Amid a dominant season highlighted by a second straight SCVAL De Anza Division championship, the Los Gatos High School girls soccer team is expected to receive one of the top three seeds in the upcoming Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs.
The Wildcats entered this week’s play at 14-1-3 overall and 10-0-1 in league, having outscored their De Anza Division foes by an impressive margin of 97-13. If the Wildcats end up with at least a draw in their regular-season finale against a tough Los Altos squad on Feb. 17, they will have gone back-to-back seasons without a loss in the ultra-competitive De Anza.
Last year, they finished 9-0-3 in league; this season, they’ve been even more dominant. Junior Abby Nelson has been on an absolute tear, recording 31 goals in 17 games played. Sophomore Isabella Cain has 20 goals and senior Ale Munneke 14 goals to go along with 14 assists.
Junior Teagan Kaefer has 15 assists and Nelson 11 for a powerhouse squad that seemingly has all the pieces to contend for the Open title. Los Gatos’ only loss came to St. Francis in the second match of the season in early December.
The Lancers are the top-ranked team in Northern California and No. 4 in the state. The Wildcats check in as the No. 2-ranked team in the CCS—behind St. Francis—and No. 21 in the state.
Wrestling
Los Gatos and Bellarmine tied for the team championship with 268 points apiece in the CCS Northern Regionals on Feb. 14 at Gunn High. The Wildcats qualified all 11 of their wrestlers who competed in the Regionals to the CCS Masters Championship on Feb. 21 at Watsonville High.
The top four in each weight class in the Masters advance to the CIF State Championships on Feb. 26-28 at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield. Six Wildcats wound up as Northern Regional champions, including Luke Schoch in the 126-pound weight class, Ojas Shastri (190), Lucius Hayden (175), Lucas Pannell (165), Michael Terrell (144), and Joseph Pavlov-Ramirez (138).
Los Gatos also had three wrestlers finish as the runner-up in their respective weight classes, including Jisias Rodriguez (157), Wesley Hayden (150) and Trejon Pannell (132).
Boys Basketball
The Wildcats (18-5, 9-2) finished in second place in the De Anza and received the No. 2 seed in the CCS Division I playoffs. They host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday evening. Their only two league losses came to champion Milpitas, which is one of only two public school teams ranked among the top eight in the CCS (West Catholic League teams take up the first four positions).
Outside of the two losses to Milpitas, the Wildcats were dominant, with eight of their nine league wins coming by double-digits. A 56-37 victory over Monta Vista on Feb. 13 was typical of what the Wildcats have done to De Anza Division foes this season: stifling them with relentless defense and tough interior play.
Freshman Oliver Evans had 16 points in 22 minutes of action, and senior forward/center Will Campbell finished with 12 points. Zach Otoupal had 11 rebounds and Jack Siri nine, with Dionysis Maroudas posting a team-best four assists.
Girls Basketball
The Wildcats went from the mountaintop to the valley, and then back up to the summit. A riveting 43-42 win over Los Altos on Feb. 11 put the Wildcats in the driver’s seat to win a fourth consecutive outright De Anza Division championship. The victory gave Los Gatos a 9-1 league record and dropped Los Altos to 9-2.
The scenario for the Wildcats was simple: win their final two contests and be crowned champions yet again. However, just two days after the Los Altos game, Los Gatos suffered a 45-35 loss to Monta Vista. On the same night, Los Altos finished out its league slate with a 58-30 win over Gunn High, clinching at least a share of the league title with a 10-2 record.
That meant Los Gatos had to win its league-finale against Mountain View on Feb. 16 to earn a share of the title. And that’s exactly what the Wildcats did, rolling to a 59-39 victory, In the Los Altos game, Jenna Webb’s driving layup and free throw with five seconds remaining lifted the Wildcats to a thrilling victory. It capped a tremendous performance from Webb, who finished with a team-high 18 points, including 12 of the team’s 15 points in the fourth quarter. Sophie Riese had 11 points and Rita Zhou seven for Los Gatos, which earned the No. 2 seed in the D1 playoffs. It will host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday.
Boys Soccer
If the Wildcats (8-5-4, 5-4-4) beat Los Altos in the regular-season finale, they will lock up fourth place in the De Anza Division. Win or lose, Los Gatos is a shoo-in for the playoffs, based on its power point totals.
The Wildcats have the distinction of being only one of two teams to beat league-leader Los Altos in division play this season, a 2-0 result on Jan. 3.
Max Lees and freshman Samuel Olivella had the goals in one of the Wildcats’ most impressive performances this season. More recently, Lees scored both of the team’s goals in a 4-2 loss to Santa Clara on Feb. 12. Two days prior, the Wildcats recorded a 3-1 victory over Wilcox, receiving tallies from freshman Brooks Moseley, junior Max Wendt and senior Trevor Ankaitis.
