Santa Clara’s Morris leads team to tie against De Anza
Homestead shuts out Saratoga
In the sentiment of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, desperate times call for desperate measures.
So it was Feb. 14 for Santa Clara High School girls soccer coach Brad Comstock. With his team trailing De Anza Division champion Los Gatos 2-0 early in the second half and chances for a postseason at-large bid fading, Comstock moved his best defensive player, Logan Morris, up to the forward line.
The results, to say the least, were sensational.
In fairly short order, Morris scored two goals— her first two of the season— to lift the Bruins to a 2-2 tie that possibly saved their season.
The tie improved Santa Clara’s record to 3-3-5 in the always tough De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. It kept their hopes alive for an at-large bid to the Central Coast Section playoffs heading into their final match of the regular season, which was played earlier this week against Palo Alto after this publication went to press.
The Bruins, who entered this week with an overall record of 4-6-8, have made the post-season in six of the last seven years. They shared the CCS Division I championship with Woodside in 2017 and finished as the runner-up in 2014.
“I thought we played really well,” said Comstock, following his team’s second tie of the season with Los Gatos. “They are a really good team, and we gave them everything they could handle.”
After falling behind 2-0 early in the second half, Comstock decided to move Morris from defense to striker. The talented sophomore responded by getting off five shots on goal — two that found the mark, two that hit the crossbar and one that just went wide.
“She was on fire,” Comstock said.
With Morris asserting herself on offense, the Bruins defense rallied around sophomore Jamie Nunez and goalie Lindsey Crocker, who was the lone senior in a Bruin lineup that featured eight sophomores.
Elsewhere in De Anza action, the CCS playoffbound Homestead Mustangs maintained their grip on second place with a 6-0 triumph over Saratoga.
The win lifted the Mustangs’ league record to 7-2-2 and their overall mark to 114-4.
“The girls played beautifully inspired, powerful, imaginative soccer,” Homestead coach John Luotto said.
Elizabeth Hwang led the Mustangs attack with three goals and a pair of assists, while Alexa Maletis, Ella Goodwin and Shreya Ganti each chipped in with solo scores.
In the El Camino Division,
Fremont surged into second place behind unbeaten Gunn by defeating Lynbrook 3-0 and Monta Vista 2-1 last week.
Emma Noe, Kaya Mitchem and Misaki Kaneko each scored to power the Firebirds past the Vikings.
“It was Senior Night, so we started all 10 of our seniors,” Fremont coach Payam Hajjarian said. “The team came out with a lot of emotion, but they found a way to channel those emotions into a positive showing by controlling the flow of the game. Our defense played terrific, and the offense really took it to Lynbrook.”
Fremont trailed Monta Vista 1-0 at the half, but rallied to pull out the win on unassisted goals by Mitchem and Olivia Ireland.
The victory avenged an earlier 2-0 loss to the Matadors. The Mats were coming off of a 1-0 win over Milpitas on Lauren Ruckstuhl’s second-half goal off of a Sydney Chan corner kick.
Goals by seniors Zaida Chavez and Megan House carried the Cupertino Pioneers to a 2-0 win over Wilcox.
“Once we got the first goal (on a penalty kick by Chavez), we started to take control of the game,” Cupertino coach Sean Coleman said. “We played a strong game defensively. They have some dangerous attackers, but we worked exceptionally hard to cut off the passes they wanted to make.”
Lena Williams, who only recently returned to the Cupertino line-up following a knee injury, led the strong Pioneer defensive effort from her center back position.
Cupertino followed up the win over Wilcox by battling Milpitas to a 1-1 tie.
“I think we did create enough chances to win, but we lacked the hunger that Milpitas showed throughout,” Coleman said.
Sophomore Anika Tiku accounted for Cupertino’s lone score on a free kick.
Joan Thyagarajan, another sophomore, came off the bench to spark the Pioneer defense.
“Her solid play really stabilized our defense,” Coleman said.
The Pioneers entered this week with a 2-7-3 league ledger and a 6-10-4 overall mark.