Gatos girls to host hockey semifinals
By Dick Sparrer
Los Gatos will advance to the semifinals of the Central Coast Section field hockey championships ... Willow Glen won't.
And it all came down to penalty strokes.
Nikki Anderson knocked one in for Los Gatos, but Stacey Santomauro matched it for the Rams. Heather Kottmeier broke the tie for good, though, when she knocked in her penalty shot to give the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage and the victory.
Gatos will now advance to the CCS semi's on Nov. 16, 1 p.m., against Mitty, with Prospect, a 3-0 winner over Monta Vista last weekend, meeting St. Francis at 2:45 p.m. the same day at Los Gatos. The two winners return to LG on Nov. 20, 11 a.m., to play for the CCS championship.
The Wildcats and Rams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half last Saturday, then matched goals in the second half.
Rachel Lichte and Courtney Christiansen each scored off assists from Cortney Kelly to account for the two Los Gatos goals.
Colleen Wozny, a top scorer for the Willow Glen girls soccer team over the past two years, knocked in both goals for the Rams off assists from Ali Lake and Kellie Arnone.
The deadlock set the stage for the penalty stroke tiebreaker.
The Cats are 10-1-2 for the year heading into the semifinals.
Cats win two
The Los Gatos girls volleyball team opened the CCS Division III playoffs with back-to-back wins last week, beating Burlingame 15-3, 15-1, 15-5 and Sacred Heart Cathedral 15-7, 15-1, 15-12.
Jennifer Lewis pounded home seven kills to lead the Wildcats past Burlingame in the CCS opener, and Alyson Coler slammed down an impressive 17 kills in the win over Sacred Heart.
The Cats, now 25-8 for the year, advance to the CCS semifinals Nov. 18, 8 p.m., against Palo Alto at Leland. The winner will square off with the Harbor-Los Altos winner for the CCS championship on Saturday, 4:30 p.m., at West Valley Community College.
Polo team second
The Los Gatos boys water polo team made it to the semifinals of the De Anza Division tournament, but lost a 9-8 heartbreaker to Palo Alto.
The Wildcats opened the tourney with a 13-10 win over Mountain View, thanks to six goals by Michael Walleen, but they lost 9-8 in overtime to Paly in the semi's.
Walleen pitched in four goals as the Wildcats fought the Vikings to a 6-6 tie through regulation and an 8-8 draw through two overtimes. But Paly Alto scored in the third overtime to pull out the win and the berth in the title game.
Gatos went on to play Gunn for third place, but lost an 8-5 decision to the Titans despite three goals by Walleen.
The Gatos girls, meanwhile, lost two straight in the league tournament. The Cats lost 6-5 in overtime to Lynbrook after falling 3-1 to Gunn.
Alix Eastman scored three goals, and Emily Jeffers added two, but the Cats lost to the Vikings. The clubs were tied 4-4 at the end of regulation, but Lynbrook topped the Cats 2-1 in the first overtime. After a scoreless second overtime period, Lynbrook clinched a 6-5 win.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
