Burlingame salvages 2-2 tie with San Mateo

Burlingame took control for the first 15 minutes, powering down the field several times. One drive resulted in a 11th minute score by Katie Wolfe off of a Christina Freitas corner kick.

"We'd had a lot of shots on goal and I needed to finish one off," said Wolfe.

San Mateo came alive after that, taking possession of the ball and doing their best to keep it out of Burlingame's hands. The Bearcats used superb passing and ball control to find holes in the Panthers' defense, resulting in a magnificent scoring moment via a Skai Kang header in the 22nd minute burying the ball off a corner kick.

Kang would be forced out of the game two minutes later after a collision with a Burlingame player resulted in a knee injury. Kang was carried to the sideline by coaches and eventually taken from the field in a cart.

The second half found the two teams more evenly trading shots, both on the net and on each other. Each team managed four shots on goal and one score, as well as dishing out plenty of punishment on each other.

Freshman Jennifer Lu provided much of the Bearcats' spark, nimbly dodging in and out of larger Burlingame players as she attempted to score. One of Lu's early drives turned out to be more of a spectacular save by Panthers goalkeeper Blythe Davis, who came charging out of the net to make a kick save.

Lu was back again several minutes later, this time finding the magic moment which she shared with her sister Alyssa. After outpacing some defenders in a long run, Jennifer sent a cross to her older sister, who then beat Davis with a far post shot.

"I do it naturally," said Lu as she described how she got through Burlingame's defense each time. "I don't think about it. I've been the smallest player forever and this helps me to play."

Burlingame was not about to go quietly though. A renewed offensive effort by the Panthers in the closing minutes of the match tied up the score when Brittney Adkins let loose a powerful kick from just over the mid-line which found its way into the net after sailing over the head of San Mateo goalie Justine Morey.

"I was just hoping it would go in," said Adkins. "When it did go in, I jumped as high as I ever have in celebration."

Panthers coach Philip De Rosa was unhappy with his team's performance, saying they didn't play as they normally should.

"We played flat," said De Rosa. "I knew San Mateo was going to come out fired up. This is a tough team and I was disappointed we didn't do better."

De Rosa was also very upset with several calls made by game officials during the match. At the close of each half, as his team was about to take a corner kick, a referee would blow her whistle and effectively scrub the play.

"Never in all the years I've been coaching did the referees stop game-play during the middle of a play," exclaimed De Rosa.

San Mateo coach Victor Montoya expressed satisfaction with his team and their season, saying they had had an outstanding year. He saw great growth in them, especially in their last match.

"They played for pride and finished the season strong," said Montoya. "I think they accomplished all of that [Tuesday]."