CCS soccer roundup • Monday, March 3, 2025

The Gators scored once in each half as they captured their fourth Central Coast Section title of the modern era with the win over the Bruins at Del Mar High School Saturday.

Nathan Fox, the leading goal scorer for the Gators and the West Bay Athletic League, gave SHP (16-2-5) a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute as they led 1-0 at halftime.

Miles Brush doubled the lead shortly after halftime, scoring in the 49th minute, one that turned out to be the game winner.

It is the 11th crown overall for the SHP program, which won seven Division III titles from 1988 to 2006 when Division III was played in the fall.

Division III came into alignment with the rest of the brackets for the 2009 playoffs.

Santa Clara finishes the season 12-9-2, while SHP advances to the Northern California regional tournament. The Gators were given the No. 8 seed in the Division III bracket and will be on the road at No. 1 Archie Williams-San Anselmo (13-4-5) for a 3 p.m. match Tuesday. The Peregrine Falcons won the North Coast Section Division II championship.

Division III girls’ championship

No. 4 Menlo 2, No. 3 Mountain View 1

All three goals were scored in the second half, with the Knights’ xxx potting the game winner in the 68th minute to give Menlo its eighth CCS soccer championship in school history.

Menlo (16-4-3) took a 1-0 lead in the 46th minute when Halle Blanchard’s cross to the front of the goal went through the hands of the Spartans’ goalkeeper for the unlikely goal.

Mountain View (12-8-2) knotted the score at 1 on a goal from freshman defender Charlotte Higgins, who jumped up into the attack in the 64th minute.

Menlo, however, regained the lead less than five minutes later when Roya Rezaee scored what turned out to be the game winner in the 68th minute.

Up next for Menlo is the Nor Cal regional tournament, where the Knights earned the No. 1 seed in the Division III bracket. They will host No. 8 Sonoma Academy (14-3-3). The Coyotes made it to the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division II bracket.

Division V girls’ championship

No. 1 SHP 7, North Monterey County 0

The Gators completed their destruction of the Division V bracket, scoring three goals in the opening 10 minutes as they captured their sixth CCS title in program history.

In three games, SHP (11-7-3) outscored its opponents 21-0 — the Gators opened with a 9-0 win in the first and won 5-0 in the semifinals.

“Now that we are fully healthy for the first time since December, we proved to be too strong for D5,” said SHP head coach Armando Del Rio in an email. “We are flying at the moment and feel like we could win any division outside of D1. We are looking forward to competing in Nor Cals.”

SHP wasted little time, scoring in the first minute on a goal from Camy Sheldon. That was followed in quick succession with goals from Sarina Yu in the second minute, Grace Rocha in the sixth and Yu, again, in the seventh.

The Gators added their fifth goal in the 16th minute from Nathalia Herrera to give SHP a 5-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, Ellie Shen scored on a penalty kick in the 57th and Lewa White rounding out the scoring in the 76th minute.

White also had a pair of assists, as did Lauren Bassett.

The Gators advance to the Northern California regional tournament and were bumped up to Division IV where they got the No. 3 seed. They will host No. 6 Sonoma Valley (10-8-5) at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The Dragons won the North Coast Section Division IV championship.