Burlingame dominates Gonzales

Burlingame, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 7 Mitty (11-5-8) at noon Saturday at Burlingame. Mitty defeated No. 10 Sequoia 4-2 in penalty kicks.

Burlingame (15-4-3) controlled every aspect of the game against Gonzales. The midfield playmakers - Jorge Rodriguez and Scott Kaplan - won nearly every loose ball and constantly sent quality passes to forwards Gabe Shurtleff and Dominic Mitchell as well as wings Gus Monteiro and Damien Gona.

Rodriguez was especially impressive as time and again he sent brilliant passes through the middle of the Gonzales' defense, or made runs himself to let loose shots that just barely missed.

"We had Jorge playing a bit of a different role," Cesano said. He said Rodriguez was moving from penalty box to penalty box instead of just staying forward the whole game.

The Panthers' defense was just as impressive. The backline did not allow a significant chance on goal and Gonzales only avoided the shutout when Oswaldo Gonzales converted on a free kick from 35 yards out with two minutes left in the game.

It was evident from the start that Burlingame had too much speed and skill for Gonzales to keep up. The Panthers created several opportunities early but it just took a while for them to get in sync. After several near misses and good buildups from the midfield, Burlingame finally struck pay dirt in the 31st minute. Rodriguez gathered the ball near midfield, beat two Gonzales defenders and sent a pass to Mitchell, who carried the ball into the box. Mitchell gave a short pass Damien Gona whose shot was deflected by a Gonzales defender and bounced free in the box.

Monteiro, who was at the far post, bodied the ball into the net to give Burlingame a 1-0 lead.

Monteiro was dangerous all game long, coming up with several quality scoring chances only to see Gonzales defenders deflect shots away or the goalkeeper Rudolfo Flores come up with the save.

But Monteiro said he didn't get frustrated.

"You lose one (scoring opportunity) but I knew more opportunities would come," Monteiro said.

After being thwarted two more times in the second half, Monteiro decided to set up his teammate. Monteiro took a long pass, held off a defender and broke in on the goalkeeper. Instead of trying to beat Flores on a difficult angle, Monteiro deftly sent a pass backward that found a wide open Shurtleff, who ran onto the loose ball and pounded it into the net for a 2-0 Burlingame lead.

"[Monteiro] is just so opportunistic and [Shurtleff's] speed is just outstanding," Cesano said.

Mitty 4, Sequoia 2 (penalty kicks)

The No. 10 Cherokees were on their heels for the opening 15 minutes of the game, but once they settled down, Sequoia controlled its first-round CCS Division II playoff game against the No. 7 Monarchs.

Unfortunately for the Cherokees, they could not find the back of the net during 80 minutes of regulation and 30 more minutes of overtime. In penalty kicks, it becomes a crapshoot and Mitty pulled out a 4-2 win.

"I think the pressure got to (us) when it got to penalties," said Sequoia coach Ed Huber. "We just dominated (the second half) but the same problem we've had all year, we had no one to finish."

Playing into the wind in the first half, Huber said Sequoia's youth played a factor in Mitty's early pressure. Cherokee goalkeeper Jorge Reseles kept his team in the game by making several "professional" saves, Huber said.

After weathering that opening onslaught, Sequoia (8-5-6) settled down and began to take control of the game.

"I knew Mitty had nine ties during the year. I knew they would play defense against us," Huber said. "We caught them off guard a little bit and they backed off. We just couldn't put them away."

In other CCS action, Ocean Division champion Woodside fell to Gilroy 2-0 while Menlo-Atherton advanced in Division I with a 1-0 win over Live Oak.