Spartan girls tie Los Gatos Spartan girls tie Los Gatos (December 24, 2004)

Mountain View shows it can play in upper division

By Scott Campbell

As Anndrea Nelson's shot soared over the fingertips of the Los Gatos goalkeeper, so did the confidence of Mountain View's girls soccer team. With a 1-1 tie against Los Gatos on Dec. 17, the Spartans proved that they are more than capable of competing in the more competitive De Anza Division.

"We knew Los Gatos was one of the top teams," said Mountain View co-captain Abby Damm. "We went out and showed that we can compete in this upper division."

In their second league game, the visiting Spartans (2-3-2 overall, 0-0-2 league) were able to avoid falling into an early hole against Los Gatos. The aggressive Wildcats dominated the first half with crisp, long passes but failed to convert any of their shots.

After a scoreless first half, a more composed and confident Spartan team emerged and was immediately successful in attacking Los Gatos.

"That's the mindset of coming from the El Camino Division, in terms of, a little bit shaky in the first half and then testing out the opponent and feeling that, of course, we can compete respectably," said Mountain View coach Ahmad Saidin.

Early in the second half, the Spartans nearly scored when center-forward Loralyn Dewitt unloaded a shot that banged off the crossbar, missing the net by mere inches.

Keeping the pressure on, Mountain View connected just a few minutes later. Following a throw-in deep in Los Gatos territory, Spartan midfielder Nastassia Groleau passed to Nelson, a sophomore midfielder, who chipped the ball into the top-right corner of the Wildcat goal for the lead.

"We just wanted to make sure our defense was really strong the whole game and to take it up when we could," said Spartan goalkeeper Jane Doolittle. "It always works, and we always seem to get a great goal from that."

But Los Gatos (8-2-2 overall, 1-0-1 league) kept Mountain View's goal under siege and eventually broke through in the 68th minute. Wildcat forward Katie Bonadies took a cross from midfielder Melissa Shawhan and lofted the ball out of Doolittle's reach to even the game at 1-1.

The Spartans nearly scored the game-winning goal on a deft passing sequence between forward Alisa Chester and Damm. But seconds before the final whistle blew, Damm's header sailed just over the top of the Wildcat net.

"I'm so proud of our girls playing toe-to-toe with Los Gatos," said Saidin. "We could have taken the game if we had [converted] a few chances."

Mountain View will play Santa Teresa on Dec. 29 and continues league play against Gunn on Jan. 5.

E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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