Mirador 2/5/10 Sports 13

Lady Mats Climb to First

by Aleck Ryner

The Miramonte men’s soccer team is having a rough season. They have only scored six goals through the first eight games and three of them were in a recent tie against Alhambra. However, the team, led by Eric Sassano ‘10, Trevor Gorham ‘10, Cody Unger ‘10 and Michael Pitt ‘10, has not lost all hope yet.

“Things have been a little bit rough this season, especially because we haven’t won a game yet, but I think we will definitely win one of our upcoming games, either against Dublin or Acalanes,” said Ashraf Mathkour ‘11.

Injuries have plagued the team throughout the year. Sassano was injured for a stretch of time, Pitt was out with an ankle injury, and Unger missed a few games when he collided with another player and got stitches. But now that the

team is finally back at full strength, they have the ability to compete with most of the teams in NCS.

“We have the talent to win NCS, but we need to be at full strength to have any chance of winning,” said Mathkour.

However, to have any chance of even making the NCS tournament, the team will likely need to win out in their last two games, which are against Dublin and Acalanes. This feat may be unlikely, however, as they were handily defeated by Dougherty Valley 0-5, Acalanes 0-3, and Campolindo 1-3.

In their second game against Dougherty Valley however, they managed a tie, so the season could still be salvaged.

If they can’t find the firepower to score more than one goal a game, it is unlikely that they will even make the NCS playoffs.

The Mats play Dublin today at home.

SPORTS

by Caroline Cook

“Since we have a lot of young players, we are doing really well working as a team,” said captain McKenna DeBack ‘10. “We are building and improving, and working hard in practices.”

This season, the four returning seniors are the team’s secret weapons. With Shelby Church ‘10 in goal, Katherine Cuyler ‘10 commanding the defense, Marissa Crosetti ‘10 leading the midfield, and DeBack up top at forward, the Lady Mats are the team to beat this year.

“We (the four remaining seniors) play possession style and are all comfortable playing this way because we’ve played together for years,” said Crosetti. “We are all trying to return back to the way we played at Lamorinda (Soccer Club).”

Even though the Lady Mats lost to Campolindo on Dec. 16, by a score of 1-2, the Cougars remain their main rival. “Although Campolindo is our toughest competition this year, the season is all up in the air and many teams who beat us earlier are losing now,” said DeBack.

Another unique aspect of the team is the number of siblings and underclassmen.

“We have twins and some players who don’t play club soccer, in addition to many freshmen on the team,” added DeBack. “We are a brand new team starting out fresh and when we (the seniors) graduate, it will be a very young team.”

The Lady Mats tied with Las Lomas (0-0) on Wed. Jan. 13. and tied with Alhambra (0-0) on Fri. Jan. 15.

Once again, the three Lamorinda high school girls’ soccer teams are at the top of the league standings. In DFAL, Miramonte sits in first with a record of 5-2-2. They are closely followed by Campolindo, who

holds a record of 5-3-1, and Acalanes, who is 4-2-2.

On Monday, Feb. 1, when the Lady Mats rematched Campolindo, DeBack scored two goals and Coco Pearce ‘13 scored one goal in the second half. The Mats came out victorious, with a final score of 3-1.

Photo: J. Fong

Men’s Soccer Struggles

by Jeremy Unger

After defeating Dougherty Valley and Alhambra to start off league play, the men’s basketball team has hit a rough patch, losing three of their last four games, bringing their league record to 4-3. With a 11-10 overall record the Mats have been up and down all season.

“We’ve been battling through a lot of injuries to key players and it’s been hard filling the void from a lot of our key players that we lost last season. We just haven’t found our identity yet,” said Nick Mora ‘10.

Although the Mats’ lost to rivals Campolindo and Acalanes, as well as Drake this month, they were able to pull out wins against Alhambra, Dougherty Valley, Dublin, and Las Lomas. The Mats biggest issue has been finding a second scorer to supplement captain Chris Hatfield ‘10. Hatfield, who is averaging 22 points per game, is the only player averaging more than 10 points per game this season.

If the Mats are to repeat as DFAL champions, they will need to most likely win out, which would include defeating Campolindo and Acalanes in away games.

“Now we’re playing with a chip on our shoulders. We can’t get swept by both of our rivals this year, we won’t let it happen,” said Mora.

After last season’s overtime loss in the NCS championship, the Mats are looking towards returning to the championship, even with the losses so far this year.

“We may not be as a high of a seed as last year, but we definitely have the ability to make a deep run in NCS,” said Mora.

The Mats’ main opponents in NCS will most likely be Bishop ‘O Dowd and Analy,

the team that defeated the Mats last year in the NCS championship.

“We would love to get some redemption against them (Analy). They are definitely going to be one of the top contenders in NCS,” said Troy Akin ‘10.

The Mats face off against Campolindo tonight in Moraga at 7:00 p.m., in what is a must win game for the team. The last time the Mats faced the Cougars they were handed their worst loss of the season, losing 41-56.

“We’re going to know what to expect from them this time. We want Campolindo to know how it feels to lose on their home court,” said Mora.

by Brian Friel

Frustrated with the recent slumps of Miramonte sports? Wishing there was a powerhouse program to which you could pledge your loyal support? Well fret no more fellow sports aficionados, because the Miramonte girls’ basketball team is on fire.

The Lady Mats are 17-3, undefeated in league play, and currently riding an eight-game winning streak. But what makes the team so special is that they aren’t just vanquishing average opponents; they are consistently rising to the occasion and defeating highly ranked teams in the game’s final seconds. Five of their last seven games have been decided by five points or less.

The streak began on Jan. 8 with a 49-42 upset over Dougherty Valley. Four days later, the Lady Mats defeated Campolindo in what easily was the most exciting game

in recent memory. The Lady Mats battled the Cougars for three overtimes until point guard Liza Katz ‘11 converted a game-winning layup with four seconds left.

“That game was crazy,” said Katz. “I’ve never been in anything like it. It seemed like every time we would score they would come right back. It was just back and forth.”

The Lady Mats then defeated juggernauts St. Mary’s and Dublin with down-to-the-wire finishes, prompting some local sports writers to nickname them “The Cardiac Kids.” Clutch fourth quarter shooting from forward Alyssa Johanson ‘11 and center Stephanie Golden ‘10 proved to be the deciding factor in both games.

“We’ve had a lot of stressful games, but at the same time, they’ve been really fun and exciting,” said Johanson. “Everybody has a strong drive to win and we are all playing really well together.”

With all of their recent success, the Lady Mats have climbed from eighth to forth in the Contra Costa Times East Bay Poll, and have taken an early command of the highly competitive DFAL.

“All of us are really motivated but at the same time we’re all having a lot of fun. Our new coach has been great, and I think our team chemistry is one of our biggest strengths,” said Katz.

The Lady Mats played Dougherty Valley on Feb. 2 but results were not available as of press time. The team will look to continue their dominance today at Campolindo as they face-off in a pivotal rematch with the Cougars.

“The Campo game is definitely going to be intense, but I think we just need to go into it knowing that we can beat them. We just have to listen to our coach and execute,” said Johanson.

Despite their great season, the Lady Mats have not had nearly the amount of support they deserve.

“We definitely want to get a lot of fans out there to support us,” said Johanson.

Men’s Basketball Aims for Strong Finish

Girl’s Basketball Lights Up the Scoreboard

Spenser McDonald ‘10 goes up against two Campo players for a rebound.

Alyssa Johanson ‘11 pulls down a game-changing steal during the Campo game.

Photo: J. Fong

McKenna DeBack ‘10 shows off her fancy foot work in the Campo game.

Photo: D. Louie

Lady Mats have won eight straight games to take command of DFAL

Miramonte loses to Campolindo, little hope remains for NCS