Looking strictly at seeding, the Leigh High School girls soccer team should not have made it out of the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation Division Northern California Division II Regional playoffs.
Or the second round, for that matter.
But that’s why games are played, and eighth-seeded Leigh upset No. 1 seed Tamalpais-Mill Valley and No. 4 seed Ponderosa-Shingle Springs in penalty-kick shootouts before falling in the final to No. 2 Clovis on Saturday.
“It was a great season for the girls,” Leigh coach Nick Hatzke said. “I think we got better each week, and the girls came together and believed in themselves.
“We’re a very young team, first and foremost. Our entire back line is sophomores, and our goalie is a freshman.”
Leigh (13-5-5) was 8-2 in its last 10 games, including a 2-1 loss to eventual champion Archbishop Mitty in the Central Coast Section Open Division semifinals.
The Longhorns were on the road for that game and for all three of their Northern California playoff games, but it didn’t faze them.
In the opening round on March 3, Leigh’s Alice Barbieri scored first early in the second half, but Tamalpais tied the score later in the half. The CIF Northern California playoffs have a 15-minute “golden goal” overtime which ends instantly with a goal, but none was scored, leading to a penalty kick shootout.
“We want girls that are eager to take a kick and want the pressure,” said Hatzke about selecting the shooters.
Leigh was perfect with those free kicks, as Camryn Borg, Anushka Savla, Barbieri, Lexy Thompson and Mia Karine Myklebust all scored. Longhorns goalkeeper Jadyn Mason stopped the final Tamalpais attempt for a 0-0 (5-4) Leigh victory.
Then on March 6, the Longhorns traveled to Shingle Springs in a matchup which Hatzke said was probably the most exciting game he’s ever coached.
Thompson scored in the first five minutes of the game off a corner kick from Shae Schuyler, and Leigh held that advantage until the last 30 seconds of stoppage time, when Ponderosa forced overtime with a goal.
“We had a good attitude,” Hatzke said. “We re-set and came out really strong in overtime.”
The 15-minute overtime period was scoreless, so the Longhorns entered their second straight penalty-kick shootout of the playoffs.
Leigh was again victorious in the shootout, winning 4-2. Borg, Nella Khachian, Barbieri and Thompson scored, while Mason was impressive at goal.
Mason also was outstanding in the team’s 2-0 loss to host Clovis in Saturday’s final.
“She was phenomenal,” said Hatzke about the freshman. “She was probably the reason it was 0-0 going into halftime.
“They were really strong and had the majority of the chances.”
It didn’t help Leigh’s upset chances that Barbieri, the team’s second-leading scorer this season, left the game in the first half with a concussion and didn’t return.
The future looks bright for Leigh and its third-year coach Hatzke, a Bellarmine and Cal alum who played two years with the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. The Longhorns had 14 underclassmen on its roster this season.
Boys soccer
Branham, the No. 3 seed in the CIF Northern California Division III playoffs, shut out No. 6 Albany 2-0 in the first round on March 3 before falling to No. 2 East Union-Manteca 2-1 in a semifinal matchup on March 5.
The Bruins, who finished with a 17-7-2 record, received a pair of first-half goals from Jack Cassell-McClellan and Ian Hutt against Albany (15-5-3). Max Sharp and Tim Kozine assisted the goals.
Hutt scored a first-half goal against East Union off an assist from Sharp. Bruins goalkeeper Chris Sagahon had four saves in the game.
Bellarmine (19-4-2), the No. 3 seed in the Division I playoffs, shut out No. 6 Berkeley 2-0 on March 3 before being edged by No. 2 Montgomery-Santa Rosa 1-0 in a semifinal game on March 5. Montgomery ended the season undefeated (26-0-1) after beating No. 1 seed Jesuit-Carmichael 3-1 in the championship game on Saturday.