Ryan Gordon alumni game to be held next weekend
The fifth annual Ryan Gordon Foothill-Amador Alumni Soccer Game is looking for ex-soccer players from Amador Valley and Foothill high schools to play in the game, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 29.The game is an annual event that raises money for the soccer programs at Foothill and Amador in honor of Ryan Gordon, a 2003 Foothill graduate who was killed in a boating accident shortly after graduating. Gordon played soccer at Foothill for four years and was planning on attending Santa Barbara City College where he would continue his soccer career.
There are men’s and women’s matches featuring players who graduated in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s. Both games are at Foothill with the women scheduled for 4 p.m. and the men at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited and tickets will be available at the door for $7 for adults and $4 for students.
For more information, contact Curt Gordon at 426-1540 or curtgordon@comcast.net.
Tigers baseball has player openings
Livermore’s Tigers baseball program is looking for a few players to participate in their 2008 spring/summer program. This year the Tigers program has six openings for players 13 or 14 years of age as of May 1, 2008.All practices and games will be local. Players interested in participating in this year’s program can get detailed information on the program’s Web site: www.rteamsite.com/baseball/tigersbaseball.
Amador JVs take top places in wrestling tourney
Amador Valley High School’s Junior Varsity wrestling scored in the top four places at the recent Hayward High School Haystack tournament this past Saturday.The results were Chris Klein, fourth place, record: 2-2; Josh Rosenblatt, fourth place, record 2-2; Keith Sullins, competed; Max Beck, record 1-2, and Luis Peraza, fourth place, record: 2-2.
Others included Joey Silva, third place, record: 3-1; Greg Carson, competed; Chris Connolly, fourth place, record: 2-2; Daniel Deville, competed,
record 1-2; Spencer Smith, third place, record 3-1, and Robert Reger, first place, record: 3-0.
Under 14s take 2nd place in District Cup play
The U14 Rage B team came away with a second place finish in the recent District Cup soccer tournament. The Championship game was an all-Pleasanton affair as they met up with their fellow Rage team and fell just one goal shy of victory.The Rage team that played was a strong, motivated, and determined team that made their opponents play defensively from the opening whistle. Coming into the tournament seeded 7th, they made handy work of their opponents in pool play. In game one, Erin O’Loughlin notched up two goals with Arielle Siegel adding another to cap a 3-1 victory over a Mustang team. Game two was much more even against another Mustang club and the Rage came out with a 0-0 tie.
The match up was against the Livermore Earthquakes and knowing they needed a convincing win to move onto the Championship match, the girls played aggressively. Arielle Siegel was first to score off a tremendous penalty kick shot just outside the 18. Nat Tioncgo was up next firing on all cylinders and making it 2-0 Rage. Finally Karoline van der Zee netted the Rage’s third score off a nice cross from Nicole Ponzini. The victory here was enough to send the girls onto the Championship game against their fellow Rage team.
The championship game was what it should be with both teams playing aggressively. Nicole Ponzini scored her second goal of the tournament and when the final whistle blew it was 2-1.
Top offensive players: Arielle Siegel, Karoline van der Zee, Nicole Ponzini, Kelly Parsons, Devon Gold and Brittany Jones.
Top defensive players: Lauren MacDonnel, Nat Tioncgo, Shannon Easley, Pascale Masri, Taylor Dorsi, Dani Ramierez, Sarah Machado, Erin O’Loughlin, and Kara Matsune.
Pleasanton Rage U-13s capture District III Cup
The Pleasanton Rage U-13, Division 3 soccer team defeated the Livermore Arsenal last weekend to capture the District-III Cup title in Newark.To get to the championship game, the Rage defeated the Dublin Hurricane, RageBlue and the Mustang Rush before posting the 1-0 win over Livermore.
In the first game on Saturday, the Rage’s offense was relentless, as Rachael Kapp scored twice and Shannon Malindzak and Madison Nethery each added one goal in a 4-1 victory over the Hurricane. The next two games were more defensive. Strong middle field play by Lindsey Allen, Lauryn Hayashi and Nicole Henninger generated the Rage attacks as Kapp again found the back of the net with a goal against the Blue, and Olivia Climent scored on a penalty kick verses the Rush to give the Rage 1-0 victories.
Sunday’s championship game was again a defensive struggle as both teams fought for control of the ball. Using their kicking strength, the Arsenal continued to send long kicks to their forwards, but the Rage’s defense was flawless. The defensive rotation of Alyssa Keiner, Maddie Martin, Cassidy Lynch, Jamie Bodmer and Malindzak kept the Arsenal attack at bay. After a scoreless first half, the Rage finally broke the deadlock. A Rage shot toward goal, and the subsequent Arsenal’s defensive clear found Rage’s Nethery just outside the penalty area. Nethery wasted no time pounding an arcing shot just over the Arsenal goalie and into the back of the net. As the time counted down, Livermore generated one final attack and a controversial ending. After a long kick toward goal from the Arsenal mid-field, the ensuing stop by the Rage’s goalie rebounded to an Arsenal forward who quickly shot what appeared the tying goal. Unfortunately for the Arsenal, the goal was reversed after illegal goalie contact.
Top offensive players: Isabela Castaneda, Alex Dickinson and Ellie Jurich.
Top defensive players: Nicole Thomas, Morgan Bowen and Cheyenne Lofthouse-Wolf.
Amador Valley Athletic Boosters Club Purple and Gold Gala
Amador Valley Athletics Booster Club is holding a Gala to help benefit the athletics program at Amador Valley.The event is scheduled to take place Saturday, March 15 at the Palm Event Center. Activities will include dinner, drinks, dancing, silent and live auctions and raffles.
Tickets are on sale for $100 per person, or for $110 you will also receive a commemorative Amador Valley etched wine glass. Also, being sold by local artist Gary Winter are exclusive Amador Valley High School miniatures.
Tickets will be on sale throughout January. Contact Sally Parsons at e5hoov@comcast.net or 890-5370.
The Pleasanton Seahawks swim team finished up a busy weekend.
With three consecutive meets the Pleasanton Seahawks concluded their weekend in style.
The Walnut Creek Aqua Bear Short Course Senior Championship, held at Diablo Valley College, featured eight Pleasanton swimmers including: Andrew Seitz (14), Casey Coughlin (16), Krystal Lau (15), Christopher Guido (15), Joshua Meints (16), Kayleigh Foley (17), Robert Barnett (17) and Patrick Darrow (18). Nearly all of the swimmers achieved a personal best time, including Andrew Seitz who improved his 1000 freestroke time by 11 seconds and achieved a National Reportable Time.
The Zone Two Meet was held at Chabot College and featured three Pleasanton swimmers: Michael Martin (8), Bernadine Martin (12) and Theresa Martin (15). Theresa was able to improve her own personal best time in all of her four events.
The CAB Zone 1S Short Course Championship was held at University of California Santa Cruz. Participating in the meet were 13 swimmers from Pleasanton including: Rachel Knowles (10), Ronshi Nair (12), Maggie Woods (12), Nick Silverthorn (12), Cassidy Booe (12), Iris Chang (13), Bridget Moran (12), Kristen Strond (14), Peter Huang (14), Timothy McLaughlin (14), Alicia Brown (15) and Jake Bahls (16). Some notable performances came from Alicia Brown who improved her personal best time in each of her events, also Timothy McLaughlin cut his time on the 200 meter backstroke by 20 seconds.
CCOP U-10 boys win a close game
The CCOP, Catholic Community of Pleasanton, boys U-10 Warriors basketball team won a nailbiter against St. Isadore 20-16 last weekend.
Star performances included Andrew Bailey who led the Warriors with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Brady Smith added four points and eight rebounds.
CCOP eighth grade girls basketball team bounces back
After a disappointing loss the CCOP eighth grade girls basketball team came out last weekend and defeated SM/SC 32-19.Up by two at half CCOP took control of the game outscoring their opponent 21-10. The girls press defense was responsible for causing numerous turnovers which helped seal the game.
Sydney Okumura, Jessica Woodruff and Lyndsay Godwin each displayed their defensive skills with four steals a piece. Woodruff and Jessica Morselli led the team offensively with six points a piece while Okumura and Lyndsay Godwin each scored four.
–Richard Hayashi
