Fans could not ask for better playoff soccer

Unlike basketball, that sees 16 teams in brackets I through V, soccer only puts eight in its each of its five brackets and that has certainly tightened up scores. On the boys’ side, there were 20 first round games Saturday, half of which went into overtime or penalty kicks. In the Division III bracket alone, three of the four games were decided by penalty kicks.

There were seven more games on the boys’ side decided by one goal in regulation, meaning there were 17 of 20 games decided by one goal or less. The biggest differential among those 20 games was two goals.

The girls’ side wasn’t as clear cut, but other than a 4-0 Mitty win over Woodside, 6-0 Salinas win over Crystal and Sacred Heart Prep’s 9-0 win over KIPP Navigate, most games were within a goal or two.

Of the 20 first-round girls’ games, a quarter of them, five, were won in overtime or penalty kicks, and seven others were decided by one goal. Three of the four Division I and Division IV games were separated by just one goal in regulation, as were two of four games in Division III.

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In the CCS basketball playoffs, there are still 23 county schools still alive, 12 girls’ teams and 11 boys’ squads, playing quarterfinal games Wednesday.

Those numbers don’t include the three county teams in the Open Division — the M-A and Serra boys, and the Priory girls — as they are guaranteed three games before moving automatically into the Northern California regional tournament.

And while there were certainly some blowouts in a combined 40 second-round games — the largest being a 62-point difference in a girls’ DV game and a 54-point difference in a girls’ DIV matchup — nearly half, 15 games, were decided by 10 points or less.

CCS seeding meetings are never an exact science and those tasked with putting brackets together do their best to make sure games are, mostly, competitive.

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Nueva School’s James Lee has established himself as one of the top golfers in the CCS and state. But he is far from a one-sport standout.

Lee has spent the last four years playing hockey for the San Francisco Sabercats club. Now a team captain, Lee helped lead the Sabercats to the Northern California high school championship to earn a spot in the state championship tournament March 14-16 in Anaheim.

This will be the fourth straight time Lee and the Sabercats will appear in the state tournament.

I have to imagine Lee’s golf swing has helped him on the ice as he led the Northern Conference of the Sharks High School Hockey League in points with 31 goals and 14 assists, averaging nearly 3.5 points per game.

The Sabercats won their conference, going 13-2.

Lee is committed to play golf at Princeton next season and hopes to get some ice time with the school’s club hockey team.

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It hasn’t been easy, but Cole Gabrielson is living his baseball dream.

The 2018 Woodside graduate didn’t get a lot of recruiting attention coming out of high school and got injured during his time at College of San Mateo, eventually earned a scholarship and degree from University of Southern California. Despite being told he would be drafted, he wasn’t, instead signing a free-agent deal with the New York Yankees.

Now Gabrielson is in the New York Yankees big league camp to start spring training.

Gabrielson has spent two years in the minors before earning a spot in camp. Sunday, he was in the lineup against the Tigers, hitting in the cleanup spot, going hitless in his only at-bat.

Gabrielson spent 2023 between low A and high A in the Yankees’ minor league system. Last year, he spent most of the season at high A before earning a promotion to double A. In two minor league seasons, he has batted .219 with a .671 OPS, with 48 runs scored, 19 doubles, four triples and three homers and 41 RBIs. He has 18 stolen bases, getting caught six times. He has 44 walks against 106 strikeouts.

Nathan Mollat is in his 24th year covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.