Rose Garden Resident
Sports
Lions face Cards in football season opener
By Dick Sparrer
Each year, the Lincoln Lions finish the high school regular season a little later than most teams because of a traditional Thanksgiving Day date with rival San Jose Academy.
But this season the Lions will not only finish late, they'll start a little late, too.
Just about every other team in the area, with the exception of the Bulldogs, opened the 2006 campaign last weekend--some of them even played the weekend before. But because of their late finish, the Lions and 'Dogs will be getting off to late starts.
The Lions will open their '06 season this Friday when they hit the road to visit Mt. Pleasant on Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m. The Cardinals opened the year last week with a lopsided 21-0 non-league victory over James Lick.
San Jose, meanwhile, will get the season under way at the same time. The Bulldogs visit Westmont on Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m. The Warriors are 0-1 after opening the year with a 39-23 loss to Capuchino.
Lincoln head coach Kevin Collins will be very interested in the outcome of the San Jose-Westmont game since his club will face those Warriors in a non-league game next week. The Lions will play their home opener against Westmont on Sept. 23, 1:30 p.m., before opening their first season in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League on Sept. 30, 1:30 p.m., at home against Independence.
Lincoln earned the trip to the Mt. Hamilton circuit after winning a championship in the Santa Teresa Division last year.
Scoffone a killer
The Lincoln girls volleyball team is looking ahead to league play after winning one of three matches thus far in the 2006 season.
The Lions opened the season with a 25-19, 25-17, 21-25, 25-21 win over The King's Academy. Alex Scoffone hammered 14 kills to lead the Lions to the four-game win over the Knights.
Scoffone came back with 12 kills, but it wasn't enough to help the Lions get past Saratoga a match later. Lincoln lost to the Falcons in three straight, 25-18, 25-20, 25-11.
Lincoln lost a heartbreaker in five to Wilcox, falling 26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 17-25, 15-8, to slip to 1-2 in the young season. Scoffone had a big night with 20 kills.
The Lions, who were to host Santa Clara on Tuesday, will take part in the Westmont-Saratoga Tournament on Sept. 16 before opening Santa Teresa Division play on Sept. 19, 5 p.m., at Silver Creek.
Camberos wins two
The girls tennis team opened the West Valley Division season with a split, dropping a 4-3 heartbreaker to Branham before whipping Del Mar 6-1.
Sarai Camberos nailed a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles to start the Lions on the road to the easy win over the Dons. Camberos also won 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 1 spot against the Bruins, but Lincoln lost the tough league decision.
The Lions, who were to host rival San Jose on Tuesday, will host Sobrato on Sept. 14 before visiting Gunderson on Sept. 19. Matches begin at 3:30 p.m.
Water polo split
Goals by Katie Silva and Laina Reginelle weren't enough to spark the Lincoln girls water polo to a win over Presentation in the Los Altos Invitational tournament. Silva and Reginelle accounted for the only Lincoln goals in a 12-2 loss to the Panthers.
The Lions trailed 4-0 after a period, but matched goals with Presentation in the third to go in at intermission down just 5-1. Lincoln scored again in the third quarter, but the Panthers unloaded for three goals in the period and added two more in the fourth to post the easy win.
Lincoln had opened the tournament with an 11-8 win over San Mateo in pool play. Kelly Hendrickson pitched in four goals to lead the offensive assault for the Lions and Silva and Stacey Thomas added two goals apiece. Andrea Snell, Amy Warburton and Karen Williams also scored in the win.
The Lions actually trailed 3-1 after a period and 5-4 at the half, but outscored San Mateo 4-2 in the third to take an 8-7 lead, then 3-1 in the fourth to win it 11-8.
Reginelle and Hendrickson are both returning all-leaguers for the Lions.
Lincoln will open play in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL next week. The Lions will visit Independence on Sept. 19, 7 p.m., before heading to Sobrato on Sept. 21, 4 p.m.
