Branham wins CCS title
Bruins defeat Mt. Pleasant 6-5 in penalty kicks after scoreless match in regulation.
Branham High School boys soccer coach Danny Kadah compared Saturday’s CIF Central Coast Section Division II championship game to a 12-round fight.
“And we were getting beat up in the early rounds,” he said.
But Branham came through with a knockout in the final round, as keeper Chris Sagahon stopped a Mt. Pleasant penalty kick after overtime to clinch Branham’s first CIF-CCS boys soccer title in a 0-0 (6-5) victory at Del Mar.
“When he made that save, I thought about all the guys that have been in this program,” said Kadah, who has coached the Bruins for 11 years. “There was a lot of emotion.”
Zac Tzou and Carter Thompson converted the first two penalty shots for Branham, but both Branham and Mt. Pleasant missed their third attempts, keeping the score tied at 2. Then the Bruins’ Nate Coy, who told one of the Branham coaches that earlier in the day he was practicing penalty kicks, buried a shot.
Teammate Jaeson Gonzalez made Branham’s fifth attempt, then left-footed Kobe Okasako hammered a shot into the right corner of the net for the Bruins’ fifth goal.
Mt. Pleasant tied the score, but then Branham, which was shooting first, scored its sixth goal, made by Jin Lee. This set up Sagahon’s heroics as he saved the next Mt. Pleasant shot for the victory.
Four of the six Branham shooters were defenders.
The Bruins defense also did a fine job stopping Mt. Pleasant in the game, as Tzou shadowed Cardinals striker Ricardo Tovar Herrera and Sagahon made six saves.
Branham’s defense has been top-notch in its six-game winning streak heading into this week’s CIF NorCal Division III regional playoffs. It includes three shutouts, including all three games in the CIF-CCS playoffs.
“Last year, our whole backline was all-league. This year, it is more of a team mentality,” said Kadah about his team’s defense. “Battling for the ball has been our mentality.”
Branham, the No. 1 seed in the CIF-CCS Division II playoffs, opened with a 3-0 shutout of No 8 Los Gatos on Feb. 22. Gonzalez, Thompson and Kenneth Esquivias scored for the Bruins.
Then the Bruins edged No. 5 Wilcox 1-0 in overtime in a semifinal on Feb. 26 before the PK victory over No. 6 Mt. Pleasant in the final. Thompson, one of three returning starters for the Bruins from last season, took a perfectly-placed free kick from Lee and headed it into the net with approximately 2 minutes left in the second overtime against Wilcox.
The Bruins opened NorCal play at home on Tuesday against No. 6 Albany. The Division III semifinals were on Thursday and the final is on Saturday.
It was a far cry from the way the season started for Branham.
The Bruins began by losing three of their first four games and trailed Cabrillo of Lompoc 2-0 in the first half of the next game. But Branham scored three goals to take a one-goal lead at halftime and won 6-4, as Thompson produced a hat trick. Entering this week’s action, Branham was 14-3-2.
Bellarmine only gave up one goal in its three CIF-CCS Open Division games as it won the championship match 1-0 with a firsthalf goal over Sacred Heart Prep Feb. 28. Bellarmine was the No. 3 seed, Sacred Heart Prep was the No. 4 seed.
The Bells defeated No. 2 Watsonville 2-1 in the semifinals on Feb. 25. In a first-round game on Feb. 22, Bellarmine shut out No. 6 Leland 3-0.
Bellarmine is the No. 3 seed in the CIF NorCal Division I regional playoffs. It hosted No. 6 Berkeley on Tuesday. The semifinals were Thursday and the final is Saturday.
Del Mar (18-4-1) reached the Division IV championship game on Saturday before falling 2-0 to No. 1 seed Summit Prep (19-0). Del Mar, the No. 2 seed, beat No. 3 North Salinas 3-1 in a semifinal on Feb. 26.
Leigh (10-7-3), the No. 2 seed in Division II, fell to Mt. Pleasant 3-1 in the semifinals on Feb. 26. The match was tied at 1-1 at halftime.
Girls soccer
Leigh, the No. 4 seed in the CIFCCS Open Division, was edged by No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 2-1 in a semifinal matchup on Feb. 25. Leigh is the No. 8 seed in the CIF NorCal Division II regionals and traveled to face No. 1 Tamalpais in a first-round match on Tuesday. The semifinals were Thursday and the final is Saturday.