Paly’s varsity boys’ soccer team defeated the Alisal Trojans, 1-0, in the Central Coast Section quarterfinals at Valley Christian High School on Saturday.
Paly (19-1-2), the No. 1 seed in CCS, failed to exhibit most of its regular season finesses as it struggled for possession during most of its game against No. 9-seeded opponent Alisal (12-7-2). Paly noticeably lacked composure when handling the ball, especially during the first half.
“At halftime, I told the boys that they had to try harder to keep the ball at their feet and avoid the long balls in the air,” head coach Don Briggs said. “The wind really affected the flight of the ball, and I knew we were not going to generate opportunities if we didn’t keep the ball on the ground.”
Paly struggled to hold possession throughout the game and was out-shot by an 11-8 margin. Six of Paly’s eight shots on goal came off of junior outside midfielder Elliot Sanborn’s flip throws. Sanborn provided instant offense for his teammates, who could scarcely advance the ball past the half-mark. Still, Briggs decided to keep Sanborn out of the game for 105 of the game’s 115 minutes.
“We were a little bit over confident coming into the game, but that’s generally how top teams feel before the playoffs,” senior midfielder and captain Adam Zernik said. “The consensus was that we would come in and win big. Clearly, we didn’t do that. Luckily we were given one last opportunity in the end and we converted.”
After 110 scoreless minutes, it became clear that Alisal was losing its composure as the stringent Viking defense turned away wave after wave of Trojan efforts. Elbows and knees began to fly and Alisal yellow cards quickly followed.
“It’s been a recurring theme with our team,” Alisal head coach Mark Cisneros said. “This entire season we’ve been consistently dominating the games, but we haven’t been able to capitalize on opportunities and begin to fade late in games.”
Meanwhile, the Paly players went into a mechanical assault mode that yielded pressure on Alisal’s tiring defense. With two minutes remaining in the sudden death period of triple overtime, a Trojan defender committed a foul that resulted in a Viking free kick.
“They [Alisal] played hard all game,” senior outside midfielder Greg Stewart said. “They’re a quick team that definitely posed a challenge to our style of play. We [Paly] got lucky that they made such a costly mistake so close to their goal.”
Zernik displayed incredible finesse with the play as he put the ball in a place where only senior center midfielder Kevin Ashworth could get to it. In what could easily have turned into a missed chance, Ashworth showed remarkable athleticism in elevating to the ball, all the while keeping his body under control. With the Alisal goalie sorely out of position, Ashworth took advantage and headed the ball into the back of the net.
“I looked at Adam [Zernik] and I knew exactly where he was going to put it,” Ashworth said. “He laid it out for me perfectly and I just went up and scored. His free kick is definitely a weapon that we’re going to have to continue using throughout the playoffs.”
Hopefully, Paly will not fall to the same problems that have plagued it in the playoffs the last two years. Both in 2007 and 2008, the Vikings made it through the early rounds of CCS on the strength of their set plays, but fell short in the finals. This year, however, Palo Alto has had more time to prepare for what could potentially be three games.
“We [Paly] haven’t had game action in nearly two weeks, so it was hard getting back into it,” senior goalie Peter Johnson said. “They [Alisal] jumped on us early. We have a ton of respect for that team, they fought really hard.”
After the game, the Vikings greeted their opponents following a hard fought battle. The Vikings knew that Alisal had nearly ended their postseason play early and that they would have to play better for the rest of the playoffs. The Alisal players left the game with their heads high, reflecting on their encouraging chances for next season.
“Thankfully we have a youthful team so we’re only losing three senior starters and we should come back stronger next year,” Cisneros said.
With the rest of the postseason to look forward to, the Vikings will reflect on the mistakes they made against Alisal to prepare for their next match against No. 4 seed Watsonville High School.
“We did not play up to our usual standards [today],” senior stopper Michael Hanabusa said. “Next game we play Watsonville and we really need to get back to our midseason form. If we play how we played today, we won’t win.”
In varsity girls’ soccer news, the No. 6-seeded Paly girls’ team emerged with a 5-2 victory over Leland High School in which junior Kelly Jenks scored all five goals. The Lady Vikes barely made it into the playoffs after a .500 season, but have quickly shown that they should not be taken lightly.
The boys’ game against Watsonville will be at Milpitas High School, while the girls will play at Valley Christian High School on Wednesday. The times and dates are yet to be determined by CCS officials.
Editor’s Note: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that the varsity boys’ team will play Mountain View High School next. The team will play Watsonville High School. This version of the story represents this change.