The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Homestead water polo teams start strong

By Mike Barnhart

After earning a hard-fought, semi-final victory at last Saturday's Wilcox Tournament, the Homestead girls water polo team struggled in the championship game against Saratoga.

The effort and energy expended during the 7-3 triumph over Notre Dame of Belmont seemed to take a toll on the Mustangs, especially in the first half of the title game against the Falcons.

"They scored first and we had to struggle our way," Homestead coach Larry Coryell said after the Mustangs' 7-5 loss in the tourney finale. "The Belmont game took a lot out of us."

Saratoga jumped out to a 4-1 halftime lead, but sophomore Jesse Bergman--one of the fastest swimmers around--scored for the Mustangs nine seconds into the third quarter. However, Homestead did not score again in the period and trailed 5-2 heading into the fourth.

Homestead outscored Saratoga 3-2 in the final six minutes, but ran out of time.

"Seemed we needed one more quarter," noted Coryell, whose team won three games at Wilcox and improved its record to 9-3. "We had some good chances to score, but it wasn't to be."

Homestead reached the finals because of tremendous defensive efforts by senior Justine Darmanian and junior Melissa Sullivan and perimeter scoring by senior Jenny Coryell. Darmanian and Sullivan were able to shut down the inside attack of the big, strong Tigers, while Coryell was able to pop in a team high four goals from the outside. Sullivan scored two and Lisa Yao one.

Homestead reached the semi-final round with a pair of wins on Friday, 10-6 over Pioneer and 14-4 over Robert L. Stevenson of Pebble Beach.

Darmanian's three goals paced the scoring against Pioneer. Sullivan and Yao tallied two, and Audrey Chu, Bergman and Coryell added one each.

Against Stevenson, the Mustangs jumped out in front 5-1 in the first quarter and never looked back. Homestead's defense sparkled as Kendall Buhk, Taryn Mitchell, Chu, Yao, Veronica Bucher, Sarah Hoffman, Anesa Tokomo, Bergman, Coral Best, Christine Orlowski and Danielle Quist all contributed in the field.

It was a busy week for the Mustangs, who split a pair of games in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, including a 12-3 victory over Harker last Thursday.

Bergman's four goals and Sullivan's three provided more than enough offense for the Mustangs, who bounced back nicely from a 6-2 loss at Lynbrook and improved to 3-1 in division play.

Boys water polo

With a little luck, Fremont could be unbeaten in El Camino Division play. Instead, though, the Firebirds are 1-2, and they just barely got by visiting Wilcox 7-6 on Sept. 18.

After losing close games to Lynbrook and Homestead, contests that could have gone either way, Fremont finally broke into the division win column against the Chargers.

The previous week Fremont held slim leads against both Lynbrook and Homestead before losing. In the opener at Lynbrook, the Firebirds led 7-6 at halftime, but the Vikings won 12-11 in three overtimes. Two days later, Fremont led 2-1 after the first quarter and was tied at halftime, but lost 8-6.

Danny Moctezuma and senior Tony Rhodes pumped in four goals apiece at Lynbrook, while sophomore Matthew Amm added two and Andrew Amm one.

Against Homestead's stingy defense, Moctezuma's two goals led Fremont.

Four seniors, led by Geovid Kali (three goals), accounted for all of Homestead's scoring. Justin Aflatooni and Collin Russum fired in two goals apiece and Jeff Meadows pumped in one.

The Mustangs, who opened the season 4-0 in El Camino play, improved to 9-2 overall by winning three of four games last weekend at the Sixer Invitational at Independence.

After losing 9-8 to Carmel in their first game on Friday, the Mustangs regrouped to beat Palma of Salinas, then returned Saturday to score victories over Stevenson and San Lorenzo.

Field hockey

Fueled by senior Meghan Shimojima's offensive play, Lynbrook captured its first two Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division games last week. The Vikings, 5-1 overall, beat Cupertino 2-0 and Presentation 2-1 on their home field.

Shimojima's successful penalty stroke staked the Vikes to a 1-0 lead against the Pioneers on Sept. 19. Emily Masad scored the other goal, with an assist from Susie DiMaggio.

Two days later, Shimojima scored two goals in the first half against Presentation, and the Vikings held on. Senior Kyla Hunts, a nifty stick-handler, assisted on the first goal, while the second was unassisted. Powerful Lara Verwer controlled the midfield, sparking the defense in front of junior goalie Katie Thurman.

Lynbrook finished the first week of play in first place, tied with Westmont at 2-0. Monta Vista and three others split their first two games in the Blossom Valley Athletic League's middle division. Cupertino and Prospect both went 0-2.

The Matadors won their division opener against visiting Live Oak 2-0, but lost at Willow Glen 3-2. Kasha Sang scored assists on goals by fellow seniors Richa Gupta and Sarah Hassman in the shutout of the Acorns.

Cupertino was involved in a trio of shutouts during a busy week. The Pioneers took care of non-league visitor Marin Catholic 2-0, but bowed to Lynbrook and Westmont.

Junior Christine Adame and sophomore Katie Boyle scored in the Pioneers' win. Junior Aubrey Dolera and senior Amanda Schablaske had assists.

Junior Peri Smith scored one goal and assisted on another, helping Homestead get off to a good start in the West Valley Division.

Smith's pass set up senior Nicole Cefalu for the first of two first-half goals in a 3-0 win at Branham. Later in the period, senior Alyssa Singh banged in a shot after taking a pass from senior Katelyn Dedrick. Smith tallied her goal after the intermission, as Dedrick notched her second assist of the game.

Leigh spoiled Homestead's first home match 1-0 last Thursday and dropped the Mustangs to 1-1 in division play.

Volleyball

Three nights after beating the defending Central Coast Section Division I champion in the finals of the Westmont Tournament, Homestead took care of business in its De Anza Division opener.

Led by junior outside Katherine Fischer's 11 kills, the Mustangs took care of visiting Mountain View 25-21, 25-19, 25-17 on Sept. 18.