27th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Thanks Matt. You’re doing an awesome job this year like always. I know Sweeper will be attending tomorrow but do you plan on traveling out here?
January 27th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Tomorrow is bad for me as far as covering soccer, unfortunately.
Got a lot of stuff going on with school tomorrow, including something that could be really big for my future. But I plan on seeing the Gaels soon.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Well best of luck then! Can’t wait to see you out there sometime
January 27th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
FJphoto your work is tremendous!!!
The only thing I have an issue with is refs, we need to provide these boys with higher level of them. Some of these boys will never play soccer again, why not give them the best. Too many refs think they are the ones out there showcasing their talent.
January 27th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Matt,
Will Granada, 5-10-5 after this week, be eligible for NCS with such a poor record, even though they have been tearing it up in EBAL? Am I wrong to say that teams must have a .500 record to qualify?
January 27th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
The Sweeper has great perspective,
I was also at this game and saw SRV dominate the first half only to see Livermore score in the 40th or 41st minute. The goal by SRVs #12 in the 5th minute was a thing of beauty-quick trigger 30 yard shot bent over the keeper! I am told the kid is a pole vaulter and has like 7 or 8 goals this year. Its been one of the years for SRV, as the scoreboard was broken so the ref was keeping time and I think the Livermore goal came in literally the 41st minute, good for livermore bad for SRV.
As I had previously predicted both teams would pull out all the stops as I saw both teams using their goalies as field players, Dallas Jaye (SRV injured goalie) actually checked into the game at forward igniting his team. Livermore’s keeper also played forward as both teams were missing multiple starters.
#7 (academy player) for Livermore came hard in the second half, but the SRV keeper had a great game and had several great saves to keep the game even. With time running out, the last three minutes of the game had SRV with 3 set pieces and #10 for SRV played 3 balls into the box right on the money, the last one was headed by an SRV player and missed the net by 10 inches as time ran out. The story for me is that this SRV team finally put 2 halves together and stepped up to the challenge to earn the tie as it looked like Livermore would put one in – entertaining game.
The story for the league has to be Granada with a huge win over DLS and Amador Valley capping a very impressive week tieing both the 1st and 2nd place teams.
We now have a 5 way race for 2nd place in the EBAL and even CAL will need to go through MV and SRV to take league….
Here we go, what happens next no one knows….
I Love it!
January 27th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
The Sweeper has great perspective, what an entertaining game
I was also at this game and saw SRV dominate the first half only to see Livermore score in the 40th or 41st minute. The goal by SRVs #12 in the 5th minute was a thing of beauty-quick trigger 30 yard shot bent over the keeper! I am told the kid is a pole vaulter and has like 7 or 8 goals this year. Its been one of the years for SRV, as the scoreboard was broken so the ref was keeping time and I think the Livermore goal came in literally the 41st minute, good for livermore bad for SRV.
As I had previously predicted both teams would pull out all the stops as I saw both teams using their goalies as field players, Dallas Jaye (SRV injured goalie) actually checked into the game at forward igniting his team. Livermore’s keeper also played forward as both teams were missing multiple starters.
#7 (academy player) for Livermore came hard in the second half, but the SRV keeper had a great game and had several great saves to keep the game even. With time running out, the last three minutes of the game had SRV with 3 set pieces and #10 for SRV played 3 balls into the box right on the money, the last one was headed by an SRV player and missed the net by 10 inches as time ran out. The story for me is that this SRV team finally put 2 halves together and stepped up to the challenge to earn the tie as it looked like Livermore would put one in – entertaining game.
The story for the league has to be Granada with a huge win over DLS and Amador Valley capping a very impressive week tieing both the 1st and 2nd place teams.
We now have a 5 way race for 2nd place in the EBAL and even CAL will need to go through MV and SRV to take league….
Here we go, what happens next no one knows….
I Love it!
January 27th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Matt,
Will Granada, 5-10-5 after this week, be eligible for NCS even though they have been tearing it up in EBAL? Am I wrong to say that you have to have a .500 record to qualify?
January 28th, 2011 at 12:16 am
LTG, thanks for the props. You captured the end of match dynamic, including the last second header miss (make-able?).
Cal is in control of the EBAL, and the odds on favorite for the NCS final (they should to start practicing PKs). The strong will rise and the weak will fall. Six may qualify, but which EBAL team wants to travel in NCS to Newark, Deer Valley or Berkeley? I am sensing that Granada, SRV and DLS could get road matches.
See you at the pitch.
January 28th, 2011 at 12:42 am
Nice win! GHS over DLS! Two years in a row with a win against the mighty DLS? Keep it goin Matadors.
January 28th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Hey Ebal4Life,
You need to either be above .500 overall, above .500 in league or above .500 against teams within your division, so Division I for Granada.
Right now they are 5-4-1 in EBAL, so if the season ended today, they’d be eligible. They have four tough games left, and the key is finishing above .500 in one of the categories. Exactly .500 doesn’t help. So they have to win at least as many as they lose the rest of the way.
Going 2-2-0, or 1-1-2, or better, and they are eligible, and likely to get in.
January 28th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Longtimesoccerfan Just an Fyi
I was at your fields last night on the visitor side with many of our parents. Your LaCrosse team started practice in back of the bleachers and after about 10 balls came flying past the back of our heads. We had asked them to move and they looked at us like we were crazy. We eventually moved to the home side. That was very dangerous for many of our parents and very inconsiderate of your students. By the way if they can’t catch a ball from 20′ away then they might want to take up another sport.
I guess life isn’t perfect nor is DLS or Granada due to field spacing.
January 28th, 2011 at 11:22 am
Matt, thanks for the above explanation of the NCS playoff qualifications, good knowledge as they say on the radio. One other question on the same topic: If a teams record meets the above criteria don’t they still have to pass through the NCS selection meeting where all the coaches make a case for their team and strength of schedule is a consideration which always seems to work in favor of the EBAL because of the strength of that league? I’m just curious so don’t all you EBAL guys jump on me because I agreed previously that the EBAL “Top to bottom is the strongest league”.
January 28th, 2011 at 11:57 am
I agree with you. That was dangerous and uncalled for. They should have moved. I guess the difference between granada and de la salle is at least our parents are willing to step up and admit that things shouldn’t happen that way. It certainly doesn’t sound like you were harrassed by anyone once you moved to the home side. That is a positive I believe. At least guesswhat wants to live in denial and doesn’t believe that there is a problem.
January 28th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Old HAAL Dad, you are exactly right. There is a seeding committee and if more than 16 qualify they’ll have to decide who to leave out.
But I’m gonna make a prediction right now and say that exactly 16 qualify, so it’s just gonna be a matter of putting them in the right order.
January 28th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Wanting Matt to reach 200 messages before his update on Sunday:
Being an Alumni of St Marys High School in Berkeley. Like to congratulate the panthers on a great year so far, especially to John Miguel and Christian of the Panther Maverick Class One Team
WB
January 28th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Thanks Matt, so the committee’s job gets a little easier if 16 qualify then the coaches make their pitch and the 16 are seeded. Do you know who the committee is made up of? NCS officials, League officials etc ?
January 28th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Wateboy – Are some of the Richmond players from the Maveric system also. I remember playing that club when my sons were traveling and they were always tough. They play great soccer, I believe somebody on this blog called it the “Latin Dance”. Great to watch.
January 28th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
I’m not sure who the people select to be on the committee, but unfortunately it’s people that usually don’t follow soccer until the end of the year when the teams submit their playoff applications.
Let’s hope they are close this year.
January 28th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Coaches no longer attend the meeting. Everything is done through online submission and the committee goes from there.
Pros and Cons, but it is what it is.
January 28th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Again thanks Matt, That is unfortunate but it is what it is.
January 28th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Trying to get you to 200 Matt but it’s starting to look like I’m stuffing the ballot box. I’ll check in tomorrow to see the Campo/Dublin results and comments.
January 28th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
I was at the SRV/Liv game. A decent game. More importantly I thought Livermore did not play as consistant as they have before. I also notice less energy from them. Could it be that the academy players are getting tired after playing every day for the past year? Legs look heavy. I also think they miss creative mid Guerrero.
January 28th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Lets get to 200. There hasn’t been much chatter from MV side after the tie to AV. Heard that MV’s fastest defender broke his leg at the Foothill game. I wish him well in his recovery. Zamora, MV, scored from 25 and MV mids won the middle again. Brown, MV scored 2, with a hurt hamstring. Looks like MV is hurting here at the end of the season.
January 28th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Longtimesoccerfan
No, The Granada parents seemed ok with it and said nothing about it. My experience on both girls and boys soccer in HS is as follows. For the most part Girls soccer flies under the radar and is relatively calm with some exceptions. Boys soccer players and parents are more high strung and can be overboard. I’ve been to enough matches to know that so many parents complain about other schools parents. I’ve been a neutral fan in the their stands, It just puzzles me when I listen to them yell at the refs and other payers. They obviuosly think their excluded or don’t really listen to themselves shouting out. I too have been guilty of it in the past but i at least realize it.
January 28th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Best wishes to Kevin Ho, MV’s All-EBAL player who broke his right leg last night at the Foothill game and is out for the season. He has been playing stellar left defense for MV all year and will certainly be missed.
January 28th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
OLD HAAL DaD
Their are two Mavericks under 18 teams, Aztecas made up of mostly Richmond and Berkeley High Players and the Panthers made up of Albany, Berkeley, and St Marys players.
January 28th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Matt
A plug to move Berkeley up to #3 this week.
Campo 13-1-3
Berkeley 14-2-2
Berkeley a bit harder schedule so far.
Berkeley beat Acalanes last Saturday, with Campo loosing to Acalanes on Wednesday.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
I figured Berkeley should move down in the rankings. Totally kidding.
How’s Ryan Tower doing? How about some of the other nicked up kids?
January 28th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Todays game…
Albany 4 – Salesian 0
January 28th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
#184 has good point. I dont see a big shakeup 1-5. #6 may change with a win and a loss to an under .500 team. #11 had 2 bad losses this week. And #13 with a loss and a tie might change. Don’t see much movement on the others even with the Acalanes loss.
January 28th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Matt, If Granada can go 2-2 to finish league would they get in? If so, what would you seed them?
January 28th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
And with that we bid adieu to DFAL. Campo is a phenomenal team, beatable, but phenomenal. A few defensive break downs from Dublin and solid defense from Campo decided the game. Iffy refs, but not really a factor in this one. Good luck to the future DFAL champions, the Campolindo Cougars. With help from the team Campo just knocked out, Acalanes with slip and give up the title.
NCS, counting down the seconds
January 28th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
I do think Granada gets in, even if 17 or 18 teams are eligible.
If they finish 2-2 I seed them in the 12-14 range and I say good luck to the higher seeded teams that have to play them.
January 28th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Matt
Ryan Tower is rehabbing a bad ankle, feeling a bit better, others with nagging injuries, but playing when needed, starting midfielder out for the season.
Berkeley hopes to be at full strength by playoff time.
January 28th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Campo 3 Dublin 1
Complete dominance over Dublin.
Why should berk take over campos #3?? If you are trying to say an own goal by acalanes to give berkley the win is good then you have no respect for soccer. Yes it was a win but look at the game? Even and then that.. Don’t think so.. It should be
1. Cal
2. Newark
3 acalanes
4. Campo
5. Berk
January 28th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Counting down to #200
MV ties Amador, so they have to drop in the rankings.
Oh, but wait, Cal ties Amador as well, will they drop as far as MV?
January 28th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Dougherty Valley beat Ygnacio Valley today 2-0.
January 28th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Scout
I was actually comparing Campo and Berk records, which are very close, thought that Berkeley schedule has been a bit tougher.
In January Campo is 3-1-2 and Berk is 8-1-0.
But you seem to be really tooting your horn for Acalanes. Berkeley came into AHS not at full strength playing at times with 3 JV players and came out with the win, was it pretty, no. I think that will keep Acalanes a few numbers below Berkeley.
January 28th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Matt, in D2 will there be more than 16 eligible NCS teams?
January 28th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Campo dominated the first ten minutes and scored 2. The Cougars effectively exploited one of the Gael’s keeper’s tendencies for 2 goals. Dublin eventually got into a mid-field rhythm, but struggled to get effective shots. The end score was correct, but Dublin is as dangerous as any D2 team on offense. If the officiating was less strict (tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet), Dublin would have had several more scoring chances.
Campo is definitely top 5, and Dublin deserves a top 15 ranking.
After Cal, I have 5 teams tied for 3rd, as no team is clearly 2nd. Go ahead Matt and out logic that…
January 28th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
No BVAL chatter? Only team out of the BVAL with a legit chance is Deer Valley.
January 28th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Off to see a freshman match AM Saturday and then heading to Richmond to see the Wolves at the Oilers. Looking for an authentic taqueria near Richmond High for a pre-match snack and cold beverage. Any suggestions #199 or #200? Cokito?
January 29th, 2011 at 12:51 am
200!
January 29th, 2011 at 1:34 am
From what ive seen, san lorenzo is a hell of a team.
The last 2 games where one by alot of goals.
The first was a win 5-1 and the second was won 7-1.
12 goals in 2 games sounds crazy!
January 29th, 2011 at 6:35 am
Matt- do you have insight into the demise of Las Lomas this year? They had to 16 or 17 returning players.What happened?
January 29th, 2011 at 8:45 am
I don’t believe Dublin should bein the tip 15. They don’t seem to be a consistent enough team to keep fighting. They have SOME skill but they need to get a result against acalanes next week to even gave a dicussion
A tie in the top is a good idea! Campo and acalanes are two very equal teams with pretty similar records and seeing as campo only has 1 loss they shouldn’t drop far or even drop at all
January 29th, 2011 at 8:47 am
So that there are no analytical arguments as to what “cracked 200 comments” actually means, here’s #201 so Matt can stay alive and happy at his job. The Clayton Valley Deer Valley has to be the matinee of the day and will determine the shifts in the 5 – 10 spots.
January 29th, 2011 at 9:06 am
Newark solid again. Ramirez and Navarro can flat out play. No let down. I am more impressed with them than CAL but you can’t dispute CAL’s ) losses.
January 29th, 2011 at 9:07 am
Newark solid again. Ramirez and Navarro can flat out play. No let down. I am more impressed with them than CAL but you can’t dispute CAL’s 0 losses.
January 29th, 2011 at 10:28 am
So to answer Golden Boot’s question about Division II. I don’t see more than 16 teams being eligible. I’m seeing a max of 16, but probably 14-15.
And I think EBAL Dad probably has made the best point about the rankings so far. MV ties AV and might drop a spot, but Cal probably won’t. The thing with that is, I’m hesitant to drop a team from No. 1 when they’ve been dominant all year for a tie. That No. 1 ranking, to me, is sacred ground, so I usually need a loss or a series of ties, kinda like Richmond last year.
As far as Las Lomas goes, I’m not really sure what is not quite working for them, but I think they are having one of those years where they are having a hard time finding their goal.
January 29th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Matt,
If Campolindo and Acalanes both win their last 3 league games, Acalanes will edge Campolindo for the league title. Who gets the #1 seed in NCS, Campo with only 1 loss or Acalanes as the league Champs?
January 29th, 2011 at 11:02 am
Anybody have BSAL scores from Friday night? I know the St. Mary’s score, and that’s it.
January 29th, 2011 at 11:07 am
And does anybody have the Las Lomas v. Miramonte result?
January 29th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Cal or Newark? I pick Newark. From the midfield and up, they play as if they have been playing together for a long time, unselfish beautiful soccer. If they shore up their defense against counters, they will be hard to beat.
January 29th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
DV is up 3-1 on Clayton. Midway through second half.
January 29th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Scout:
Dublin had five straight wins before Campo.
I would say that is consitent. But you are right, they need a result against Acalanes to prove their name.
January 29th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Miramonte 2 Las Lomas 1
January 29th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
1-1 half @ Richmond. SRV corner/header and loose ball blast for the Oilers.
January 29th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
3-2 SRV final at Richmond
January 29th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Northgate 1 – Acalanes 1.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Albany beat salesian 4-0
January 29th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Sweeper, If Richmond wins 2 out of 3 remaining matches can they still get in the tournament? Maybe scheduling three tough EBAL matches three weekends in a row wasn’t such a good idea after all.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
on SRV 3rd “goal” the ball never crossed the line it was about 2 feet away from the line. it should of been 2-2.
January 29th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Closeup,
Cal vs Newark, I disagree, I would pick Cal, because they have a more potent offense and the Newark defense will not be able to stay with them. 3-2 would be my prediction. Would be an end to end game and very exciting.
January 29th, 2011 at 7:49 pm
#180
Everyone is hurting, not just MV, Livermore has Guerrero hurt, DLS has Bernardi as well as other playing with injuries, SRV has Dallas Jaye, Guisti and others out or playing with injuries. Its a long season and injuries will be a factor. In fact it should be less of a factor for MV as they have the deepest bench in the EBAL with 20+ seniors.
January 29th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
#219 OHD – at 4-2-1 in league, Richmond should be NCS eligible with one league win or two ties in their last three league matches. The Oilers get Hercules at home in their last league match, having won 5-1 at Hercules. They should get in. So the three tough matches against EBAL teams should not work against them, as they closed the gap from 0-4 to 1-4 to 2-3.
BTW, the match at Richmond today was entertaining and worth the $3 price of admission, with lots of end-to-end action keeping the keepers challenged. Nobody was packing it in defensively. SRV scored on the corner/header, Richmond buried the loose ball to close the half, then SRV scored on a set play from 39 yards out, Richmond scored top-shelf on another loose ball in the box, and SRV scored on a set play from 58 yards out on a free kick and header that the keeper gathered in and the AR ruled the balled crossed the line while the keeper had the ball. I could not tell from my angle 70 yards away. Video anyone?
I did find it odd that many SRV fans chose to sit directly behind the Oilers’ bench. Huh? Whatever.
Gee, I could have got 3 postings out of this one. 220+ and climbing…
January 30th, 2011 at 12:03 am
#222 – Just because a player is a senior does not mean that the player is a quality player. Being a senior does not translate into having a deep bench.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:51 am
Post script on SRV@Richmond while watching late night championship tennis: I sat near enough to hear the Richmond coach, and while they are going through growing pains, I enjoyed his subtle coaching points to players (no specifics cited, period). They will be a dark horse in NCS. Ask the SRV coach and I would be surprised if he wants to see the Oilers again, even at home.
That said, there was a measure of ‘home cooking’ on numerous OB balls, but the vast majority of the non-OB calls were spot on. B+ for the officials given the ‘chipiness’ of the match. Regarding SRV fans raging over the 3 minutes of extra time, I had 4+ minutes by my count due to the legitimate three injury stoppages with no clock stoppages in the second half. Raging at the ref about the clock serves NO PURPOSE. Ask the Foothill girls class of 2009 parents. DOH!!!
See you at the pitch.
February 15th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
Richmond’s star player leonardo montes is bacck in action..even though not fully recovered, he couldnt watch any longer and is playing. Richmond high is hungry for its revenge against deer valley going back to my freshman year when RH was knocked off by DV in our house!…i can assure you that RH will give its 110% and you will most definetaly see the love RH players have for our school.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Richmond high just beat deer valley 1-0..the “black horse” just pulled an upset. I am proud of being a student in RH