- East Bay Prep Corner
Soccer Notes: Seeding Thoughts
By Matt Smith
Sunday, February 13th, 2011 at 1:43 pm in Boys soccer.
Let me preface this posting by saying that I think every team is a fine team and deserves to be in the playoffs. However, I have to give my thoughts, praises and criticisms of the seeding. Please, don’t take it personally if I don’t agree with where a school is seeded.
Let’s start with Division I.
I don’t like how the EBAL teams are playing each other. We want the playoffs to get new matchups, not for teams to play each other again in the first round. I think it would have been very easy to shift the seeding around to avoid these rematches, and I feel like that should be a priority. One commenter on the last post said that the seeding should be blind, and rematches don’t matter, and I would normally agree, but when they are so messed up to begin with, this sticks out like a sore thumb.
The thing about this season, much like seasons in the past, is the discussion about EBAL teams and non-EBAL teams. That is the argument, and for the committee to setup a situation where these teams don’t get/have to play an EBAL team to reach the semifinals is disappointing, because that is the basis for comparison all year long, and now I feel like it takes away from a large portion of the season.
I am not a big fan of putting so much emphasis on league play. Granada is rewarded with a nine seed, despite going 0-6-4 outside of league. Those games matter! Pittsburg beat Granada, and I think that should reflect in the seeding. Meanwhile a team like Monte Vista, who was consistent all year, is now seeded below Granada.
Note to self for future reference: League finish matters a lot.
California really did get a tough draw. De La Salle, Berkeley and Livermore all on their side. But, as Guillermo Rivas said when I talked to him today, you have to beat the best teams to be the best. He’s got the right attitude.
I do feel badly for Arroyo and Antioch, but those last two spots were really a crapshoot, so I can’t say too much about that.
No. 16 Castro Valley at No. 1 California
No. 9 Granada at No. 8 De La Salle
No. 13 Pittsburg at No. 4 Berkeley
No. 12 James Logan at No. 5 Livermore
No. 15 College Park at No. 2 Newark Memorial
No. 10 Monte Vista at No. 7 San Ramon Valley
No. 14 Richmond at No. 3 Deer Valley
No. 11 Mt. Eden at No. 6 Clayton Valley
In Division II, I have some holes to punch in the committee’s theories. So you’re saying that the BSAL should not be rewarded by seeding St. Mary’s, Piedmont and Kennedy-Richmond so low. But then you said Albany at No. 4, nine spots higher than St. Mary’s. Albany lost to both Piedmont and St. Mary’s this year, and did not run away and hide with the league. Either seed the other teams higher, or Albany lower, because there is so much wrong with this that I need to stop talking about it.
The DFAL got rewarded, and very well should, but raise your hand if you have three wins and a tie against Division I playoff teams. Well, Pinole Valley does. Ten is too low for them. Even me predicting them at nine was too low, but I knew the committee wouldn’t seed them higher. Hayward has wins over San Lorenzo, Mt. Eden and Bishop O’Dowd and has to travel. YV may have stumbled a bit at the end, but overall was a very good team and being seeded ninth makes no sense to me.
But, Alhambra and Dougherty Valley now have a chance to back up their high seeds.
Wow. That’s all I have left.
No. 16 Kennedy-Fremont at No. 1 Campolindo
No. 9 Ygnacio Valley at No. 8 Alhambra
No. 13 St. Mary’s at No. 4 Albany
No. 12 Concord at No. 5 Bishop O’Dowd
No. 15 Kennedy-Richmond at No. 2 Acalanes
No. 10 Pinole Valley at No. 7 Dougherty Valley
No. 14 Piedmont at No. 3 San Lorenzo
No. 11 Hayward at No. 6 Dublin
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February 13th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Can you give us your predictions for first round results for both divisions Matt?
February 13th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Break up the Committee and get rid of the closed door policy!
February 13th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Case and point to Matt’s frustration point, 2 of the beginning matches are EBAL teams playing each other. Furthermore, MV plays SRV out of the gate, really? This is sheer laziness on the committees part! They just played last thursday! not only are they each playing an EBAL team, but they are playing their rival school, come on??!! It would have been too easy to make some adjustments there.
Committee is old school and needs to go…..
February 13th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Matt -
Thanks for the open opinions that reflect todays game rather than the dark ages that the seeding committee have.
Now lets play and see how the rubber meets the road. This will be some of the best opening round games in some time. I expect some of these games to be settled by kicks.
Keep up the great work.
EBRef
February 13th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Wow, some pretty poor seedings imo. Once again it appears the committee waits till there is only 3-4 games left before going out and watching. Only a couple EBAL teams will make it past Round 2 with this setup.
February 13th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Matt:
Who makes up the committee?
February 13th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Say no more…the Div 1 Championship Game will be on Saturday the 19th. CAL & DLS, so-long as nothing goofy happens on Wednesday. As for Div 2 Alhambra…Dig Deep and Go for It.
February 13th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Why do they do it by committee now? They way they did it before was fine past two years seeding/scheduling has continued to get worse and worse. On D1 side its obvious what everyone is upset about creating two all EBAL matches. Then after the DLS Granada game one of them more likely than not will play Cal. On the D2 side Matt you nailed it with the BSAL and Hayward. I guess 3 pts in league means 9 seed separation Albany shouldn’t be 4 at all. And Hayward at 11?? What were they smoking in that conference room?
February 13th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Closeup,
I am not sure who makes up the committee. I was telling a coach yesterday that I don’t even think the committee has even heard of me or this blog, because I don’t think they are soccer people.
February 13th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Why do SM and Albany have to play again?!?! I want the bsal teams to show that they’re as good as anyone and having one of the two best ones eliminate the other doesn’t help. I am not sure why they are so separated…
Matt Smith > Seeding Committee
February 13th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
The committee blows it once again. A lot of things can happen in this set up, CAL has a much tougher road than Newark. Looks like only the end of league was considered.
Granada very capable of beating DLS wouldn’t be too afraid. Berkeley can play with the big boys.
February 13th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Yes share the love. I do agree that teams and leagues should be mixed up more. In some cases it’s like your just rehashing part of your regular season.
When does soccer get a True State Championship like Football…Ole….Ole …Goooooal ??
February 13th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
yes, srv played and beat its cross town rival on thursday and what does it get for its triumph . . . another match against them.
February 13th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Is there a blog site for Girls Soccer? would love to hear more about their NCS Draw.
My initial observations – 2nd year in a row Foothill has missed NCS, after having their super team in 2009. I’m guessing this is a result of the dropoff in the Pleasanton Rage programs. Most of the Foothill team in 2009 played for Rage U-18, and there was not much depth beyond that team, which is showing up on weaker teams for Foothill and Amador.
February 13th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
I was gonna post ‘NCS soccer selection committee = MORONS’ but that would be a huge insult to morons. Wait, that’s not fair! Think positive, be positive.
I am 100% positive that the invisible selection committee should show some transparency and come out from behind the curtain. It is clearly not greed, because the schedule and match-ups will minimize revenue.
BTW, the lousy schedule makes it difficult for college coaches to see multiple matches each round. More good thinking.
On second thought, MORONS they are…
February 13th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Sweeper = 100% Correct
The question is can anything be done about it before they mess up baseball and softball(Probably Not)? What about making changes before next years playoffs? Maybe it’s futile… I’m starting to think the Committee is Untouchable.
February 13th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
I agree completley bsal1, they couldn’t have switched concord and st mary’s around so st mary’s plays BOD and Concord plays Albany, if you are going to separate 1st and 2nd place in league by 9 spots and then put them against eachother. Albany and St. Mary’s were bsal’s best chance to compete with the DFAL and HAAL now its down to the winner of that game to try and win some respect from other leagues instead of having both. I don’t pay attention to much D1 soccer but judging by some comments here they aren’t too happy either. I wouldn’t be surprised if the girls seedings are just as bad.
February 13th, 2011 at 7:52 pm
I think the committee is very unfair closed or open door. Every year they show preference or favoritism instead of being more open minded and giving all teams an equal chance. for example: richmond high didn’t beat any playoff team this year, But due to their history squeezed right in somehow. I also think that they should rebuild all the leagues so D1 schools ONLY play against each other as well as D2 teams only play each other because i think it is very unfair how most D2 teams have to go through playing D1 schools in league and when successful against these schools never get the credit they deserve while teams from BSAL play 3 to 4 small schools in league 3 times each which gives them 10 easy wins every year!
February 13th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
‘Yeah I said it’, a point of detail, and then a few more significant points.
Richmond actually beat Castro Valley and tied Berkeley. I will completely agree that their results overall were not as good as usual.
However, the history of teams is not a criteria used by NCS. Richmond’s record: 12-9-2 overall and 7-3-2 league was close to or better than the record of say a third of the teams in the D1 playoffs. This with a very challenging schedule: DLS Showcase + Classic + 5 EBAL teams + Newark. Based on this, the committee gave them the 14th seed. This seems perfectly reasonable.
Regarding making homogeneous leagues, I think someone mentioned above that the leagues are not set based on sports, but on schools. Some schools may be D1 for sport A and D2 for sport B… Not much to do against that, besides radically rethinking the way high school sports competitions are structured.
February 13th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
I really hope CAL doesn’t have a problem with the seeding (it is what it is). Now we got to worry about DLS as early as Saturday, while hoping Granada can manage to take them out. Then we’d have to worry about Livermore, or possibly even Berkeley if they get healthy. And then Monte Vista and Newark Memorial seem to have a grip on the championship game. Could they have made our schedule any tougher?? At least we have some very good leadership behind us though, in addition to coaching, so I’m still confident we will prevail in the end.
February 14th, 2011 at 12:16 am
I understand that Cal got a rough draw by a possible matchup with DLS or granada in the second round. It seems like the 7through 10 seeds are all pretty even between srv, granada, monte vista and dls. No matter which one of these teams cal were to face in round 2 it would be difficult. In the end though one of these teams would have to face cal in round 2 unless they were seeded above a newark, berkeley, deer valley, clayton or livermore. Teams that are just as good as the teams previously mentioned.
I dont mean to be rude, but i guess i just dont know the ebal too well and wasnt really understanding the complaints. it seems to me that when 6 of the top 10 teams are from 1 league there is no way other than for them to fight it out; unless one of the teams was seeded lower than they deserve to be, which in my eyes is even worse.
I think that this year the second round is going to be a free for all regardless of the seeding because of the great depth of ncs. Any of the top 10 can beat eachother on any given night. That being said i still see cal as the favorite. Hard to go against an undefeated team from such a talented league.
Cant wait for the games to begin!
February 14th, 2011 at 5:01 am
To post #8, nice name…
February 14th, 2011 at 8:03 am
Matt,
I’ve been through NCS several times as a player, coach, and referee. The people who make up the selection people are never soccer people. It’s usually a combination of AD’s and random coaches from other sports. When I was a high school senior, our team finished second in the HAAL, however a volleyball coach and wrestling coach decided that the third place team should go to NCS ahead of us, despite the fact that we had beaten them twice.
If I knew how to change the process, I would have tried something a long time ago. It seems unless you’re a high school AD, you don’t really have a lot of say. And yes, they’ve probably never heard of you or this blog.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:10 am
Matt — Knowing your great attention to the games and teams, Can you be part of this commette? To see what is going on. To let us the outsiders know what they may be thinking… MEDIA ??
Second ? , What are your bracket predictions for each round?
Thanks
February 14th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Nothing but complainers on this forum. I don’t believe I have read one post that says the seedings are fine, which in essence tells me the committee did their job.
Every year we hear the same drivel from some whacked out parent who feels their son’s school was jobbed by some nameless, faceless committee. How dare they seed my team lower than so and so? How dare they set up a match between our rivals in league in the first round??
The fact is, and always will be, the top 16 teams will settle this on the field; whether they are seeded 1 to 16 or 16 to 1 they still have to play the games. I guarantee all 32 coaches are not crying like some of you parents about where they got seeded; they are getting their kids ready to play Wednesday.
I hope the example you convey to your son at home is that at some point along the way you were going to have to beat so and so to advance anyway; view this as a challenge! Sadly, many of these parents are teaching their son’s that it’s okay to whine about perceived wrongs in their lives, that they somehow got ripped off by some people that no one knows, behind closed doors.
Get a life people. More importantly, enjoy the challenge that has been put before your son, tell him so, and after a hard fought game – win or lose, please don’t tell him “If only we had been seeded higher……
February 14th, 2011 at 8:52 am
DFAL1… I 100% agree with what you have said. Let the game and every game talk. Soccer will never be perfect, but its imperfections are perfect. Good luck to everyone. May that team that scores more wins. { Sometimes the better playing team doesn’t win}
February 14th, 2011 at 8:57 am
I think the committee tried their best to avoid an all EBAL final but SRV or MV might throw a monkey wrench into that scheme. If Newark gets past SRV or MV there’s potential for a Newark vs Richmond match which could very entertaing with their similar style of play. I believe Richmond got the luckiest in the draw considering their record but with their best player back who knows how far they can go. Does anybody know how the Richmond star did in his come back game?
February 14th, 2011 at 9:36 am
The seedings certainly could have been better. My biggest concern is with the scheduling and the lack of quality refs. The games could easily have been set for Tues/ Wed, Fri/ Sat splits in rounds 1 and 2. That would allow for the best refs to be on the field. I for one think the quality of the refs overall has been poor this season with just a few exceptions. Just last week I saw a game winning goal scored late in a game on a sequence where the player who assisted on the goal was easily 4-5 yards offsides when the ball was kicked to him. The ref was out of position (behind the play) and missed the call. It was blatant and unfortunate. No doubt this no call had an impact on seeding as well. Soccer is a difficult sport to ref and certain calls are subjective, but a playoff involving the best teams deserves the best refs.
Matt, any idea how refs will be chosen/assigned for NCS? Do the refs just sign up for games like the regular season or are they in fact selected based on performance?
February 14th, 2011 at 9:43 am
Anybody knows if the referees for NCS are selected any differently or do they dip into the same pool. I’ve seen a great disparity through the season and unfortunately, the guys in yellow seem to be more influential in their roles than they should be, Case in point, in the SRV-MV game last Thursday, the winning goal from SRV came in the last 3 minutes off a clear offsides by 5 yards (I have this on film). The linesman was 10 yards off the second to last defender, starts to catch up but confidently signals on side even though he was not in position. Disheartening to lose a critical game on a very blown call. Just maybe there is a way to pick the “best” refs out there for NCS. Just to be fair, there have been a fair share of very good refereeing throughout the season. The bad ones though have to be evaluated and moved down to a level that they can keep up with…high school soccer deserves it.
February 14th, 2011 at 9:55 am
To all
Most of you hold an advantage over me because your affiliated with a team so I watch the freshmen and after wards decide which teams game to attend. But I will throw in my 2 cents none the less. Only watching the EBAL I have found their games to be very competitive with each team having an area that can be exploited. Granada has a team with 3 solid players and a coach who mirrors coaches from over the pond. Although he is not a good example for the student athletes he is loved by the parents and athletes and truly understands the game and his weak spots. MV has a coach who made a big mistake in keeping so many seniors and in the 3 games I watched from the MV side he can’t win for losing. He subs and pays a huge price. DLS is very well coached with a lot less talent than advertised, although I understand their best player has been injured. Cal has a team that is coached with strong team play. Their defense is the best but they do not have the speed up front like Granada, Livermore and MV and could fall behind or worse yet get involved in PK’s. SRV is young but has an amazing coach who is loved by all. The parents indicated 2 transferees from MV will add to next years senior class. Hope the SRV coach does not fall into the same trap as MV next year. Livermore is loaded and the coach sends them out and can make adjustments.. They play well together and should be the favorites to represent the EBAL. Coach of the year SRV….
February 14th, 2011 at 10:02 am
I also agree with post #25. In order to win NCS, a team must win 4 games against the best teams in the section. Bring it on and may the best team win!
As for post #12: When does soccer get a True State Championship like Football?
There is no “True State Championship” in Football. Any time you leave it up to a committee to decide who moves on, it is not a True State Championship. East Bay teams like Concord and McClymonds had fantastic years and both won their sections, but neither moved on as they were either perceived not to have played a tough enough schedule or didn’t have the political power to advance. They might have been the best teams in the state, but we’ll never rally know. Sure Folsom looked like a great choice and won the title game decisively, but who knows if Concord or McClymonds might have done even better?
Basketball and Girls Volleyball have True State Championships where if a team keeps winning it will eventually find themselves playing for the state title, even if they were perceived to have played a weak schedule or didn’t have the political clout.
February 14th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Richmond has really talented players they all have a great first touch.
Look out for them in NCS.
Personally liked #11 Israel Ayala, #3 Eriberto Herrera, #19 Gerardo Mendoza,#8 Luis Camacho.
Players to look out for.
February 14th, 2011 at 11:34 am
Hey Futbol 26,
I don’t think they’d ever let me be part of the committee. I’m guessing they would not take me too seriously.
I think that I might try to come up with some predictions tomorrow night. Trying to get my mind wrapped around these brackets still! Haha.
February 14th, 2011 at 11:49 am
I really don’t see any first round upsets happening. DLS should win at home, as should SRV. In d2, Ygnacio beats Alhambra, not much of a stretch for a team with a 12-4 record to beat a 9-10 alhambra team. The 2nd round should produce much harder to predict games.
February 14th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Matt, how could the committee take u seriously? You watch too many games. Have too many resources from parents to coaches to players to soccer experts to tap into? You frankly don’t meet the qualifications to be on the committee. You need to under qualify yourself significantly to get on the committee.
February 14th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
With regards to the officials…
During the regular season, nobody just “signs up for games” Every association has an assignor that does their best to place officials where they are needed. Obviously most assigners try to put their best officials on the best games. People need to understand that you’re not always going to get the best. The officials are spread very thin, they have jobs too. Retention is also a problem; people don’t like to run around in cold weather and get heckled by fans/coaches. Soccer officials are also one of the lowest paid officials of any sport, yet officiating soccer may be the most difficult.
As far as NCS selection, at the end of the season, the assignor submits a list of officials that he would like to use for NCS to the coaches. The coaches are allowed to approve/disapprove the list, and then it goes on to NCS. Games are given out to different associations, and the assignor selects officials from his association’s NCS list to work the match.
February 14th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
The refs for NCS are the senior referees for whichever association is assigning it’s area. That being said, there IS disparity in the relative skill levels, but the assignors try to march the guys up. The referees are NEVER allowed, in ANY group that I know of, to self assign, regular season, or NCS.
February 14th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Closeup, that was hilarious.
And I think the more qualified and more experienced refs will get the bigger games.
February 14th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Storm
I agree with your assessment and in fact yesterday was at an Earthquakes event for Chris Wondowloski where he was asked by a fan, who has been your best and most influential coach over your career…his response in front of 60 people or so was “Don Busboom both on and off the field”. This is the leading scorer in the MLS.”. Referencing the SRV coach…
How’s that for an endorsement, he just gets the best out of his kids
February 14th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Refrees, Gotta love em! Actually I think most of the center refs do an average to very good job then there are some who seem to have a bad night now and then. Hopefully the latter will not officiate any NCS matches. All I ask of linesman is that they keep up with the attacking line and make sure they’re in position to make an OS call, don’t do it from 10 to 20 away from the infraction. You gotta stay in shape to run with these kids.
February 14th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Mv vs Srv forecast: this will be a great game to watch. Both teams have beat the other on the other’s home field. Mv’s starting forward line is very fast and quick and will give the Srv backline fits but Srv have three very solid keepers that they can count on. Mv’s backline is ver solid too. Battle is in the middle with the edge to mv. Srv’s stars are it’s keeper and their striker whereas Mv’s star is it’s midfielder. Mv is deeper across the board. The game will be decided in the middle. If it goes to pk’s, the edge goes to Srv. Prediction: mv wins by 1.
February 14th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
the srv mv game should be fun. mv had much more of the play in the first game and deserved to win (but won on a strange goal where it appeared the goalie did not see the ball until it was in the net.). in the 2nd game, srv really dominated possession in the 2nd half and could have easily put up 1 or 2 more goals but for some great saves by mv’s goalie. mv also had a tough second half of league going 1-3-3 with their only win against foothill. two evenly matched teams and all gets thrown out the window when you have two cross town rivals with boys who, for the most part, play club ball together.
February 14th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Closeup,
I am not going to predict this game because I truly think it will be to close to call, but I must comment on your analogy.
I do agree with you on this point- it will be a great game to watch.
In the beginning of the season I may have agreed with you on more of your points because MV has 20+ seniors and the buzz of the EBAL…but simply has’nt lived up to it.
The back line- I will give the egde to MV because of fewer goals allowed as a team.
The Midfield- MV’s midfield has an academy player surrounded by gold players and all senior players. Compare this to the SRV midfield which is ussually 1 senior (A gold player) surrounded by sophmores and juniors (some silver, some gold) on paper MV looks like the obious pick, but no….this went completely out the window for me when I watched the game last Thursday bewteen these two teams, which had the SRV midfield show dominance in possession play. In fact it looked like SRV was the more seasoned midfield in this game. With MV’s top academy player hardly getting any touchs on the ball in the second half.
Forwards- SRV gets the advantage with more goals scored by their forwards
SRV watcher makes a good point, and that is one of momentum, MV has lost 3 out of their last 4 games, while SRV has won 3 out of their last 4 games.
And finally, theres the point about going to PKs.
That edge goes to SRV- with peresntly 0.0 average goals allowed in 4 games (including DLS, DV and MV) by Dallas Jaye, I think he has the slight edge in PKs over Mr. Roth (The MV Keeper)
No I will not predict this game because it’s a rivalry game, only sayin that I think the edge goes to SRV, but that’s just my opinion
February 14th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
MV-SRV: Also, both teams recently lost their stellar left backs to broken legs. They will be playing hard for their fallen warriors. After reading the above, it clearly shows this will be a great game to watch and too close to call. When all is said and done, the team that capitalizes on its few chances on Wednesday will be victorious. Its a shame that one or the other has to bow out so early. Players on both sides have a lot of respect for each other. It will be a hard fought first round “championship” level game.
February 14th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
D-1 Upper Half of the Bracket Predictions:
Cal 2-0 Cal will pull back after 2nd goal
Granada 2-1 Foster will do his thang
Berkeley 1-0 Yellowjackets will run the counter all game
Livermore 2-1 lots of yellow cards in this one!
Lower half predictions tomorrow…
Bliss
February 14th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Predictions are nowadays just for fun, as tournaments like this are extremely unpredictable, yet we can’t help it. Here goes:
Opening Round:
CAL 4 Castro Valley 1
DLS 2 GRA 1 f/ot
BERK 3 PITT 0
LIV 3 JL 1
NM 2 CP 0
SRV 1 MV 1 (SRV 4-1 on pks)
RICH 2 DV 1 f/ot
Clayton Valley 2 ME 0
Quarterfinal:
CAL 2 DLS 1
LIV 0 BERK 0 (LIV 7-6 on pks)
SRV 3 NM 2
RICH 4 Clayton Valley 1
Semifinals:
CAL 1 LIV 0
RICH 3 SRV 1
CHAMPIONSHIP:
CAL 2 RICH 0
February 14th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Looks like I am heading to DLS v. Granada on Wednesday. Gotta see Mr. Foster, especially if he’s a POY candidate.
Since I mention it, let’s get a discussion going about the East Bay Player of the Year. Who should it be? Remember, this award isn’t always the most talented or the highest scoring player. It’s a combo of value to the team, team success and ability on the field. I have a short list already, but would love to hear people’s opinions.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Guillermo Rivas for player of the year. He’s got CAL’s back on and off the field. It seems like he understands the adversity on CAL’s part better than one would imagine any kid could. Even though it seems like he did not do much, that was not exactly his job. Sticking to his task is what distinguishes him from the others, simply standouts of their teams.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
By the way Matt if you want to see the most satisfying combination of action on Wednesday, (provided you can pay $18) you outta try and see MV-SRV first, then DLS-GRA. Just a suggestion.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Ahh, I see that they play at 5:00. I don’t think that I have the green light to cover two games, and even if I wanted to go just to see, I would have a hard time getting from the City after school to Danville by 5:00. I’ll probably have to head straight to Concord and hope for a little time left over to study.
As for the $18, I am one of those fortunate souls with a pass.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
I’d vote for Leonardo Montes even though he didn’t play the whole year. He’s just that good. I wish all the EBAL bloggers could see him play, they would be in awe.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Agreed. He’s amazing. Was definitely the frontrunner for MVP for the 2010-2011 season, when last season ended.
February 14th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Officials for NCS are nominated by the association they serve through the regular season. The nominations are submitted to NCS, then each official is required to submit a Form C (an availability and conflict of interest form). Note- The coaches are able to review the nomination lists from each association and then are asked to submit the NCS Form B (officials evaluation form). The coaches can reject an official based on the Form B being completed and returned to NCS by a deadline. Once seeding and brackets are formed and released by NCS, the information is forwarded to each participating association Assignor for the assignment of officials for each round of games, starting with round 1 first and so on.
NCS nominated officials are the associations best qualified referees and have earned the nomination they have received based on performance, fitness and experience.
February 14th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Regarding post 48 the players that make Cal as good as they are in total are Fagenson and Danielson,Both,by the way are,or were, Academy players.Either one of those has added more to the mix than any other Cal player.
Best D1 player- Bernardi or Zamora by a long shot
February 14th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
The Truth,
I agree that Danielson and Fagenson should be part of the discussion, (both X academy players by the way)Rivas should also be part of the discussion,
as far as your last statement on the Best D1 payers- sorry I just don’t see it, and I have been to alot of EBAL games, you sound like an academy fan or parent.
and to be honest, some of these academay players have just not translated well to the High School game – I dont know why but thats The Truth
February 14th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
I agree with post #48.
Last year, Wes Moar won the POY award for what he did on the field as a leader not just on stats. He had Howard, Sully and other players around. But Moar did the intangibles, the things you can’t teach, he was the leader and apparently the most important player on the team.
It’s the same case with Rivas, he can control games with his leadership on and off the field as a player that was there last year and very close to an NCS championship as coaches have often recognized it, you stated it the other day Matt that’s why he would get my vote.
Foster would follow.
February 14th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
I do agree with your comments about Rivas. There have been days when people said he was a non-factor, and I have completely disagreed. He makes a difference, with or without the ball.
February 14th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Thanks Matt,
Wes Moar had less stats than Rivas did last year I think, and he was the POY. We’ll see after all the fun is done.
February 14th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
Id have to throw in Navarro in the POY category, he has many assist, and goals as well. and since he has joined the Newark team, he only has played and had 1 loss to Amador.. he didnt play the first 2 matches that were losses. One of the most consistent players in the whole east bay.
February 14th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
What about any defenders? I know there are a few good ones in the EBAL…
February 14th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
‘Matt Smith for President’, are you me?
February 15th, 2011 at 6:53 am
Here’s my thoughts, tough call didn’t see every team but did see every EBAL team at least twice as well as Richmond, Newark, Deer Valley and several others. Sorry #54 but didn’t see what you see in Bernardi and Zamora. Good players yes, but not stand outs. Players that stood out to me, Granada’s Foster, Newark’s Ramirez and Navarro,and Livermore’s #12 Gurrero are some that stood out. Cal has Lots of talent along with Rivas.
Rivas -Playmaker brings leadership and consistant play.
Danielson- Also a play maker from defense. Solid defender however his strength is his attack and play making ability.
Fagenson- A very talented player, huge threat on set plays, lots of pace, maybe not consistant enough.
Driggs- A very underated player, maybe one of best in league. Great athletic defender with lots of skill. Shows up every day.
Pagliuca- Not the greatest skills, but a huge threat. The most direct goal scorer I have seen. His early success has drawn 3-4 defenders every time he touches ball.
Tough call on the CAl players I would go with either Driggs or Rivas.
February 15th, 2011 at 7:41 am
#55- Unlike many of the other people who post here I’m not a player or a parent(Santos) of anybody playing in either D1 or D2.I’m just a fan and follower of this sport at all levels.
I would like to point out though that using the logic in post #56 the best player is Bernardi at DLS because he has less help around him.Don’t get me wrong,DLS is well coached,they come prepared and they have good players but no where near the overall talent and deep bench like Cal does.
It is comforting to know that the college coaches who offered D1 scholarships to both Zamora and Bernardi share the same opinion.
One point that I do agree with #55 on is that the good club players will at times have a difficult time translating their skill set to the high school game.I don’t know why that is either and that IS the truth
February 15th, 2011 at 7:56 am
#63
Falling back on the “Well they have D1 scholarships” rationale is a bit tired. Right off the bat, that’s likely to color your vision of a player. Second of all, that has no bearing on MVP and while they are both great players possibly in the running for MVP, their D1 scholarships will not play a role. All you have to do is look at football this year. George Atkinson III is going to Notre Dame, he was ranked #1 in Cream of the Crop and I believe he got 3rd team all EBAL
Go figure
February 15th, 2011 at 8:54 am
#59 – i agree with you on Navarro , has mnay assist & goals! He has led Newark to were they are at right now(rank#2) i beleive they have only one lost since Navarro started playing. Will love to see what this kid does in NCS for Newark. IMO a candidate for POY award.
February 15th, 2011 at 9:14 am
Matt-
What do you think about campos 1 seed? How do you see them doing throughout?
February 15th, 2011 at 9:18 am
for poy, i think you have to go with the young man on granada or the young man on newark. they both created havoc each time they touched the ball. i would pick the young man on granada mostly because he did it without a lot of support and with most teams double and triple teaming him. however, i think a great case can be made for the newark forward. driggs is a nice player but you do not have to plan your strategy to address him.
February 15th, 2011 at 9:27 am
I think Campo is going to make a deep run in the playoffs. I would be surprised if they didn’t make the finals this year.
The No. 1 seed was very deserving. For the entirety of the season, they were the best Division II team.
February 15th, 2011 at 9:29 am
to be honest pittsburg is the underdog and i believe they will pull the upset by beating and making it to the finals . all these other teams are all overrated and they will be getting to cocky and pittsburg will upset the leuague
February 15th, 2011 at 9:34 am
pittsburg pirates taking the ncs this year
February 15th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Cokito,
I’ve watched Richmond since 2006 and I’ve become a fan ever since. Montes is so far advanced than most players in the area. He is so incredibly smart and quick it astonishes me. Matt should really write a story about him because he is that special. I really hope he takes his team far this year in the playoffs.
February 15th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
I agree with you about Montes.
To be fair, I have not seen Cal play this year. I have not seen Zamora. I saw Navarro and was definitely impressed.
Montes does have a special gift. Cal-Hi did a story about him over the break, that I have not been able to watch yet so I can’t really talk about it, and it would be good if Matt could write something too. There is a lot to be told about him, his brothers (his brother Victor (Rancho,) a fantastic player (the only player I saw with my eyes score a goal on a 360 volley from a cross, at the top of the box) who scored Richmond’s goal in the NCS finals in 2005, before being sidelined as a senior with a knee injury that to this day has not been taken care of because of a lack of financial means,) his family, his future… John, from Berkeley HS, who was generous enough to pay for his ACL surgery last Summer…
February 15th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
To all
POY is easy for me because I have not seen all the athletes in other leagues mentioned. But when I saw #12 from Livermore he was so much better than Rivas and the others mentioned in the EBAL because he took over the game and while doing so made other players so much better providing them a chance to score. I am anxious to see the other athletes from out side the EBAL. The other part of this equation is first team EBAL. Granada, MV, SRV, and Livermore have 1 lightning fast forward whom can score if they get the ball. Without control of the midfield they are helpless and must move to the-midfield weakening their exposure to the blogs fan base.
February 15th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
D-1 Lower half of the bracket predictions (just for fun):
Newark 3-1 Too much firepower for stellar CP stopper to contain
MV 2-1 Tough round 1 matchup for both. If MV comes to play , they should prevail
Richmond 2-1 Return of star player will spur the Oilers to victory
Clayton 3-1 Clayton will continue its high scoring ways with an easy victory
Matt-Your turn…
Bliss
February 15th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Cokito- I heard the story about the generous person who paid for the surgery, it proves there are still good people in this world. I really look forward to seeing him play in the NCS. How has his leg progressed? Is he soccer fit? if he is and he leads his team to a championship what a great story that would be, a great ending to a hard luck season for the Oilers.
February 15th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
matt-
who do you think the final 4 for D2 will be. and your champion is…??
February 15th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Cokito, Old HAAL, and Matt Smith for President,
Believe it or Not the rumor is that Montes for Richmond is in goal, still rehabilitating the leg, it probably does still make them a better team, goalie was a back defender and Montes is a great athlete where ever he is.
February 15th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
I like when people call me Cokito.
February 15th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Is Rene Siles still coaching Richmond High?
He has done a great job with these kids off and on
the field.
February 15th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
I vote Cal #10 for PoY because he consistently controls the pace of play at key moments and creates scoring opportunities, thereby making his teammates better players. He does not have to “take over games” because dominance is not necessary when you have control. If you do not notice him so much during a match, you will never appreciate his game away from the ball or his defensive positioning and abilities.
February 15th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Here’s my take…I’ve seen a lot of D1 and D2 teams, and for me, SLZ is the best team in D2 and when playing well, they might even be the best in D1 as well. If they can get back to shutting teams out, I fully expect them in the finals.
I also expect to see O’dowd in the finals if their keeper is healthy. They have some very dangerous players and on their home field they will be tough to beat.
I see campo and acalanes making it to the semis, but losing to the HAAL. I predict an all HAAL final.
In D1 Cal better be careful. I see a lot of posts complaining that Cal may have to face DLS in round 2. If they overlook Castro Valley in their first game, they will get surprised. CV has 2 very good academy players, one of which will be the BEST attacker you have faced yet and the other might be the BEST midfielder. Overlook them Cal and the EBAL’s #1 will go down to the HAAL’s #5. How’s that gonna look to the EBAL purists?
I’m hoping for a Newark v Cal or Livermore final in D1, although I think this one is more up for grabs.
Let the fun of NCS begin…
February 15th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
I don’t think the complaints were necessarily Cal fans about having to play DLS in round 2. They were from EBAL fans saying it is too bad that the winner of the Granada/DLS match has to play Cal/CV in round 2 as at least 2 good EBAL teams will be knocked out early. I don’t think Cal is overlooking anybody and will be ready for the Trojans.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
My NCS seeding complaint was not about EBAL teams facing EBAL teams, as that happens every week and cannot be avoided. My complaint was non-EBAL teams not facing EBAL teams, as that too happens every week and gets quite old. The glass was half full and the committee turned it upside down. No Common Sense.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
2 cents – You are definitely right about CV they can be very dangerous and they should have done a lot better this year with the talent they were left from last years side. However, I think Cal has too many weapons for them to handle and the potential for a blow out is high but you never know, if CV scores first it could be an interesting match. Deervalleysoccer, I agree Rene has done a fantastic job at Richmond and deserves all the credit he gets for that programs success. I heard he’s thinking of hanging up the cleats though, any truth to that Cokito?
February 15th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
I am pretty sure that CAL is aware of well, we will call him MR. Lima, lightning pace and can beat the best of defenders. He should defenitly draw lots of attention. They don’t want to look ahead or past a team, last time they did that they tied Foothill 2-2.
February 15th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Pitddogg,
If Pitt has that attitude and figures they will upset the entire NCS, they’re the ones getting cocky and they’ll be out in a jiffy. There are fifteen other teams and we can all be sure some of them have their heads straight.
And 2cents, CAL has already done their homework and they may be making assumptions about the whole DLS thing, but that doesn’t mean they’re looking ahead of Castro Valley. The thing is, I’m actually sensing CV using the wrong approach for beating Cal by thinking cal is getting cocky. Trust me, Cal is poised to do NCS right, and if CV or Pitt wants to stand a chance of an upset, they need to do so too. So far it seems to me like they’re not. But that’s just my opinion, I don’t mean any offense.
February 15th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Old HAAL Dad, I don’t think so. The Richmond group this year is young and endearing. I would be surprised if he does not stay with them one more year.
Moreover, Jasko Begovic and Rene form an outstanding coaching team.
What Rene has done, and he would be the first to tell you, is that he has shown that if one gives a chance to largely underprivileged children to thrive, then they will, on and off the field. Year after year, the Richmond teams have shown that negative preconceptions against the youth of Richmond are wrong. For example, the Richmond teams while competing yearly and fiercely against the very best teams in NCS had a period of over 6 years (I believe) without one red card, hard or soft.
The message that Richmond Soccer has been sending to the soccer community in NCS is a message of humanity and a message of hope. Other teams and communities such as Monte Vista, SRV, DLS and Foothill, to name a few, have received this message and responded to it in kind.
This said, if Richmond could win NCS this year, it would be perfect
February 15th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
In the list of schools above, I forgot to mention Acalanes HS. My apologies.
February 15th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Everyone is talking about players of the year but why does no one look at the quality the HAAL brings?
February 15th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Matt
We all want to see your predictions!
February 15th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
As a Cal fan I can honestly say that Cal has no intention of looking past anyone. I am pretty sure Cal is also not the ones doing any complaining about who they are going to play. It will be a great match and a challenging match whoever they play. In my opinion all 16 teams deserve to be there so they have talent and coaching. This will be fun to watch as it is every year.
EBAL MVP – I saw every Cal game this year. I know Foster is great but does he make the players around him better? He makes his team better by scoring goals but does he help his teammates on and off the pitch? that is not a rhetorical question. I do not know. What I do know are the Cal players. If the best player comes from the best team then Danielson has my vote. He is the most complete and consistent player on the pitch for Cal. Rivas is a good solid player but has not had the same impact as Danielson in my view. A lot of folks are saying that other teams are marking and clogging the middle which is keeping Rivas from doing what he does. I did not see this at all during the season. Fagenson in my view is up there with Danielson, but #11 has the edge in my opinion.
…..opinions aside, let the games begin….
February 15th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Just got this info from a source of mine…
Jaison Kimura and Alex Mangels are Co-MVP’s of the DFAL. Fardeen Shaiwany is the Offensive MVP, while Jackson Foote and Jacob Carroll from Acalanes are the Co-Defensive MVP’s.
February 15th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Do you guys really want my predictions? Because they always suck!
February 15th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Yesss please. Could you do D2 predictions too?
February 15th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
Go for it Matt!
February 15th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Alright, but I with games that go to PK’s, I’m going to let you guys make the final predictions. I’m just going to say it will go to PK’s and you guys fill in the gaps.
Division I
Cal 2, CV 0
DLS 2, Granada 1
Berkeley 1, Pitt 1 (Going PK’s)
Livermore 2, Logan 1
Newark 3, CP 1
MV 2, SRV 1
Richmond 2, DV 1 (OT)
Clayton 3, Mt. Eden 1
Division II
Campo 3, Kennedy-F 0
YV 3, Alhambra 2
Albany 2, St. Mary’s 1
Bishop O’Dowd 2, Concord 1
Acalanes 2, Kennedy-R 0
Dougherty 2, Pinole 2 (PK’s baby!)
San Lorenzo 3, Piedmont 2
Dublin 1, Hayward 1 (PK’s!!) Is Hayward GK up to the challenge? I would guess probably. The kid is good.
February 15th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
i think we should all reveal who we all are once the season is complete
February 15th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
I’ll do D1.
CAL 3, CV 0
DLS 1, Granada 2
Berkeley 1, Pitt 0
Livermore 3, Logan 1
Newark 4, CP 0
MV 0 SRV 1 Too much Jaye
Richmond 1 DV 2
Clayton 4, Mt. Eden 1
February 15th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
CONGRATULATIONS to Pinole Valley High School for going to their first NCS.
February 15th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
I’d go to the Richmond games to see Montes in goal! That would be awesome. Best of luck to that kid and the whole team in the future, I really hope college coaches come see them play because it is quite fun.
February 15th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Why is it so expensive to go to the ncs soccer games? It prevents a lot of students from going to support their team. Where does this money go anyways?
February 15th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
At my mobilization site here to say Richmond may be good based on posts and strength of schedule, but Deer Valley will shut down their attack. Deer Valley has been solid on defense and no one player can do it alone, sorry montes. Either way if they manage the upset like many here predict then more power to them and may they go far, but i just don’t see that happening.
February 16th, 2011 at 12:16 am
Ironman, I agree with you! That program has definitely deserved it, They have been trying to compete with the big dogs for about 5 years now and finally have the chance to show what they have. I would also like to acknowledge Coach Hector Jimenez for pushing the kids to show their full potential.
February 16th, 2011 at 2:29 am
As a Cal fan I can honestly say that Cal has no intention of looking past anyone. This has been a common practice for them all year. I am pretty sure Cal is also not the ones doing any complaining about who they are going to play. It will be a great match and a challenging match whoever they play. In my opinion all 16 teams deserve to be there so they have talent and coaching. This will be fun to watch as it is every year.
EBAL MVP – I saw every Cal game this year. I know Foster is great but does he make the players around him better? He makes his team better by scoring goals but does he help his teammates on and off the pitch? that is not a rhetorical question. I do not know. What I do know are the Cal players. If the best player comes from the best team then Danielson has my vote. He is the most complete and consistent player on the pitch for Cal. He makes everyone around him better for several reasons. Rivas is a good solid player but has not had the same impact as Danielson in my view. A lot of folks are saying that other teams are marking and clogging the middle which is keeping Rivas from doing what he does. I did not see this at all during the season. Fagenson in my view is up there with Danielson, but #11 has the edge in my opinion.
…..opinions aside, let the games begin….
February 16th, 2011 at 3:39 am
If what people are saying in posts #47, 48 and others is the measuring stick for winning POY, then Granada’s Foster and Newark’s Navarro have the clear advantage. Navarro has been able to bring his team over the hump with aggressive (goals) yet unselfish (assists) play. No one in the HS seen has more impact on a team than him.
Foster should win EBAL POY. He has “carried and willed” his from an 0-6-4 start to making NCS. He has shown character and poise while drawing defense double teams. He put the entire team on his back and carried them into the playoffs. No one else has done this in EBAL.
February 16th, 2011 at 5:19 am
Who thinks Kennedy-richmond can be a surprise in playoffs ? I actually think they can defeat acalanes.
February 16th, 2011 at 7:42 am
BOD is a sleeper, New Coaches have improved tactical side of the game.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:27 am
what game/s is everyone catching tonight?
February 16th, 2011 at 8:34 am
GlobalSoccer
I hate to say this but the POY will come from the team who wins NCS or plays in the finals. It does not make that student athlete better than the players whom may be more deserving it just rewards that team through that athlete. The coaches will meet and make a decision and the winning coach will come with a bigger gun in his holster. The same goes for all league. Where the rubber meets the road is college recognition in the future. Let’s all enjoy this weeks match ups.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:57 am
pittsburg is going to be the uderdogs and they are going to pull a upset with there great goal keeper abraham delatorre and they top score c.villa they will be good in the play off run.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:27 am
HighSchoolFan, I don’t know how long you’ve been reading this blog but there are a few HAAL fans here, myself included. One thing I’m sure you are aware of is that this blog is EBAL dominant and that is probably not going to change in the near future but it doesn’t or shouldn’t keep you from stating your oppinion so join in the fray. BTW Congrats to the HAAL for qualifying 5 out of 8 teams for the Playoffs. I think CV and Mt Eden have a real up hill battle in D1 but SLZ,BOD and Hayward all have a good shot at the D2 title.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:34 am
Old HAAL; I agree everybody loves the EBAL! Im glad a lot more HAAL fans came into the blog now it shows different point of views, very happy more HAAL teams got to be in NCS this year than in others. Although we are missing Arroyo :/ in my eyes a team that will make you think twice once your on the field with them. Good Luck to all the HAAL teams tonight. DO IT BIG!!
February 16th, 2011 at 9:58 am
Gomez from Clayton should get POY. Lead East Bay with assists last year. Second this year. He truly carries the teams offense and sets players up for easy goals and he is only a junior. If not this year, next year for sure.
February 16th, 2011 at 10:23 am
I agree w/SoccerDude. No more complete player around here than Gomez, regardless of the fact he’s only a Junior. He is the real deal.
February 16th, 2011 at 10:31 am
Hayward GK, I agree with you regarding Arroyo I saw them beat SLZ and was impressed with their team. They have a very good attacker up front who caused a lot of problems for the SLZ defense and a big fast defense but somehow the NCS found CP more deserving, that’s the way it goes sometimes. One thing for sure, all things change sooner or later and the HAAL is definitely changing for the better. Good luck to the Farmers and the rest of the HAAL teams, Do us Proud!
February 16th, 2011 at 10:40 am
Any word on if games scheduled on natural grass will be moved to turf?
February 16th, 2011 at 10:53 am
-futbolman1
I dont think a game will be moved to turf if its played on grass, for ex look at Newark. There hosting there first round of NCS @ home, grass field. Many teams are gonna be complaiing about there field but hey soccer is soccer.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Futbolman, The only HAAL team with an unlighted grass field playing at home is SLZ and that will be at Chabot College. The Newark game may be interesting though, they’re playing at home, at least that’s what the NCS is showing, which is a lighted grass field and I don’t know what shape it’s in. The NCS has moved games in the past because of poor weather related field conditions but they had to be in real bad shape for that to happen. Other than that I’m not sure who plays on grass anymore.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Kickball, You’re right soccer is soccer! However, some years ago they moved a Castro Valley/Newark NCS match was moved to Logan because CV’s old grass football field was so bad. Don’t know about you but I would rather play in the mud than on that old “Pool Table” pitch at Logan.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Mustang 510-
Kennedy Richmond definitely has a chance at winning; all teams do. That’s the beauty of the game. Having said that, I don’t think they will win but I wouldn’t be suprised by it.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:38 am
2 years ago newark moved there 1st round game against College Park to TAK, and then saved their grass/mud for what turned into a very wet and muddy game in which they narrowly beat amador valley.
Anybody heard whether they will move the first round game to TAK again this year?
February 16th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Div 2: Best game tonight is Alhambra vs Ygnacio Valley.
Young guns could have impact YV has Soph E.Damion creative play maker,clutch go to guy when pressure is on.
Alhambra has Soph J.Billecci who can come up with the surprise goal and Frosh D.Wier who can pass a clean through ball or bust through a wall and come up with big assist. Alhambra will need to play a aggressive tactical game to disrupt YV.
February 16th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Div 1 girls.
Carondelet…Size the moment…it’s your year to take it all.
February 16th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Deer Valley Vs. Richmond is also going to be played on grass. That game will be a slopfest. Advantage Deer Valley I believe. You never know>
February 16th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Matt, what game are you going to?
February 16th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Any upsets in the first round?
February 16th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Go HAAL!!
HHS GK, Ignore the weather and have fun out there!
February 16th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Bench Warmer, I am at DLS tonight.
And East Bay Dude is right. The weather, and field, favors DV. But I have a feeling about those Richmond boys. I just think it’ll be a good game.
February 16th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Anything on the Albany game yet?
February 16th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Albany 3 – St. Mary’s 1
February 16th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Albany 3, St. Mary’s 1
February 16th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
thanks
February 16th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Anybody have YV vs Alhambra update?
February 16th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Yv. 1. Alhambra 0. Half
February 16th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Yv. 1 alhambra 0 final
February 16th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Heard MV beat SRV 3-1.
February 16th, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Matt
do you have a C-Let score?
February 16th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Carondelet won 5-0.
February 16th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
thanks Matt
February 16th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Confirmed Matt. Mv 3 – Sr 1
Great game, MV looked the best it has all season. The officiating was pretty poor at times. Looking forward to a Newark/MV showdown, going to be one to watch.
February 16th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Foster scored a great goal. 1-0 Granada.
February 16th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Berk 2 Pitt 2 at half
February 16th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Deer valley 0. Richmond 1. Half
February 16th, 2011 at 7:52 pm
DLS equalized right before half. 1-1.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
Great game albany and st mary’s. Even first half till 30th minute where st mary’s center back made a mistake leading to albany’s number 9 getting a one on one with the goalie. The goalie tripped him in the box and got a red card. Albany took the lead and scored 2 minutes before half. St mary’s down to 10 men scored 3 minutes into the second half and were looking to do the impossible but as they pushed up albany got a counter and exploited the St mary’s defense for the clinching goal. Great game wouldve liked to see what would’ve happened had the St mary’s keeper not been shown a red. Both teams played very well. The officiating was just terrible for both teams as both coaches were extremley upset.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Campo 3 Kennedy 0 at half
February 16th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Come on bsal. Too bad there was a game between 2 of the 4 team. Albany is on to the next and good luck piedmont and kennedy. Let’s do this g thang
February 16th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Granada just went up 2-1, 54th minute.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Bernardi equalizer right after DLS goes down to ten men. 2-2 with 15 to go.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Berkeley shows firepower, scores 5 against Pitt
February 16th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Dublin 3 – 0 Hayward
Great game by Hayward, especially their goalie. He had phenomenal saves.
Anyone know the score of SLZ/Piedmont?
February 16th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
clayton 2- 2 mt eden 2nd half.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Richmond 1 dv 0 final
February 16th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Matt
Why is DLS down to 10 men? red card?
February 16th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
5-2 on that Berkeley v. Pitt game?
Newark won 3-0.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
3-1 Cal up
February 16th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Ya. A player got a red.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
cokito how did richmond do?
February 16th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
I heard DLS over Granada 3-2!
February 16th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
3-2 clayton final
February 16th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
NCS web site says Newark won 7-1
?
February 16th, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Can we get confirmation on DLS-Granada?
February 16th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Cal won 3 to 1. Livermore won 2 to 0.
DLS is going de la DOWN next Saturday.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:24 pm
what was the newark score?
February 16th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
NCS says it was 7 to 1 newark!!!! Wow.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
3-2 DLS in OT. Crazy game.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Matt what are all the final scores
February 16th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
The division one eight-team bracket:
De La Salle at California
Livermore at Berkeley
Monte Vista at Newark Memorial
Richmond at Clayton Valley
Soccer fan, the scores for d1 were
Berkeley 5 Pittsburg 2
Livermore 2 James Logan 0
Clayton Valley 3 Mt. Eden 2
Richmond 1 Deer Valley 0
Newark 7-1 DLS 3-2 MV 3-1 and CAL 3-1.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Anybody got any D2 scores/
February 16th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Per NCS site, Boys D-I results:
Cal 3, CastV 1
DLS 3, Granada 2 OT
Berk 5, Pitt 2
Livermore 2, JLogan 0
Newark 7, CPark 1
MV 3, SRV 1
Rich 1, DeerV 0
ClayV 3, MtEden 2
February 16th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Acalanes vs Kennedy(Richmond) 1-0
Anyone who saw the game knows it was Kennedys game, One of Kennedys player did a mistake and score an own-goal. But besides that Acalanes GK saved them a lot. Kennedy only had trouble in the centers because of Acalanes height. But in soccer if you dont score, you dont win. So that is what happened to Kennedy.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Per NCS site, Boys D-II results:
Campo 4, JFKF 0
YgV 1, Alh 0
Alb 3, StM 1
BOD 2, Conc 1
Acal 1, JFKR 0
PinV 4, DoV 2
SLZ 1, Pied 0
Dub 3, Hay 0
February 16th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Hey Matt,
Do you know where the NCS championship game will be? Is it Dublin high again, or somewhere else?
February 16th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
Matt all scores are final give us the round 2 predicitions!!
February 16th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
So whats up with acalanes running away with the title? Seems like they got scared tonight. Good job kennedy but thats how soccer is. Tough luck but still showed that the bsal has talent. And kennedy was the 4 team in bsal. What would happen against albany?
February 16th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Acalanes just isn’t a good team. They play very defensive soccer.. Not much offense if you look at the scores of there games they are almost all by 1 goal or less.. I expect acalanes to be upset quick and Campolindo will walk the talk
February 16th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
I agree with Soccer Fan. For years Acalanes has been defense oriented and it has worked, but at the expense of their offense. Sooner or later it’ll bite them in the butt because as said before, you have to score to win
February 16th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
and by the way I forgot to add something about Acalanes, it seemed like Acalanes was playing like if they were playing football. They were doing subs every 2-4 minutes.
February 16th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Good luck to Dublin throughout the rest of ncs. You guys played a great game and had way too many great shots on me today.
February 16th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Matt, give us the breakdown on the De La Salle game. It sounded like a real nail biter…
February 16th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Why is nobody talkin bout slz???? And with a REALLY bad ref!!! LETS GO REBULS!!!
February 16th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Hayward GK you are a great goalkeeper you had the entire stands worried sick
February 16th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
I mean REBELS
February 16th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
It was Kennedys(Richmond) game.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:01 pm
I stand corrected, Richmond dominated the midfield and got a lucky break and in this game thats all it takes, good luck the rest of the way. My son almost tied the game from what i heard but it wasn’t to be. He now can play for the Las Vegas tourny this weekend as a guest player where they take on an academy from germany.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
So predictions will come tomorrow or Friday…
As for the DLS v. Granada game. What an entertaining game. It was physical and fast. Both teams played with a lot of emotion. And Foster is incredible.
What happened to Granada twice tonight is that they got up a goal and relaxed (even Foster said that to me after the game) but when they were level, the game was more even. I would say couple that with DLS’ urgency, and the Spartans were very dominant in the times they were down.
In overtime, both teams had possession and chances and Eikani was able to put away almost the same exact breakaway that he had stopped about four minutes before.
Very good game, from a fans standpoint.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Well I had the luxury of catching two games today.
MV vs SRV- MV definitely the better team, and probably the best game I have seen them play. Can’t wait for the matchup against Newark as Navarro vs MV defense, should be a good one. Advantage Newark on grass.
Then I rushed over to see CAL vs CV mostly to see Nick Lima play not much for CAL as I knew they would win. Nick Lima is for real, the kid was excellent along with his partner #11 Leblaunc who gave CAL some fits. CAL very happy they won’t see Lima again. Now onto the game, very nice first goal by CAL with Rivas connecting to four players and the ball getting crossed in as Pagliuca finished. CV comes back and ties it with an outside shot by Lima. 1-1 at the break.
Second half- CAL steps up but CV is still in the game. Ball is played into the box and Rivas lays it off to his teammate Fagenson who was wide open on the far post. About 15 minutes later, CAL plays a quick set piece, Rivas delivers a beautiful cross with the outside of his right foot as Pagliuca finishes.
Very impressed with CV and the HAAL as they were a much better team than a 16th seed. Good luck to Lima in England.
CAL needs to step up against DLS, it should be a battle.
The appealing games to me are
Livermore vs Berkeley
CAL vs DLS
and MV vs Newark.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
predictions:
Cal 2 DLS 1
Berk 2 Liv 1 (OT)
MV 1 Newark 1 (Newark in pks)
Rich 2 Clayton 0
February 17th, 2011 at 12:23 am
I was at the Richmond vs DV….Richmond played a very well controlled game. Nothing special, but simple. Good movement and good reads. Deer Valley – Physical as they played, could not penetrate. #5 from DV had the opportunity to tie it up, but shot to the moon. Richmond control and Clayton Speed will make for a great game on Saturday….Defintely not 2-0. This game can go either way.
Cal over DLS will be a very tough match. Coach has a way of getting his boys prepped for the next level, God bless the official
Berkeley over Livermore 1-0…
Newark over MV 2-1…
Officials better be ready to run and manage players.
February 17th, 2011 at 12:24 am
Both DV and Richmond were nervous initially. The referees kept great control of the game, which had not been quite the case the last time they played 3 years ago in NCS quarters (DV had won that one 1-0 at Richmond, and sent 2 Richmond players to the ER, one with a major concussion. Hi, Respeto) None of this tonight. Richmond dominated the first half and logically scored on a beautiful long range shot. DV pressed very hard in the second half but the Richmond defense held on. A good, hard fought game by both teams. Always sorry to watch a team finish their season: been there, done that; but that is now the name of the game.
February 17th, 2011 at 1:33 am
Nobody has given Livermore any props I have seen over 30 EBAL games this year and all I here is we got Livermore next playing them is like having a bye that squad is a solid team and they have won a lot of games against good teams they also haven’t lost in there last 9 games. don’t underestimate this team seeded #5 for a reason. lets not forget they took 2nd in one of the toughest leagues in the state(EBAL) Berkeley get ready. TABU!!!!!
February 17th, 2011 at 7:22 am
Hey Matt,
Newark plays on grass and Mv play on turf. The way the weather is going is there a chance that the game will get switched to Mv due to a sloppy field at Newark?
February 17th, 2011 at 7:31 am
D2 predcitions anyone?
February 17th, 2011 at 7:34 am
Soccer Fan, the MV/NHS match could get switched but it wouldn’t go to MV, it might go to TAK field in Fremont but my guess is that it stays at Newark.
February 17th, 2011 at 8:05 am
Newark VS Monte Vista , I will be sure to catch that battle. Navarro #22 , Ramirez#10, MV Zamora #5 all played on a state winning team .. will love to see them give there all. Will the MV defense be to much for the Newark forwards? Or will the defense win for MV? give me predictions on this game .
February 17th, 2011 at 8:07 am
Re Dublin vs. Hayward: Hats off the the Hayward Soccer Team. Great soccer, aggressive but not dirty. Good sportsmanship. Outrageous keeper. I wish all teams played with the same respect for the game, for their school, for their parents and for their coach.
February 17th, 2011 at 8:23 am
Hey Soccerfan,
Old HAAL Dad is right. They would keep it in the Fremont area as to keep Newark’s home field advantage, and I’m sure it would be played at TAK if Newark’s field isn’t playable. If this weather keeps up, and the Newark field is sloppy, but good enough to play there, that’s a huge advantage to the home team, who is used to playing in the conditions.
February 17th, 2011 at 8:34 am
Wow what a great game last night with Granada & Dls. Both teams played hard and the best game I have seen all season. Giving much props to #9 Ricky Salazar had a great season and finished it off with a defensive assist to Foster to score the first goal. Diffentely a nail biter but it could have went either way. Congrats to Cals victory last night Granada fans switching over to the them and much love to Livermore high they are an awesome team and deserve to continue on. Fear the Cowboys…
February 17th, 2011 at 10:34 am
Tack: It was nice meeting you bro, thanks once again.
Dublin Fan: Thanks, haha I really enjoyed the fan support from Dublin really pumps up the players, wish HHS was like that.
Soccer buff: Thank you, wish everybody looked at our school like that. Our coach really matured us throughout the year and we became a good team although we lost many players in the process, but I know the HHS soccer program is in great hands.
February 17th, 2011 at 10:52 am
Hayward GK – Where are you playing next year?
February 17th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Old HAAL: Nope, I’m graduating this year
February 17th, 2011 at 11:00 am
Uh, Hayward GK, you wouldn’t be posting this on your smartphone while in class now would you? Dude…
February 17th, 2011 at 11:02 am
Round 2 Div 1: DLS 1 CAL 1(OT-PK) DLS Wins :Berk 2 Liv 1: MV 2 New 2(OT no PK)MV wins: CVH 2 Rich 0: Div 2: YV 2 Camp 1: BOD 1 Albany 0: Pinole 2 Acalanes 1: Dublin 2 San Lorenzo 2 (OT) Dublin wins:
Monte Vista note: Salimpour will have impact, thrives with pressure.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:04 am
028159: I’m at my chiropractor today because of knee issues
February 17th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Ouch. Good luck with that….
February 17th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Old HAAL: I read your comment wrong, I’m not sure yet I have a couple schools in mind but I’m just going to wait and see which ones best for me.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:10 am
Hayward GK, I meant are you playing any more soccer after graduation? If you’re going to play at one of the local schools I’d like to catch one of your games.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:12 am
028159: yeah I’ma need it, I’ve been playin on it since beginning of January, so hopefully everything goes good.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Matt,
Predictions?
February 17th, 2011 at 11:17 am
Old HAAL; yeah I will be, im going to be playing club in a couple weeks after all my teammates are done in ncs. I have a couple choices but if you would like to exchange emails then Ill let you know where I go next fall
February 17th, 2011 at 11:18 am
DLS CAL game game will com down to the both Keepers. CAL GK is good but is probably going to make that rookie mistake. DLS GK will need to start exerting some command presence in back field this is key because CB / capt is out on red card. I still give advantage to DLS as front can be very creative. Game will probably go into OT & PK.
Referee’s please let the game play…it will be a game for the books…not bookings.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:29 am
YV game with Alhambra was good. but with Campo you will need to pick-up your tempo and attack and attack and attack for all 80 min. dig deep for the passion.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:29 am
D2 predictions:
Campo 3 – 1 YV (Campo continues defensive dominance but slips up once)
Bishop 1 – 1 Albany (I wanna say O’Dowd finally masters their dreaded pks, but not sure. Both lost last year here so both will be practicing. 7-6 BOD in pks.)
Pinole 2 – 1 Acalanes (Pinole rolls off of 4 goals at Dougherty, adds 2 more to their total as Acalanes’ offense comes up short)
Dublin 2 – 0 San Lorenzo (haha not biast here, right? Know little of SLZ, but
I know Dublin. Whoever wants it more will take it)
Any disagreements?
February 17th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Why is everyone predicting Bishop over Albany? Have these people not seen Albany or what makes o dowd so strong?
February 17th, 2011 at 11:58 am
BOD will take Albany 1. 0. game will end in regulation. Albany has weakness and BOD understands that weakness.
BOD may go 3 . 0 if they find the goal.
February 17th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Div II Predictions.
Campo 1-1 YV OT or PKS. If it goes to pks campo wins.
O’Dowd 1-0 Albany.
Pinole 2-1 Acalanes, pinole controls the tempo of the game.
SLZ 3-1 Dublin. Ill give Dublin one goal but will lose to a very good san lorenzo team who keeps great possesion of the ball. It could be worst if they finish their chances.
February 17th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
Okay, my predictions…
Cal 1, DLS 0
Berkeley 2, Livermore 1
Newark 2, Monte Vista 1
Richmond 3, Clayton Valley 2
Campo 3, YV 1
Bishop O’Dowd 2, Albany 1
Acalanes 1, Pinole Valley 0
San Lorenzo 2, Dublin 1
February 17th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Newark game should be moved from grass. All the teams should be playing turf for NCS.Grass fields will be just nasty on Saturday as forecast has rain all through today and Friday through Sat am with showers Sat pm. MV Newark game should be moved to turf and any other games that are on grass should also be moved. Fairness and consider the cost to school when field is destroyed for a game. Tell me a school district that has $$ to repair fields.
February 17th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
My analysis on D2:
BOD is always a darkhouse. They are traditionally a very strong team and always seem to make it far in NCS. I would not be surprised to see them walk away with the title after losing in the championship two years in a row on PK’s.
I know there has been a lot of talk about the BSAL on this blog lately and that it is underrated. My current position is that the BSAL is not a very strong league, but I would love for Albany to prove me wrong and take it.
I will have to agree with Matt that BOD will take this game.
Campo has definitely proven themselves this year with only one blemish on their record. After taking a few years off from being a true threat, they are definitely back and ready to make a run for the title. I can’t really see them losing at this point in the tournament, so I will have to go with them for this game against YV. That being said, I have heard that YV can be very explosive, and may be able to catch Campo on their toes.
Pinole Valley recently proved their worth by defeating a DFAL team in Dougherty Valley. 4 goals is very impressive in any playoff game, so hats off to them. Acalanes has a very defensive mindset with one of the lowest goals against posting in the east bay. If Acalanes manages to score a goal at any point, I will give them the game. The only way I can really see Acalanes losing is in a PK shootout after a 0-0 draw. That being said, I will go with Acalanes for this one.
San Lorenzo has been another very hyped up team this season. This will be a classic D2 DFAL vs. non-DFAL matchup. So far, I’d say the non-DFAL teams are winning this battle with the losses of Dougherty Valley and Alhambra in the first round as higher seeds. This will be the closest game and hardest to predict in my opinion. However, I think I will have to go with Matt on every pick and go with SLZ on this one, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Good luck to every team, and congrats to the 8 teams in each division that made it this far.
February 17th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Tack, I agree with Lonewolf I don’t think Albany can hang with BOD. I saw Pinole play Berkeley and they’re tough but so is Acalanes especially on defense but since this is Pinol’s first trip to the big dance I’m rooting for them because it would do a lot for their program and that’s a good thing. As far as Dublin/SLZ goes I understand when you have a son on the pitch your perspective gets a little tilted because I have a son who played in a few of these things and know the feeling well. I take it since you dont’ know much about SLZ you haven’t seen them play and that’s a shame because they’re really fun to watch, their 3 seed is for real and well deserved. You’ll see a lot of them Saturday night, they’ll be the ones in maroon occuppying the Dublin’s defense third most of the evening.
February 17th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
To All
Field conditions
My only concern regarding Newark vs MV is safety. I attended the SRV Vs MV and saw 2 players whom were seriously injured on a dry field. Both are out for the season and club. Who cares about the advantage I am sure all parents want their sons to come home in one piece.
February 17th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Still laying low on this blog for reasons that I’ve explained already BUT..Had to jump on today to give credit to Foster of Granada. Won’t say much about the DLS v GRA match besides the fact that its too bad that his HS career has come to an end. Much respect to him and best of luck in the future – does anyone know if he is playing anywhere in college??
Kid had a phenomenal season and should receive some well deserved recognition.
100
February 17th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Div 1 Girls: CHS this should be the year to take it all…but do they have the X-Factor ??? True passion and Intensity will be the X-factor. California and Castro Valley in the final. Note: CHS may find it.
Div 2 Girls: BOD and Albany 1 & 2 seeds in final…they have x-factor and major mojo.
February 17th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Lonewolf,
As the #2 seed newark has earned the right to determine where the game will be played, not you. “Fairness” is not a factor here. This is a big game and newark should do whatever gives them the best chance to win, whether that be keeping the game on the grass where they like to play or moving it over to TAK.
I dont understand why you would say that all teams should play on turf. I think soccer is much better on grass.
Just my opinion.
February 17th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Word is that Foster is playing for Cal State Monterey next year…
February 17th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Last year it was raining and the field wasn’t an issue at Newark. In fact they were lucky to get through in the first round and then got dominated by Clayton and they had the home field advantage. This just shows that the best teams should be able to play in any weather conditions and and field surface. game should remain at NM.
February 17th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Cal State Monterey, “The Fighting Otters”
February 17th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Newark…grass is fine…but a mud pit. My point is the majority of teams play on turf and its winter. The NCS should set-up the games so they are all on turf. Equal playing surface. Point #2 is everyday you read about the various school districts struggling for funds for classes and facilities. Why destroy a field??
That’s All. Go Man U
February 17th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Thanks #225 – Glad to hear he is heading somewhere.
100
February 17th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Anyone go to the Dougherty – Pinole game and can provide feedback? I think it’s the only game that hasn’t been talked about.
February 17th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Any opinions/feedback about Mt Eden CV game? Went to another game instead.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
Anyone know who got the red card for DLS?
and if Tobin is back for them?
February 17th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
DeCosta got the red.
And I think Tobin is done for the year.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
@ #231
CV continued their high scoring, almost seemed like it was going to be an easy win but when pressure was added to their defense by Mt. Edens 3 attackers CV cracked down for a bit, Mt Eden had them against the ropes but then Cv managed to get control while the 3 Mt. Eden stand out attackers had 1 or 2 attacks, Finally CV got a pk awarded to the in the last minutes (no clue what the call was) but they capitalized and won in the last minute
They must improve if they are thinking of beating Richmond in the next round
February 17th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Ive read the posts and I also was at the DV Richmond game. I saw it somewhat similiar to what most post were except I was a neutral observer not really there to back either team. DV had the first chance of the night on a clean break away, but the forward pulled the trigger a touch early and the Richmond keeper saved it relatively easily. It could have been DV 1- Richmnd 0 right there. Ricmond was given a lucky break on a throw in that the player throwing the ball entered the field of play, the AR flagged for the offense and the DV players all stopped. The Richmond player settled the ball with one touch, nice piece of skill, but with no pressure as everyone on the DV team stopped, and placed the ball into the back corner, again a nice finish but no pressure was applied. The AR flagged it but the center waved him off. The AR flegged until the center came over but the center still waved him off.
Richmond is a very talented team. I was there watching them warm up and the ball was bobbling all over the place and 95% of thier first touches were perfect.
Ricmond set the tone of physicality early with, from my perspective, a dirty two footed boots up tackle on the left wide mid for DV ending in no card, yellow or red, and a broken leg for the DV player. All I can say on that is WOW….
The more physical team on the field was Richmond, the more technical team on the field was also Richmond. There were a few other rather hard tackles on both sides but another tackle that stood out was from the center back of Richmond on the center mid of DV. Another boots up tackle that the DV player was lucky he didnt end up with same fate as his team mate. At least on this one the ref pulled out a yellow card.
The DV players were clearly frustrated and the center mids started fouling the opposing players. Both DV center mids were double yellow carded for soft reds.
About mid way through the 1st half Richmond had a great shot on goal that came off the cross bar. It was misplayed by the DV keeper, but it was a class shot.
Before half, the ref played about 4 minutes of stoppage when there was about 12.
Halftime 1-0 Richmond.
2nd half DV applied tons of pressure and had a few chances but the back 4 of Richmond were very smooth winning the ball and playing out of the back. There were a few chances the best missed by DV’s #5. There was another opportunity for DV that had a rugby scrum in the Richmond 6 yd box. A DV player emerged with the ball at his feet and then appeared to be football tackled by 3 or 4 Ricmond players. I think the ref saw it as not a clear chance since there were so many bodies flying around and didnt award the penalty. From my vantage point, it appeared to be a penalty.
Richmond is talented and will get better on a better surface. THe mid field for them is quality and can play with any duo of players in NCS.
Good luck to Richmond the rest of the way through..
February 18th, 2011 at 12:06 am
Matt that’s a shame for DeCosta, he will miss the huge game against CAL and could have seen his last game.
Was his card for a foul?
February 18th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Matt, I don’t know if you had anything to do with it or not but in the Prep of the Week section this morning 4 out of 5 for both boys and girls were soccer players. I guess maybe the squeaky wheel does get the oil.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:10 am
Ya, it is too bad for DeCosta. Good kid and a good player.
I didn’t see what happened exactly with him, but there seems to be some controversy. It seems like he might have said something to the ref, but the ref went yellow first, then changed his mind and went red. Having spoken to DeCosta before, it’s hard to imagine him saying something to warrant a straight red.
And I’m glad to hear it about the AOW’s. I definitely helped with one of them.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:41 am
what game is everyone catching Saturday night ? Matt ?
February 18th, 2011 at 8:42 am
Matt, good job on “Athletes” of the week always nice to see some recognition for soccer. I’m showing my age again, it used to be called Preps of the week years ago, hate when that happens. I’m thinking of catching the BOD/Albany match and then maybe the Livermore/Berkeley match which should be a good one. That’s the trouble with these playoffs too many good games not enough time. Good luck to all the teams, hope they can get through the rest of the playoffs without anymore broken legs or red cards.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:47 am
I’m at Albany v. O’Dowd in the afternoon, then Berkeley v. Livermore at night.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Matt,
CVHS will take Richmond 2-0. CV has been playing strong, but will need to go all 80 min. They have a history of strange costly substitutions in big games though.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:58 am
Would not surprise me to see Clayton Valley win. They are a very strong side.
February 18th, 2011 at 9:04 am
Good morning everyone,
I have read every comment made about the passed games. Great knowledge of the game and understanding of its complexity.
With that being said, I have been to so many games this year due to this blog… Thank you Matt.
Here are my predictions for this Saturday’s games.
DIV 1
Cal over DLS… This may come down to the team that scores first.If Cal scores firts DLS with be on the attack like they do somy times, i just dont see them breaking that D. Cal will counter and may get a second one in them DLS will score one. GAME 2-1 Cal
Berk over Livermore
Who will make the most mistakes. Will the Ref’s play a huge part? I see a close hard fought match. Still give Berkeley the win. OVERTIME?
Newark over MV
Newark is that strong you ask … they are. I still dont count out MV. They play great soccer and will fight until the end. It will be a polemical call that will make MV edge out NM. But NM 2-0.
Richmond over Clayton
With an underdog mentality and no worries over head, Richmond will be the winner of this match … that and only if they can get pass the D that Clayton Valley brings. CV are explosive on the attack with two great scores up top. Richmond will have to watch out for the speed they bring and the creativity they show on the field. Dont look away on this match. You may just miss out. In OT…. Clayton … PK’s Richmond. 80 mins… Richmond 2-1
Yv vs Campo
Can this game be close?… will YV bring there young guns and beat a very strong and smart campo team?
Its not going to be easy for them. Campo is great in the air and Campo may just be to fast for YV. The longer this game stays at 0-0 the stronger YV will be. Campo may become stressed knowing that they are the higher ranked team. If at half they are 0-0, I see Campo sending players on the attack, which may in turn back fire on them. YV can be just as explosive. YV will have to win on the counter. I see Pk’s here. And too close to call. Campo in PK’s.
Albany vs BOD
Two strong and very talented teams. Albany will go on the attack and have BOD on the ropes, yet no damage will be made. BOD will stop every attack and switch the ball so well that will break Albany’s D apart and create so many chances until that one comes in. With the flood gates being open, both teams will play relax knowing what each other has to do. One attacks while the other plays D. I still see BOD being tooo strong for Albany. BOD 3-1
Acalanes vs Pinole
Pinole may be a surprise for everyone. They can score and play well organized soccer. They never let down and will fight until the end. I dont see that to be enough against a much stronger team like Acalanes. But anything can happen. Acalanes 2-0
San Lorenzo vs Dublin
I have not made time for seeing any of San Lorenzo’s games. Now Dublin can at time be a great team and at times look like soccer is not there game. Which team will come out and play. To what i have read from this blog… San Lorenzo may just be to much for Dublin and specially if they dont come to play. SL 2-1
Will any of this matter ….Probably not. Just my two cents. Good luck to all .Great job to all the players and coaches.
February 18th, 2011 at 9:10 am
Lonewolf,
Thanks for the kudos for Clayton Valley, but, I am curious what you meant by “They have a history of strange costly substitutions in big games though.”
I don’t want to get into a discussion of this in this forum, but, would appreciate an e-mail from you giving me some examples of strange, costly substitutions in big games.
email is: rorman212@yahoo.com
I’m never to old to learn new things!
Thanks,
Coach Rory
February 18th, 2011 at 9:18 am
Nice breakdown, futbol26. You have been paying very close attention this season. One can tell by your analysis.
February 18th, 2011 at 9:25 am
i agree with you matt , great analysis futbol26. I think im catching MV @ NMHS.
February 18th, 2011 at 9:25 am
Matt,
Good call on the GK from Alhambra. He had a great game that night against DV. Well deserved player of the week.
Regarding DLS and the red card on DeCosta..very questionable call..hope its reversed. DLS is capable of making adjustments and players repeatedly stepping up to the challenge. I think DLS is thriving on the underdog status this season..Brotherhood is the x factor.
DLS will take Cal on Saturday.
February 18th, 2011 at 10:11 am
Predictions for Sat.
Livermore over Berkeley If all the academy players are healthy only 3 players from Berkeley would start on the Livermore team.
MV and Newark Have not seen Newark and the only question is how will they handle MV defense and out side speed of the attack.
Cal over DLS Cal can win 1-0 and make you feel like it was 10-0.
CV over Richmond Richmond has a 1 touch English style of play but are prone to make mistakes and can not finish against teams like MV.
February 18th, 2011 at 10:23 am
Storm, Richmond definitely has one touch style but it aint English, think “Latin Dance” baby. I’m thinking PK’s and Richmond has the advantage here and takes CV but this will be the last win of the tournament for the Oilers.
February 18th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Speaking of Richmond did Montes play in goal against Deer Valley? How did he do?
February 18th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Many thanks to the NCS for scheduling 7 of 8 boys soccer quarter-final matches at the same time on a Saturday. This limits fan attendance, college coach scouting AND press coverage. Way to think small.
They should schedule on Friday and Saturday, or at least schedule 2 matches at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm on Saturday. I would love to budget $32 for a full day of playoff soccer.
See you at the pitch.
February 18th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Old HAAL Dad
I apologize for my ignorance regarding Latino style of play but spent many years following English soccer and the mix of international players in league play numbs ones prospective. I happened to see Richmond VS MV on a Sat. when no other games were worth attending, while MV finished fifth in the EBAL, they easily handled Richmond. That is my only perspective.
February 18th, 2011 at 11:49 am
No need to apologize Storm I don’t take this stuff that serious. I’ve followed the Richmond program since 1995 and have always enjoyed their style of play and success over the years. But what really impresses me is their sense of family and community, it makes them a very appealing under dog to root for. Their coach has a wonderful relationship with his players and it shows on the pitch. He also pulls no punches when he makes out his schedule every year, hence the three Saturdays in a row suicide mission through the EBAL this year. They are a young team who took their lumps but they learned where they need to get to make a championship run. Look out for the Oilers next year!
February 18th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Sweeper,
You make a D— good point! When you consider what a NFL,NHL,NBA or MLB ticket would cost compared to four soccer games in one day, not only is it a bargin, it makes sense because of the reasons you mentioned, maybe that’s why it hasn’t occured to the NCS. My wife would donate the $32 just to get me out of the house for a day so she could do lunch with the girls.
February 18th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
HAAL Dad, thanks for your kind words for the Richmond program. I am looking forward to the CV game. CV plays an exciting brand of soccer, and fully deserve their #6 seed this year. I have had the opportunity of watching them battle Ygnacio Valley recently, and I was definitely impressed. What a beautiful team! Yes, Richmond is young; it will be an uphill battle for them, but so was the DV game. One thing is sure: whichever team wins, beautiful soccer will be the real winner.
February 18th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
I agree with COKITO… YV vs CV they both were great games. I have to edge YV on both games, some very questionable calls on CV’s goals. Thats soccer. Good luck to both.
February 18th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Matt,
257 and counting! Are we shooting for 300?
February 18th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
I wish I had time to make it to more than one match besides BOD vs. Albany tomorrow. I anticipate that game will be exciting enough. Don’t know much about Albany except what I’ve read here. I always assume that if you make NCS you must be pretty darn good. Hayward GK, great season, glad to see my alma mater make it to NCS and play well this year. Hope the school finds that lawn mower and you have success whatever pitch you play on. Take care of those knees.
Go Dragons and good luck to the rest of the participants as well.
February 18th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Predictions:
Div 1 Sat. Qtr Finals
Livermore 2 Berkeley 1 – Livermore is the best possession team I have seen play, and have a strong shooter in #7 Jessie (Mr. Academy)
MV 1 Newark 2 – while it was early in the year MV beat CP 2-1 and Newark just beat CP last week 7-1 too much offense- May also depend on which MV team shows up, the one that beat SRV on Weds could surprise…
Cal 1 DLS 1 and we go to PKs, and that will be won my DLS (4-3) If Decosta were playing I would call the upset for DLS in regulation as the kid is a defensive rock for the spartans. The Spartans have momentum from last game.
CV 1 Richmond 2 – Richmond plays with heart, and has less pressure than CV who lost lat year at this point in the NCS.
Qtr Final to watch: DLS at Cal – the last time these two teams met at this pitch, very even game, end to end, and DLS appeared more dangerous but lost on on score
February 18th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Storm
I think there are more than 3 Berkeley players that Livermore would love to have. Unfortunately they have a number of running wounded. I am sure Berkeley will try
to give Livermore a good game.
February 18th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
POY..Senior Defensive Back Anthony DeCosta @ DLS. 4yr varsity player& capt.. So many touches that would generate the offense into deep forward penetration. A true sportsman and leader.
February 18th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
one more point on the DLS – CAL game.
I think the refs will have alot to do with the outcome,
If they allow physical play as they have in so many games- the edge will go to DLS. If they do not allow physical play that the edge will go to the more skilled Cal team.
February 18th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Since we have two postings that we’ve been working on since Sunday, I’m combining both and saying we’re above 400 for the week!
Hayward GK, if you’re still checking the blog can you email me? mhsmith78@gmail.com
I got some info you might be interested in.
February 18th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
D-1Round 2 Predictions:
Cal 2-0 DLS ‘s NCS run is over, brotherhood or not.
Livermore 2-1 BHS squad dives more than Jaques Cousteau, good ref won’t allow it.
MV 3-2 Mudfest could go either way, I’ll stick with EBAL.
Clayton 2-1 My heart says Richmond but I think CV will prevail.
Enjoy the games.
Bliss
February 18th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
predictions
cal 2 dsl 1
berkeley 2 livermore 0 berkeley has solid defence
mv 0 newark 1
cv 0 richmond 2.richmond has solid players they play as a team and they have that “latino soccer”
February 18th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Waterboy
I still believe Livermore has many more talented players but the great part of this conversation is Berkeley will have 11 student athletes on the field and anything can happen. Hope it is a great game.
February 18th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
Lonewolf, you’re clearly a Spartan.
1. Brotherhood? Those kids were brought together at the school, that isn’t a brotherhood. You look at CAL and mostly all the other schools, these kids have been playing club soccer together for years. That’s a brotherhood!!
2. DeCosta for POY? Really? I know the kid is fantastic and probably their best player, but he missed half of the year due to injury. Also, a true sportsman and a leader? Explains his red card for talking. Don’t get me wrong I love the kid’s game.
February 18th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
#236(ebal fan) and #238(matt smith)
De La Salle #17 Decosta was first cautioned for Dissent. When leaving the field #17 Decosta used insulting, offensive and abusive language resulting in his disqualification.(straight red offense)
#248(lonewolf)
This was not a “very questionable call”, as you stated. IMO
February 18th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Ebal fan…sorry but I’m a BOD fan. Just follow soccer as all 4 of my kids play. Each season I see 5-6 games all over. I also like the underdog and this year its DLS.
EBAL is a very good league for high quality soccer. Just my opinion. NCS this year is displaying some great soccer.
February 18th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Clearly Storm you should do a little more research as far as “Student Athletes” go, Livermore’s Team GPA is over a 3.5 average — just saying and they are good players at that.
Hey The Kid don’t under estimate Livermore, looking at Max Prep — they have not allowed more than one goal in any of their last eight games. Not to mention looking at their schedule they have played all D1 schools as Berkeley has played many D2 schools – EBAL alone sent 6 out of 8 teams to NCS…all seeded in the top 10.
February 18th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Livermore is the sleeper, De La Salle is the underdog, and MV has something to prove. Cal is on top and everybody see’s them as the target to hit.
TopRef..stay off the blog and go play with your cards.
February 18th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Shinguard,
I actually appreciate a referee perspective on here.
So, chill out, all voices are acceptable and make for an even better blog.
February 18th, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Sage…its cool. I just feel refs should keep a distance on blogs as it can get personal. Some refs have a high tolerance before pulling the red..when its physical, harmful, disruptive yes the card. When players are walking away and somewhat verbal keep the card in the pocket.
February 18th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Soccerguy
Are you for real. My blog never indicated Livermore does not have student athletes.
February 18th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
PLAY-ON..everyone and Saturday bring your umbrellas and heaters and enjoy and suport your favorite team.
February 18th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Predictions:
Campo 3 YV 1
Pinole 1 acalanes 0
Albany 1 BOD 1 (Albany in pks)
Dublin 2 SLZ 1
February 18th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
BOD will take Albany, YV over Campo, CV over Rich.
MV will shut down Newark. DLS will be last man standing at Cal. Go Livermore send the Yellow Jackets back to the hive.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
DLS will beat CAL
I don’t know how, but it will happen
Let’s revisit this tomorrow pm.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
MV is my pick to beat Newark. mids and forwards are playing well.
February 18th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
#279…….Will we all have time to jump and comment after Saturday games? I think after these matches, folks will be hitting local pubs to wind down. This Quarter Round will be exciting.
– As for the officials: It’s playoff time, let the boys and girls get physical and bang a bit. Too many whistles will kill the flow of the game and take away from the excitement. There will be alot of that going tomorrow. Hope it doesn’t rain from 5pm – 9pm.
February 18th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
In my opinion, ‘banging a bit’, depending on to what degree, sometimes really kills the game. I do not want to watch or play football, I want to watch or play soccer, with technical skills, tactical skills, and creation. Spain over Netherlands (in the WC,) Yougoslavia over Germany, France over England, Mexico over old style US… Yes, I understand it’s an opinion.
February 18th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Hey, Old HAAL Dad. If you’re at Albany and/or Berkeley tomorrow, come say hello. I’ll be freezing my butt off in a black pea coat and a blue umbrella that says Golden Gate Law School.
And what is this I hear of people winding down at a pub? Any invites for Matt Smith?
February 18th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Cal vs DLS
DLS having their leading scorer and their strongest defender out for this game, might be too much to over come. Cal seems to be at full strength and DLS will be short handed with a strong will to win. The coaches at DLS are amazing and seem to push all of the right buttons but they are just to thin and too young for this match on the oponents pitch. If they win then Bernardi should get POY.
DLS 0 Cal 2
Liv 1 Berk 1 Berk wins in pks
MV 2 NWK 1 Field being the x factor as Mustang trains on turf. That could hurt them.
Rch 1 Clay 0 Rch might be growing up at the right time.
February 18th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Lonewolf (#242),
I agree with you. Starting keeper not seeing a minute of time in the first ncs game? Making a statement? Confidence team would get it done? Whatever it was, it was a risky choice.
February 18th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Boy, that last post almost makes you feel sorry for DLS. A real tear jerker. You wouldn’t know they were the defending champs.
February 18th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Shinguard-
Is there a good reason you have campo losing? I don’t see how they can lose to this team..
February 19th, 2011 at 12:01 am
Yv can be a tough test if they play there best. Can be very explosive. However if they play anything other then there best, It will be a long game for them.
February 19th, 2011 at 12:24 am
No Bambam, just because Bernardi won a game doesn’t win he’s the POY. I seriously think DLS will pull it out tomorrow, they make adjustments, CAL doesn’t.
February 19th, 2011 at 6:56 am
Matt and Others
If any one is coming to Berkeley tonight, the gates on the West side of campus will be locked, have to find parking on East side of the school. Look for the tennis courts, this will be the parking for the game.
February 19th, 2011 at 8:02 am
Bam Bam in #284 has a point about the POY. Although DLS is always sound and well coached this years squad is a somewhat undermanned at this point in the year particularly with the injury to Tobin and the red card.I’m not a huge fan of DLS but I like a scrappy team.If Bernardi can put this team on his back again then he is a very viable candidate for the POY.I know other bloggers love some other players however,simply put, I think DLS and Bernardi are doing more with less.Therefore he is more valuable to his team than say certain Cal players are.
That being said the odds favor Cal tonight because of their overall depth,talent and home field. DLS better bring their A game tonight to have a chance.
February 19th, 2011 at 8:38 am
#291 The truth: Well said
February 19th, 2011 at 8:54 am
YV has some talent that can perform and provide some magic.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:27 am
CAl GK is very good as I have played with him in club. Spartans always seem to have a surprise, some player or players step up and perform.
About YV they will need to play a great game to take Campo. I think they will.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:27 am
The truth,
On the dls POY comments, while I agree that Bernardi is a very good player and had a fabulous 1st round NCS game, he has not put the DLS team on his back, in fact was out for a few games with injuries and his team did just fine.
DLS is well coached and has many good athletes and players, I like Bernardis game but he does not always clearly stand out, like a Foster from Granada.
my 2 cents
February 19th, 2011 at 9:47 am
By the way the winning goal on Wednesdays Granada – De La Salle game was made by Carlo Elkani
February 19th, 2011 at 10:07 am
I Just seen last night a celebration on YouTube by SLZ on their hard fought victory over Piedmont. Hopefully, they put it behind them and come out ready for Dublin. Dublin is no joke and is battle tested. Let’s Go Rebels!
February 19th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Hey Matt Smith ….
Looks like you’ll be at the BOD vs Albany game. Will you be posting updates via your phone?
February 19th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
1-0 Albany, 15th minute goal.
February 19th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
1-0 half
February 19th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Matt
Manual or Gabriel? Who Scored for Albany?
February 19th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
It was Andre Alvarez.
February 19th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
DING DING DING…Waterboy is #300…Matt what does he win???
February 19th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Waterboy wins the rights to supplying a warm drink for me at the Berkeley game.
Still 1-0 Albany with just over 10 to go.
February 19th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Good luck to my HAAL teams tonight!
My thoughts on the Dublin vs SLZ
I believe SLZ will pull away with a win today, I played both teams and they are very very effective up top, but SLZ’s attack is way faster. Dublin will destroy SLZ if they score their set plays. But the thing is with SLZ is that they lack terribly in goal, and if Dublin shoots on target like they did against us, they will make it to the next round. San Lorenzo just has to score all theyre opportunities.
February 19th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Hayward GK will you be making it out to Chabot to see the game?
February 19th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
Yeaah I will, if I rains I’m going to think twice.
February 19th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Haha I think Hayward GK is going to think twice.
But Hayward GK you were brilliant in the game the other day, best high school goalie I’ve seen so far. Keep it up man!
February 19th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Albany wins 1-0.
February 19th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Vela; haha in the game of soccer there is always upsets, it can always go either way haha. Thank you
February 19th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
goodluck to berkeley tonight, were rooting for you
February 19th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Albany girls are scary good…
February 19th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Matt,
Heard BOD tied on set-piece & ref called off-side at 6 min to go and disallowed goal.
February 19th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Yep, it’s true. BOD goal around 74 minute mark got disallowed for offsides.
February 19th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Somebody please tell me that the MV – Newark game will be moved. A friend called and said its just a mush pit.
February 19th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Albany won?? i havent been following their team at all this year but after all the posts I read, it looked like BOD was definetly going to take it. nobody predicted albany to win. why is that? did BOD have an off game?
February 19th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
So any comments on Albay’s / BOD game Matt?
February 19th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
For those that are legal…Irish Coffee anybody.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
I was very impressed by Albany. I may have doubted them a little this year, given my rankings, and they showed me differently. Very fast, athletic team and solid in the back. Borges is going to be the best player on the field on most days.
O’Dowd was what you would expect. Organized, big and strong. Both teams played well, it was pretty even for the most part. Very entertaining game with close misses for both sides.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Hit me up with some, lonewolf.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Matt,
you better get two,
low to mid 30s expected for 7pm game times tonight!!
February 19th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Uggh.. Terrible.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Was planning on Cal DLS game tonight. May take a rain check..old bones are stiff today. Depends if rain stops, cold and damp = ugh. Thought BOD would do it. Heard Albany was staying organized and hung in.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
BOD – Albany game was entertaining. Steady rain but not too bad really. No wind. The field at Albany is pretty nice. Good play by both squads. The Albany goal was nicely played and both teams had good chances. Close call on the offsides goal attempt late in the game. Proud of my son and his Dragon mates on a fine season! Congrats to Albany and good luck the rest of the way!
February 19th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Hayward GK, I meant as in the rain. Not the actual game.
February 19th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Just talked to Rick Villa at Newark and he said the field is good to go as of right now.
February 19th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
#242 and #285 — starting keeper has pneumonia. No statement, just illness.
Thanks for watching!
February 19th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Good Luck tonight.
February 19th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
The best of luck to CAL tonight, hopefully someone can update this blog as I am at the mercy of a Holiday Inn wifi network to see if we can pull it off.
February 19th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Lots of Rain + Grass = Mud. Even Bermuda grass with this much rain would be a little muddy. Get ready for rough footing if you play on Grass tonight. Go SLZ the last of HAAL left!
February 19th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Vela: oh gotcha, well it’s sprinkling so I’ma go
February 19th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Albany literally played toe-to-toe with Bishop O’Dowd today. BOD seemed to have a physical advantage, but Albany did not back down. Two of the Cougars’ defenders routinely cleared crossing balls by out jumping the Dragons and heading the ball out. Would like to see a replay of the waived off BOD goal: it looked like at least 2 Dragons were in off side position and a third player put the ball in the net, but they were all within 3-4 yards of each other and the lead players were active in the play.
In the end, Albany’s touch play and chip passes kept the Dragons off balance, and the officiating was B+.
Still trying to decide what match to see tonight: a game time decision. I dread the tunnel to Berkeley but mud wrestling in Newark sounds interesting.
February 19th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Hey Matt what game are you gonna be at tonight?
February 19th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
I am at Berkeley High tonight.
February 19th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Matt
Does Livermore have all their horses healthy?
February 19th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
thanks, I’ll be checking for updates if your fingers are able.
February 19th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
Since Matt is going to provide updates from Berkeley, I will go to the DLS@Cal match. Will try to post timely updates from the match. Hopefully the wind stays away.
Anyone providing updates from the other matches?
See you at the pitch.
February 19th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
I’m providing the SLZ Dublin game
February 19th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Just talked to both coaches…
Livermore is very healthy and looks loose and ready to go.
Berkeley is pretty healthy, but there are a couple sick kids. They look focused.
This should be a great game.
February 19th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Borges could make a run for POY too. Very talented and skilled player. What do you say Matt?
February 19th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Berkeley is selling the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.
February 19th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Borges is legit and once I get his stats he could be in the POY running.
I’ve loved watching that kid since he was a freshman.
February 19th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Hayward GK just updated me. Dublin up 1-0.
February 19th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Goal dublin
February 19th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Berkeley and Livermore scoreless, 20 mins in.
February 19th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
YV and Campo 0-0 30mins
February 19th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Scoreless at half in Berkeley. Pretty even possession. No real great chances.
Livermore had a couple decent attempts.
February 19th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Any cal dls score ?
February 19th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Where are the updates??
February 19th, 2011 at 7:52 pm
0-00 @Cal half
February 19th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Campo Yv. No score at half. Possession even. Campo had better chances. Most from set pieces
February 19th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Annonced @Cal Newark up 1-0, 0-0 @Berkeley
February 19th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
MV NM update?
February 19th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
C’mon Cal let’s step it up.
Sweeper, has there been any close ones yet?
February 19th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
Campo just scored. Up 1-0 35minn left
February 19th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Still scoreless in Berkeley. About 25 left.
February 19th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Yv just tied it
February 19th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Scoreless at Cal 20 left
February 19th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Dublin up 2-0.
Still scoreless in Berkeley. 10 to go.
February 19th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Livermore is up 1-0. Own goal.
February 19th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Still scoreless at Cal 10 left
February 19th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Dls scores
February 19th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Cal ties it 7 to go
February 19th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Campo 2- Yv 1 final
February 19th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Did newark memorial win?
February 19th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
OT at Cal
February 19th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Berkeley score?
February 19th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Dublin 2 – 0 San Lorenzo
Look back, I told you I knew Dublin.
February 19th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Livermore. 1-0.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
2nd ot at Cal 1-1
February 19th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Any score for Clayton?
February 19th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
PKs at Cal
February 19th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
CV 1 0 Win
February 19th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
Clayton 1-0 versus Richmond – final
February 19th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
Clayton 1 Richmond 0 Final. Ref was interesting making calls all for CV in the first half then all for richmond in the second. Other than that, the game was awesome. SPEED, SPEED and more SPEED was the tactic for both teams. Clayton was able to get a goal in the first half. Richmond continued to attack and so did CV. CV dropped back and played the long ball the second half and richmond spread the field and possessed. With seconds to go, CV commits a questionable foul inches outside of the box. Richmond player sends the shot wide and the whistle blows. Over all it was a great game.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Any update on Richmond game?
February 19th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
So what Happened to all the people who called YV over Campo?Where will that game and the championship be held
February 19th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
DLS in PK’s.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
DLS wins 5-4 on PKs
February 19th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
#1 seed doesn’t mean anything if you dont win the championship….and a loss to DLS.. haha
February 19th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
:’(
February 19th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
Newark over MV, confirmed.
waiting for score…
sad to hear Cal out.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Guesswhatteam09′ will eat his words someday.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Matt,
Can’t wait to hear your predicitions haha
February 19th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
CV beats Richmond 1-0!!
The Ref added 8 minutes to stoppage! with a last minute freekick from Richmond going wide
February 19th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Brotherhood will always overcome
February 19th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
no i wont…i dont mind if they dont win…they justtook out the 1 seed..this is the last time im looking at the forum…keep crying…cuz you’re not going any further this year haha…maybe next year..or the one after that…or after that… haha. peace.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
Wow!!!
Way to step up DLS! I have to say that Cal had a great year winning EBAL in undefeated fashion and only having one loss all year but losing this game must hurt. Could DLS win 3 titles in a row? The next few years they will be even stronger with all of the younger classmen contributing so much this season.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Campo at albany. Can’t wait for this one. Everyone doubted the bsal, albany, and their seeding but look now. Beat odowd and campo next
February 19th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Let me just throw this out there… 3 DFAL teams in the final 4?? Hmm dominance?
February 19th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
How did cal miss their pk? Miss? Save? Who was it?
February 19th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Cris,
Listen man I understand being upset. I’m as competitive as anybody you’ll ever meet, and I hate losing, but you have to express your frustration differently than that. I couldn’t approve those comments man.
Let’s try it again without the F-Bombs, racism and gay bashing.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Thanks Matt for cleaning that up!
February 19th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
No problem. I like this to be a forum for people to express how the feel and even smack talk, but that was too much.
And Tack, you are very funny. Looks like Dublin continues to prove me wrong!
February 19th, 2011 at 10:00 pm
Anyone have the results of NM MV?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
P.S. I didn’t pick Dublin to lose in the first game, they could have won in PK’s!
And, before the bracket even came out, I predicted Dublin in the final four. Yes! Haha.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
Next round predictions?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
YV vs Campo was a very good game. Very fast paced and looked like either side could win it. At the end it was Dublin who put in the winner.
YV did have a player down when the goal was scored in what looked to be a head collision. He was down for a bit and had to be taken out. Dublin continued playing and scored a very nice goal.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Haha true I have to give you that.
And off topic, doesn’t Dublin earn the championship hosting in 3 out of the 4 possible finals?
Campo vs. Dublin – Campo has the #1 seed, but no visitor side bleachers. Dublin hosts.
Albany vs. Dublin – Don’t see NCS hosting their championship at a middle school due to Albany’s light problems. Dublin hosts.
Campo vs. Acalanes – Campo has higher seed, same problem. Won’t go to Acalanes. Dublin hosts.
Albany vs. Acalanes – Only situation I see where Dublin doesn’t get it due to Acalanes having higher seed and capable facilities. Acalanes hosts.
Miss anything?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
I think you meancampo not Dublin soccerfan haha
February 19th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
Newark Memorial 2
Monte Vista 0
February 19th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Campo can’t host the game? Why not?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
i thought all games were at the same location?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Tack
I think since Acalanes is the disignated league champion they would host campo if it turns out that way. Otherwise I think you are correct.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
I think they’ll all be at one site again.
Just got the Newark score. 2-0 over MV.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Matt, who do you think is the team to beat?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
DFAL1 – Campo lacks visitor side bleachers. NCS won’t set opposing fans next to each other because you know how it gets. Also, the capacity of one set of bleachers is just not enough.
Soccerfan – You could be correct. But they were only champions based on a tie breaker for ncs. DFAL considers them Co-Champs. Could factor in? I just don’t see them letting a #2 seed host a #1. Could be wrong. Matt?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
So where is that site? Does anyone know? Cuz I don’t think it matters on seeds or bleacher set ups..
February 19th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
In Division I, it has to be De La Salle. I have talked in great length with a DLS person about this over the last few years. The champion is not officially dead until they are not breathing and have no pulse. DLS finds a way to win in the playoffs.
In Division II, it’s much closer. I was super impressed with Albany’s ability today, Campo is very well rounded and Acalanes just locks people down. Dublin is the defending champ, though, and they are locking people down. Too close to call right now, considering my socks and the seat of my jeans are still wet from a very, very long day.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
As far as banners go, it’s a DFAL co-championship. As far as figuring out who hosts games, etc… Acalanes is the DFAL champ, hence Campo going to Albany on Wednesday.
And my hunch is the site will be Dublin. Great venue, nice field, plenty of seating and about the same distance from everywhere.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Campo has to travel to Albany on Wednesday since Albany is a designated league champ. I would imagine if they make a 1 travel to a 4 they may elect to do the same for the champ.
I think it should be a neutral site for the championship match. Both teams deserve the balance at that point.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Thanks Matt. I was super impressed with Clayton Valley tonight. I have seen some of there games this year and by far tonight was the best they have played. Also was impressed with richmond. Teams will have trouble with the speed. Rematch against NM will be a great game. CV eliminated them in the first round last year. It will be tough. Predictions anyone?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Matt will u be at the lhs dls game on Wednesday and what’s ur predictions for tha game?
February 19th, 2011 at 10:32 pm
I agree on the neutral site. If Dublin beats acalanes and plays campo it should be at acalanes
February 19th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
CAL vs DLS
Great game for the ages, DLS tactics could be observer by all, including gritty play and a very deep sweeper and defensive line to eliminate the breakaway.
First half was pretty even with DLS playing more physical and the referee allowing the gritty play, which gave the edge to DLS. no score however and 0-0 at half time.
2nd half the Ref tried to control the game more than the first half but DLS started to build momentum and hit the post twice, once on a header and once on a shot. Then DLS finally scored on a left footed shot from the outside of the box, after a missed cleared ball from a set piece corner kick. The shot which spun off of a Cal player was touched by the keeper, but is squirted into the corner of the goal.
Less than 2 min later a DLS player pushes Pagliuica down from the back around the 25 and Cal gets a set piece which they convert on and it equalize 1-1.
double overtime no score and they go to PKs,
cal 1st shooter #21- converts
DLS 1st shooter #9- converts
cal 2nd shooter Fagasan- gets blocked
DLS 2nd shooter #7- converts
Cal 3rd shooter #15- converts
DLS 3rd shooter #15 converts
Cal 4th shooter – converts
DLS 4th shooter#10- converts
Cal 5th shooter #10-converts
DLS 5th shooter – converts DLS wins!
CAL the more skilled team, DLS the more physical team
DLS appeared to be hungrier
great game to watch,
Livermore is sitting in the cat bird seat waiting on DLS, licking their chops now that CAL is eliminated.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
DLS at Cal was not a particularly well played or officiated match. Familiarity breeds…boredom, and oh yeah, I hate PKs. The BOD at Albany match was much better played.
But kudos to the Spartans for playing hard and winning many loose balls. From a just missed shots tally, in the 2nd half DLS had one off the crossbar and at least one off an open post, while Cal tended to be off frame or at the keeper.
DLS’ goal with 9:58 to play in regulation was off a throw-in from the right side, headed out by Cal to about 25 yards out, then well-volleyed by DLS center frame and deflected off a Cal defender’s back to the right post as the keeper met the ball at the post but could not hold it out.
Cal evened the score two minutes later on a 3 on 4 up the middle scoring from near the PK spot.
Cal had several opportunities to score in the last 5 minutes of each half and in OT, but could not close the deal.
In PKs, the Cal keeper guessed correctly on the second DLS kick but the ball skidded under his body. On the very next PK, the DLS keeper guessed correctly and smothered the kick. All of the other shots were on frame and not threatened. Did I mention that I hate PKs?
NOTE: EBAL teams are 6-4 in the playoffs, with 3 wins/losses intraleague, so 3-1 against non-EBAL teams. At worst, EBAL will go 7-6, and 3-2 against non-EBAL, and make it 4-1 if Livermore or DLS wins out. Bad seeding is proven out, and oh by the way, I hate PKs.
Back to Livermore we go for more EBAL familiarity.
February 19th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
I was very impressed with Newark tonight. They have talent all over the field and a great coaching staff. their first touch was impressive and really showed on that wet field tonight.
First goal came in the first half by Noe Ruiz. The kid has been excellent scoring in each of the last 8 games (10 total).
Junior Navarro put the game away with a goal late second half. He was great as usual all night.
Hopefully they come out ready for redemption against a Clayton Valey team that knocked them out last year. Should be a good one.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:04 pm
MVAL,
How was the field conditions? Played on it last year and it wasn’t to bad.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
Matt or anyone:
Can we get a summary all of scores, D1 and D2 from tonight. Thanks!
February 19th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
All scores D-I and D-II, boys and girls are posted on the brackets at:
http://www.cifncs.org/sports/soccer/
February 19th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Oh and congrats Matt on over 400 posts (plus 150 from the other entry this week) which makes it over 550 combined for the week. What is the record?
February 19th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
CVHS get some time on grass. MV was off with the slower ball movement. Get Concord HS or park anything to get grass time.
DLS and CAL what a great game. BLS gutsy play.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
D I
CV 1 Rich 0
DLS 1 Cal 1 (PKS DLS 5 Ca 4)
Newark 2 MV 0
Livermore 1 Berkeley 0
DII
Campo 2 Yv 1
Dublin 2 SLZ 0
Acalanes 1 Pinole Valley 0
Albany 1 O’Dowd 0
February 19th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
I think we had close to 600 on a post last year.
The scores, all consolidated, are…
DLS 1, Cal 1 (DLS in PK’s)
Newark 2, Monte Vista 0
Livermore 1, Berkeley 0
Clayton Valley 1, Richmond 0
Campolindo 2, YV 1
Acalanes 1, Pinole 0
Albany 1, BOD 0
Dublin 2, San Lorenzo 0
February 19th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
CV has a big grass field. Im sure they will make use of it this next week.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Just got home from the SLZ-Dublin game and i felt i should comment about it. It was a really exited game! Tough loss for San Lorenzo because in my opinion they dominated the whole game. Both goals came from set plays (free kick & PK) which were caused by lack of concentration from SLZ and Dublin knew how to take advantage of them. I thought SLZ was going to pull a comback but that last PK shut them down. Dublin has a really tough left middle, but SLZ knew how to stop him, except for that last play which i think was to come b/c they started playing with only 3 in the back. SLZ fought until the end but never found a way to put the ball behind the net. I believe that was SLZ’s problem throughout the year, not finishing plays. I just found out that HAYWARD GK was at the game, how did you see it?
February 19th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Predictions matt?
February 19th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
PS* Both Fans made it enjoyable and fun! It felt like a battle ground!
February 19th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
De La Salle = Never fear Underdog is here.
What a game by the Spartans and the Grizz
February 19th, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Predictions will come tomorrow with the updated notebook…
Ahh, the rankings. What to do with Cal?
February 19th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Hey thought I’d join in this and read what’s beengoing on! Great stuff Matt, doing well again I see. Whatever you do with the rankings you need to reward the DFAL league for once aain they have alot of contenders!! Can’t wait for your new notebook tomorrow, when will it be up?
February 19th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
YV – Campo was a great match. both teams posess the ball great. Campo had more dangerous chances on set pieces other then that the game was even and it could have gone either way.
Was not impressed at all by Campo’s goalie. He dropped the ball at least 3 times that could have cost them the game.
Both goals from Campo were really nice. The winning goal came with about 5 minutes left. YV had a player down who got hit with an elbow to the head and ref didn’t call the foul. Campo kept playing on and some of the YV players had stopped.
DFAL1- You need to give credit to YV who is young and played hard. Some people predicted YV over Campo cause they know how tough YV is.
BTW what happen to some of the YV players? Did they have grade problems??? I didn’t see their tall forward and some other players who play defence? They had some new faces who I hadn’t seen before. Game would have changed if the tall forward was there on set pieces for YV they kept playing short and if the tall forward was there im sure they would have been more dangerous in the air.
YV will be a force next year. They lose only 2 starters from this team. Can’t wait to see #7 and #10 for the next 2 years. They are some amazing players.
Campo is a really good team and could win it all. Goodluck to them the rest of the way. Hope to watch them in the final.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Soccerfan,
Unfortunately they still won’t win the DVAL with CV graduating one player (who started about half the games). They both will be very good next year though.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
CVAlum- I wouldn’t say that. I saw both games between YV and CV this season and YV was the better team. They got unlucky both times on referee mistakes. YV could have won DVAL this year.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Soccerfan- how can you not be impressed with campo’s goalie?!? He committed to Berkeley not to long ago and is a very good goalie, probably one of the best in the east bay, if not THE best
February 20th, 2011 at 12:29 am
When is the last time a non ebal team won ncs?
February 20th, 2011 at 12:35 am
That may be true, i’m not sure. i was only able to make one of those games and the ref was bad both ways. YV just got the bad end of it. But YV seems to choke against some of the other teams in the league every year. how did they lose to mount diablo there last game? Thats why they wont be able to get it done.
February 20th, 2011 at 1:13 am
I wasn’t at that game so I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I’m sure the coach sat out starters to rest them for NCS. If I was the coach I wouldn’t want my top players to get hurt on an ugly field like mounts. They did easily beat them at YV. I think it was like 5-0.
February 20th, 2011 at 1:14 am
I also caught the CAL vs DLS game. Very familiar faces, each team knew what they were doing like Bernardi, Rivas, blah everyone knew what was coming. What DLS did was review the tape and make adjustments. Very good games from CAL’s and DLS’s back lines, both played fantastic games.
Unlucky to have it end on PK’s for the grizzlies, what a season they had and their senior class lead by Rivas shouldn’t be ashamed. Unlucky that someone had to miss. THIS WAS MY NCS FINAL, I can’t imagine a better game than this, very up and down the field and someone had said it that this game would be the final.
BTW, was the game played at DLS? They had so many more fans than CAL, they travel well while CAL didn’t have too many supporters.
I think Livermore handles DLS. Can’t count out the Spartans.
Also, I don’t think Bernardi is the POY. Someone else will take home the award.
February 20th, 2011 at 1:53 am
The game tonight was one of the most memorable games ive ever been a part of. This really hurt and as a senior its hard to know that was my last time stepping on the field, but im very proud of what we were able to accomplish this year. Congratulations to De la Salle it was just their day i suppose.
Also thanks so much to all of you guys for the support and criticism throughout the season. We all really appreciate your input and appreciation for the game. Please continiue this awesome support throughout the years to come and hopefully soccer will begin to get more recognition around here as a result. Thanks again!
February 20th, 2011 at 6:51 am
I will be rooting for Livermore Wednesday. They have very talented players and deserve it more than dls. Home field advantage as well. Go cowboys!!!
February 20th, 2011 at 8:19 am
#430 DLS deserves it as much as any other team. Yes, Livermore may have more talent, but so did Cal. I’m sure you will more from DLS fans.
By the way, congrates to DLS for a much deserved win. Playing thin on the road, with their pack of fans heckeling the keeper the whole game. Too bad more teams don’t get that kind of support. DLS played with alot of heart and gave CAL all they could handle all 3 games this year. Good luck against Livermore. Bring your posse it will be a real international atmosphere, for the LIvermore fans are also very supportive.Should be a great game to witness.
February 20th, 2011 at 8:33 am
#410 and #411 pretty much nailed the DLS-Cal game description.It was a very entertaining game with some stellar play and a lot of heart and hustle by both sides.The difference in my opinion was the tactical play of DLs and the coaching.Packing it in, playing the counter and moving his players around to offset and neutralize the Cal advantages got them to where they needed to be – a tie in regulation and then pk’s against a freshman keeper( a very good keeper by the way).
A final comment on the Bernardi vs Cal #10 match up and then I’m done: Bernardi was moved all over the field by the DLS staff.He started at left outside mid,moved to center mid for the next 1/3 of the game, dropped to holding mid towards the end and played up top as DLS tried to score in the final minutes of regulation.Cal #10 mostly an attacking mid with limited defensive responsibilities because of the play of the holding mid (Driggs) playing directly behind him. Both deserve their status as captains.
February 20th, 2011 at 9:05 am
OK. I Went to the Cal DLS match, so here’s my 2 cents worth. Neither team played particularly well in the 1′st half. They were choppy, and the level of physicality far exceeded skill. The referee was,in a word, AWFUL. He was inconsistent, allowing holding, (no.4 Cal) and a lot of over the top ariel challenges from behind (DLS). No fouls were called at all for 20 or so minutes, then he proceeded to call several ticky-tack things mostly to let folks know he was there.
The DLS fans were their usual selves (need I say more?)
moving from one side of the field to the other, so as to better heckle the keeper,(what GREAT sportsmanship) and for SOME reason, the ref was allowing a DLS person to dry off the ball before every (DLS only) throw in (???).
The second half was much more entertaining , with each team doing their level best to knock the bejesus out of each other in the midfield. Their was a lot of diving and simulating by DLS. Time wasting too! But for the most part , the referee was not fooled (or else he didn’t SEE the players on the ground,writhing). DLS’s goal was one of those cruel things that builds character in goalkeepers,and Cal, finally figured out that they could attack down the left side instead of going down the well guarded middle. THAT made for much better play on their part and MUCH better chances, as they started to swing in from the wings at speed.
But it was for naught, as the time wasting of DLS worked and time ran out. OH YEAH,did anybody notice that the referee added NO extra time, despite injuries, etc.? AT ALL. not even during extra time either. Hmmmmm….?
In the end DLS won, but match for the ages? ehhh…the second Campo,Acalanes game was much better soccer.
February 20th, 2011 at 9:07 am
#410
Love the game
correction on your pk players
#11 for Cal went first
#21 is Fagenson
be more careful about posting false facts. none is better than wrong
Cal vs. DLS
This was a game for the ages. Intensity all over the place. There were no lulls in this game! Coaches for DLS did make several adjustments that kept Cal in check. Loved the way Cal answered DLS deflection goal immediately. Makes for great film. Cal kept up the pressure after that goal but could not finish.
Sweeper, I hate pks also. It is a great inexpensive way to win, but an awful way to lose. But alas, someone must go home.
The Cal fans can remember and look back on the season with great astonishment! It was a season to be proud of for the players! One last note, Cal still did not lose any games in regulation play!! Pretty incredible.
Congrats to DLS. They are on a roll and have a coaching staff that gets the most out of their players when needed. It is going to take some hard work and maybe some luck to beat them.
February 20th, 2011 at 9:19 am
To All
Decided to see NM Vs MV game watching NM for the first time and MV for the 4th. NM is for real they have tremendous speed in the front but I thought they were hampered by wet grass. The MV defense led by some one not noticed previously #15 continued to negate Ruiz and Navarro. The MV fans are some thing else as they continued to question the refs and their own players. The war between both # 2′s was something else as they battled each other one on one. The MV fans were upset when the coach brought in other players and continued to complain after NM scored against the new players. I thought NM was the better team and must mention #5 for MV as he played very well but the bottom line NM was able to with stand a furious assault in he last 5 minuets with poise and talent. A blind squirrel finds a acorn sometime and in previous blogs I predicted Livermore to win it all and the fact that Cal does not have the tremendous speed up front like Granada, Livermore, MV, and now NM I felt PK’s would ruin a great season in the NCS play offs.
February 20th, 2011 at 9:38 am
Hey Peterbilt,
Not sure where I am going yet, but I’m about to make predictions today.
February 20th, 2011 at 10:05 am
Benchwarmer
sorry about the miss post, on #11 vs #21
All players made their PKs except Fagenson and I go that right
February 20th, 2011 at 10:11 am
Loveforthegame- Campo’s goalie is probably a great goalie. I wasn’t impressed by the way he played last night. He couldn’t hold on to the ball. He might have been nervous.
February 20th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Just to chime in on Mangels (the Campo goalie) he’s one of the best I’ve seen in the area in my years of covering soccer.
Didn’t see the YV game, so I don’t know what went down, but he’s normally poised and is hard to get anything across on.
And he did just commit to Cal, and I plan on posting something on that soon.
February 20th, 2011 at 10:24 am
Dear Longtime: Nobody deserves….they need to earn it.
DLS – Livermore game should be entertaining and challenging….and the winner will have earned it’s spot to advance.
February 20th, 2011 at 10:55 am
NM-MV game: Slipping and sliding for the first 10 minutes for both teams. NM looked more relaxed on the grass and the conditions. Navarro put a lot of pressure on MV’s #19 all night leading to opportunities. The goal came off a shot by Navarro that hit the post that went to NM player after being push out by an MV player. Not an assist like the papers have it. Mv had 2 open net opportunites in the 1st half that could have equalized the score. MV continued to play through and finally started to connect in the 2nd half. Better second half for MV not NM. NM had a few 2nd half chances but the MV goalie did not touch the ball much on frame. He did have one great save. MV could have tied with 3 minutes left. MV #2 missed a wide open shot when the goalie was out of position and kicked the ball right to him.
Second NM goal came in the final 45 seconds when MV pushed everyone up. Agree with Storm about players of note MV: #5, 3 and 15. NM: #22, 10, 7
February 20th, 2011 at 11:00 am
To #440: I did notice that the referee didn’t add any extra time (he should have) because every time he called it early…DLS was on the attack or had a set piece. So much for DLS “wasting time.” It happens in every game, no matter who is winning or losing. The refs are never going to be perfect. That’s the beauty of the game. Anything can happen.
February 20th, 2011 at 11:10 am
Matt,
by the way I was lucky and hit 3 out of 4 qtr final predictions and nailed the DLS vs CAL score and outcome.
I will give my predictions on the semis after you post your note today
February 20th, 2011 at 11:24 am
Sticking to what I have said since 2010. NM and Livermore would be the best. NM vs Livermore in the D1 finals
February 20th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Matt I feel that how the brackets were set up that the livermore de la salle game is going to be and should have been the finals game, and the winner of this semi will be the one to win it all
February 20th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Sorry #440…I mean to post it re: #445.
February 20th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Guess,while yes, the imperfections of the ref do add to the “color” of a match, that is no excuse for sloppy time-keeping. No doubt the ref will say he stopped his watch for injuries etc.,but the lack of allowing for a full 80 minutes of play, as well as in the extra time periods cheats the players of opportunities and the spectators of their money.
February 20th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
I don’t get what the fans have to do with it? It seems that almost every post related to a DLS soccer game spends some time talking about how nasty their supporters are, and I know from personal experience how bad supporters of other schools can get. Unless a fan somehow impacts the game with an action such as causing a stoppage in play, I say focus on what the players did. That’s what matters in the end. There have been two separate posts by Cal Hi soccer players and both demonstrated great class and are great representatives for their program.
February 20th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
I guess it may be that the refs were unfair. I don’t tend to talk bad about the refs or put blame on anyone else, BUT SLZ dominated the game. The entire game. Some of the forwards were not the best they could have been, but Dublin did have a tough defense. Dublin’s forwards were horrible as well, they only scored b.c of the PK and FK they got…which is where the racial injustice came in according to most of the slz fans.
And just to point it out…I was standing right in front when I saw number 13 push one of the slz players with both hands right in front of the ref! and the ref did absolutely nothing!! that I can swear I saw and it was not right!
February 20th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
I would really liked to have seen the MV v NM game played on turf. I think there would have been a different result.
February 20th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Regarding the SLZ v. Dublin:
The game was a very emotional battle between the two teams.
Dublin scored on two dead balls, one for the goalie stepping out of the box and grabbing the ball and the second for a slide tackle in the box where the player just missed the ball, and unfortunately clipped the player.
SLZ did dominate possession of the game, but Dublin finished their opportunities.
Both sides did have Latino fans who were amongst the emotions, both saying comments that could have been held back but it was not a racial attack on either of the teams as both had Latino players and fans. Luckily, no one was hurt in the middle of these emotions, on and off the field, and both teams can now go their separate ways until next year.
February 20th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Jessica: first off how are you about to say that slz deserved to win? If you don’t finish you can’t finish. Fact of the matter is that Dublin finished thechances they had and slz didn’t.
Second, I’m pretty sure the first goal for Dublin was scored by a Mexican, Castillo. Dublin has 5 Latinos on the team so you can assume that the parents of these players would sing in Spanish when joyful.
It was the SLZ fans who yelled “faggot” in Spanish on every Dublin dead ball, along with other derogatory terms directed at Dublin players.
After the game while the teams were shaking hands, an slz player shoved on of the Dublin players. You think it couldn’t get any worse but it actually did. None of the slz players shook the Dublin coaches hand. The slz coach didn’t even shake the Dublin coaches hand. I mean come on that is straight up disrespectful, and add slz fans spitting on Dublin vans. Really?
February 20th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Hey Jessica,
I’ll remove that post for you. I understand being upset.
I appreciate you reading and chiming in.
February 21st, 2011 at 12:30 am
Greenbay-
I believe that when the fans yell out “Puto” after a goal kick, it is just a habit and something that is commonly said in the Mexican National Team. And Dublin fans too were saying it and were also yelling at the players from their side. I was standing on Dublins side, and i heard them pretty good. Dublins fans acted the same way only that slz’s fans were more noticable because they were louder. And yes, i did see a player from SLZ push one of dublins player while shaking hands, and that was not a good thing, but there was so much heat in this game, especially after the PK when the Dublin player taunted SLZ’s fans by celebrating on their side. And i strongly disagree with you about the players not shaking the other coaches hands because i stood around after the game and saw EVERYTHING and i saw many players shake the coaches hands including the SLZ’s coach. I just think this whole racial thing was caused by that article which to me target Latinos. I am not one myself, but i think i would have been pissed as well.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:31 am
DLS over Livermore: CVHS over Newark..CV will overcome the home field advantage of Newark as many of CV players are grass club players. DLS never fear underdog is here, rabbit out of hat, miracle on 34th st, shear determination for 80 min …what best describes the post season for the Spartans. DLS will be in the Final with CVHS. DIv 2: Campo & Dub in final.
February 21st, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Hi, does anyone know who won the MVP of this season for boy soccer division 2. If anyone know can plaese give me the site and info about it. Thanks.