Bay Area soccer roundup: A ‘hat trick of hat tricks’ as scoring rules CCS Division I playoffs, plus NCS results
SAN JOSE — Cyrus Shafie scored three goals and Nicholas Garzino added two more as Mountain View boys soccer routed Leigh 5-1 to reach the CCS Division I championship game.
“We haven’t had Cyrus and Nico together but three games in the last 15 games, I think,” MV coach Jim McGuirk said. “And they were both on fire and had great games.”
Shafie recorded his third hat trick of the season – “a hat trick of hat tricks,” as he described it.
“Cyrus doesn’t miss very often when he gets a chance,” McGuirk said. “He’s a fantastic player. It’s hard for me to judge. But I’ve been here 38 years, I think he’s the best I’ve coached. I mean, there are a couple others that we could probably argue about, but, yeah, he’s just fantastic.”
Garzino was injured for much of the season with a strained Achilles. Now that he’s back, the sky looks to be the limit for Mountain View (17-3-2).
“It’s great,” Shafie said of playing together. “This was his second game back from injury, and that’s already four or five goals of us linking up with each other. That’s something that’s really hard to find, and it works out great.”
Leigh’s season will not end in the CCS semifinals. The Longhorns (16-4) automatically qualified for the CIF NorCal tournament by reaching the Division I semifinals.
It is the first NorCal appearance for all of Leigh’s current players. Kevin Clemens scored the Longhorns’ lone goal on a penalty kick in the 44th minute.
“It’s gonna be our first NorCal game as a group,” Leigh coach Thomas Murdick said. “So really excited for that. Hoping we get a fun draw where maybe we get to travel a bit, because it enhances that journey and makes it a fun experience for everyone. But super proud of the boys and excited about what’s to come.”
On the other side of the Division I bracket, Salinas-based top seed Alvarez took down Hillsdale in a thrilling 2-1 win.
Alvarez (22-0) led the sixth-seeded Knights 2-0 at the half, but an inspired second-half comeback gave Hillsdale a chance late.
Cristian Gomez scored for the Knights in the 53rd minute off an assist from Tyler Essa, then Hillsdale pressured Alvarez as it looked for an equalizer down the stretch.
“Very exciting second half,” Hillsdale assistant coach John Gilbert told the Bay Area News Group. “Hillsdale had more ball possession and found a way to break Alvarez’s high press to impose our attack. In the final 15 minutes, Hillsdale pushed our opponent to defend, even forcing their defense to clear in panic mode.
“With seven minutes left, their goalkeeper made a diving lower-left save to deny Bay League defensive player of the year Tyler Hughes’ shot from just inside the box. Coaches are proud of our effort tonight showcasing our team’s skill.”
Hillsdale’s season continues in NorCal next week. Alvarez will face Mountain View for the CCS D-I title on Friday at Santa Clara University.
D-I girls
No. 1 St. Francis 6, No. 4 St. Ignatius 0
The rout was on in Mountain View as the Lancers (18-0-1) left no doubt of their level of excellence. They will face Los Gatos, who routed Mitty 4-0, in the Division I title game Friday at SCU.
Read on here for the full story from Los Gatos.
For the Lancers, Penelope Correa had a hat trick in keeping with the day’s theme. Julia Malcom had a goal and an assist, Grier Gowdy and Kaylie Giusti added goals, and Sophie McCarthy, Maya Meltz, Kendall Khoury and Caitlin Motil added assists.
The season for St. Ignatius (13-4-2) will continue in NorCal.
NCS
D-II boys
No. 1 University-San Francisco 2, No. 5 Castro Valley 1 (OT)
A heartbreaker for CV (13-8-3) ended as Devo Johnson scored the game-winning goal for University (20-4) just over three minutes into overtime.
Castro Valley took the initial lead in the 58th minute when Dominic Bolender stuck a shot into the upper right corner, but University’s Daniel Mashayekhi headed in a goal to equalize in the 70th minute, assisted by Johnson.
That set the stage for Johnson’s extra-time heroics. University will face No. 2 Richmond, which beat No. 3 Granada 3-1, for the D-II title on Saturday.
D-III boys
No. 7 Bishop O’Dowd 3, No. 6 Liberty 2
O’Dowd (10-6-6) got goals from Jonah Goldsmith, Charlie Wachs and Liam Bridgeman to power past Liberty (11-5-2) and into the D-III final on the road in Brentwood.
Emilio Price, Trevor Price and Alex Garcia had the assists for the Dragons, who will move on to face No. 9 Pittsburg, which beat No. 4 Redwood in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw.
D-III girls
There was no joy for teams in the East Bay on Tuesday night, as both Alhambra and Livermore struck out in their quest to represent the NCS in the D-III title game.
No. 4 Alhambra lost 4-0 to mighty Marin Catholic, the top seed, while No. 6 Livermore dropped a 2-0 decision to No. 2 Analy.
Alhambra finished 12-10-1. Livermore ends 8-11-3.
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