Photograph by George Sakkestad
Freshman Stephanie Pearson controls the soccer ball in the CCS title game, and the Los Gatos girls'
soccer team controlled the CCS playoffs. The Cats outscored four opponents 20-0 to claim the Central
Coast Section championship.
By Dick Sparrer
Seniors Amy White and Stacey Mallison had no intention of finishing their high school soccer careers with anything less than a Central Coast Section championship.
Neither does Anne Zuparko...
Neither does Melissa Schmidt...
And neither does Amie Salfen.
And so goes the tradition of Los Gatos girls' soccer. One class hands the banner to the next, and the Wildcats continue to dominate the Central Coast Section.
They did again this year, posting a 24-0-1 record that included four wins in the CCS Division I playoffs.
And with only two seniors on the talented Los Gatos squad, the tradition promises to continue.
But those were two mighty talented seniors.
Mallison and White starred at opposite ends of the field for the Wildcats this winter. The senior co-captains dominated play this year, White leading the defense as the Gatos sweeper and Mallison heading up the offense as a midfielder.
The two will be together again next season at UC-Berkeley, and they'll be leaving Los Gatos in the capable hands of Salfen, Zuparko and the rest.
But they're not gone yet, even though the soccer season has ended. All that's left for 1995-96, though, is the celebration of another championship year.
It started early in the year when the Wildcats roared through to San Marcos Invitational to a tournament championship. The Cats won a pair of thrillers on penalty kick shootouts to clinch the tourney title.
Los Gatos was able to spring from the momentum of that tourney championship to 13 wins in 14 games in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The only mar on the otherwise perfect Gatos record was a 1-1 tie with Los Altos. The Wildcats finished up 13-0-1 and were headed to CCS as the De Anza Division champions.
Still, despite a 20-0-1 record, Los Gatos was seeded second to Leigh in the CCS Division I tourney.
The Wildcats crushed Woodside 7-0 to open the tournament, then blanked Monta Vista 5-0 a game later. A 4-0 win over Leland sent Los Gatos into the finals against No. 1-seeded Leigh.
It marked the third straight year that Los Gatos and Leigh played for a CCS title. And a 4-0 victory gave Gatos a third straight victory over the Longhorns in the section finals.
Mallison finished a brilliant senior season with two goals in the title game. Mallison ended the year with 24 goals and seven assists to lead the Los Gatos offensive assault.
The four shutouts in the tournament upped the season total to 18 for the Wildcats and their junior goalkeeper, Carrie Walsh. Eighteen shutouts in 25 games--not bad by any standards.
Junior Natalie Stuhlmueller and Salfen were next in line on the scoring ladder for the Cats. Stuhlmueller matched her 11 goals with 11 assists, and Salfen, just a freshman, had 11 goals and eight assists.
Stacey Caro, another talented Gatos freshman, ended the year with nine goals and seven assists, and Zuparko had six goals and nine assists, including three assists in the CCS title game against Leigh.
Junior Stephanie Lappen finished the year with seven goals and two assists.
White and Schmidt chipped in with four goals apiece for the Wildcats. White added five assists and Schmidt had three.
Juniors Adrianne Busi, Tessa Donnelly and Kim Fredkin drilled two goals each for the Cats, with Busi giving out five assists, Donnelley four and Fredkin one.
Junior Kelly Lumby had a goal and an assist, and junior Tyler Holcomb knocked in a goal. Freshman Giselle Sylvester and sophomore Lauren Proctor added two assists apiece, and junior Christy Filice had one.
That's 84 goals scored off of 68 assists in 25 games for the Wildcats, while they allowed only eight goals.
It looks like a tough act to follow for Los Gatos teams of the future. But there's certainly something to be said for tradition.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, March 13, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved