A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 59F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..
Showers early with some clearing overnight. Low 49F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Updated: April 12, 2026 @ 3:19 am
The best in Peninsula Athletic League boys' soccer saw their dreams of Central Coast Sectional gold snuffed out last night in the semifinals as the Burlingame Panthers fell to the Pioneer Mustangs of San Jose 5-1.
Playing on an extremely muddy field at PAL Stadium in San Jose, The Panthers found themselves having difficulty keeping in step with a Mustang offense which seemed to be everywhere at once.
Pioneer opened the game quickly, scoring within the first minute of play and stunning a normally dominant Burlingame team used to doing the same thing to its opponents. The Mustangs did it again four minutes later, sending a long ball from the left side of the field into the far upper right corner of the net.
"The early goals gave us a big boost," said Pioneer head coach Jeff Farro.
Farro's team, which played in the Blossom Valley Athletic League during the regular season, used a similar style of quick strikes to secure their place in the CCS championship game.
Burlingame, trying to recover from the early Pioneer lead, was able to finally move into Mustang territory but found themselves unable to convert any shots as a tough defense and solid goalie play held them at bay.
Meanwhile, Burlingame's senior goalie Chris Westman was taking a battering on the other end of the field. Playing on an injured knee from a practice session two weeks ago, he had to block shot after shot from Pioneer. In addition, an aggressive Mustang player collided with Westman midway through the half. He received a yellow card for the incident but the damage had been done.
In the second, Westman seemed unable to focus. After giving up two more quick goals and hitting the ground hard trying to make a save, head coach Fred Cesano gave the nod to backup goalkeeper Anthony Neely to take over the net.
"I feel empty," said a visibly upset Westman after the match. "I felt like I let my team down. Anytime you give up five goals you have to wonder how good you are."
Westman's teammates tried to their best in the last 40 minutes to stem the Pioneer tide, pulling from their old bag of tricks to create scoring opportunities. A passionate speech by Cesano during the half seemed to help as well as the Panthers found new life, getting four shots on goal. Despite their best efforts though, they were prevented from scoring.
Luck would not change for the Panthers until the last minute of play. A Pioneer player committed a foul in the penalty box, setting up a penalty kick which senior Jorge Rodriguez stepped up to take. Aiming low and to the post, he was able to put it in.
"I think we had a great year," said Rodriguez. "No one expected us to get as far as we did."
Rodriguez held no grudges against Pioneer, saying it was their day and that they played the better game.
Cesano echoed Rodriguez's feelings.
"Those early goals set the tempo," said Cesano. "We couldn't get on track after that. It wasn't for a lack of effort. Pioneer was the best team we played all year."
Cesano added that he was proud of all his guys, saying they never gave up throughout the match.
"Not one," said Cesano.
Junior Gustavo Monteiro, who will probably take a leading role on the team next year, reflected on the future.
"I look forward to being a senior and trying to get to CCS again," said Monteiro.
The Panthers finish the season with a record of 16-5-3 and the PAL Bay Division title.
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