Los Altos makes CCS playoffs Los Altos makes CCS playoffs (February 13, 2004)

Win over Gunn is icing on the cake

By Reza Kazempour

The senior Eagles of Los Altos were recognized at home, playing their final regular season game. But, in the end, the promising underclassmen provided much of the scoring to give the Eagles a 4-0 victory over the Gunn Titans on Tuesday.

The win moved the Eagles to 7-2-3 and in second place in the SCVAL division. The team earned a bid to the CCS playoffs on Feb. 3.

Freshman Sarah Nolet, junior Meghan McKinsey and junior Alicia Incerpi scored the first three goals, and senior defender Sara Bird netted the final goal.

"I think Los Altos did a great job playing their position," said Gunn coach Daisy Renazco. "Our defense did a good job kind of keeping up with them, with a couple mishaps in the first half that unfortunately led to two goals."

The Los Altos defense matched the efforts of its offense. Captain Joan Danver and defender Michele Baer eliminated any chances of a Gunn attack.

"The defense did a good job," said Los Altos coach Roberto Magellan. "She [Danver] is a fine player. She was our MVP last year. She plays different positions as well."

The scoring opened up from a cross by Danver to Nolet. After repelling a defender, Danver crossed the ball through traffic with Nolet scoring at the six-minute mark.

Seven minutes later, Incerpi passed the ball to McKinsey, who dribbled it in for the second goal of the game.

By that point, the Eagles had penetrated the Titan defense to allow Incerpi to net her goal with a pass by Bird. After sprinting past a defender, Incerpi dribbled the ball to the right, putting the goalie out of position, and kicked the ball in the net.

During the second half, Gunn turned its focus away from its offense to its defense. Consequently, both Los Altos goalies ended the match with shutout minutes.

"Overall, our defense has been really strong," said Danver. "We have a lot of strong backs and a lot of speed back there. Gunn's offense had some fast people who could run the lines really well, but I felt our defense did a really good job shutting them down and getting in front of them and moving the ball around."

The afternoon wouldn't have been complete if a senior player didn't score a goal. Enter Bird, who shot the ball past Titan's goalkeeper Shannon Quirk.

Los Altos made the playoffs earlier last week with a 2-1 victory over the Homestead Mustangs on Feb. 3.

Incerpi and Marcella Mission scored the Los Altos goals, both of which were assisted by Nolet.

E-mail Reza Kazempour at sports@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.