From the sports archives: HMB ends title drought

Suffice to say, it’s been a while.

That drought came to an end Wednesday evening as the Cougars downed Hillsdale 2-0 in a winner-take-all finale to decide the Ocean Division champion.

In Bay Division action, Burlingame beat Terra Nova 4-1 and Menlo-Atherton shutout Westmoor 5-0 to finish the season as co-champions of the division.

The Knights came into the game one point behind Half Moon Bay, but the Cougars proved they were the class of the league.

It’s an amazing turnaround for the Cougars. Mederos, in just his second year with the team, turned a program in disarray into a division champion. Having spent the last 10 years coaching the Cunha Middle School team to six league titles, Mederos knew he had the talent to win a championship at the high school level.

“I coached two-thirds of these kids in eighth grade,” said Mederos, adding that team went undefeated. “I knew we had the capabilities (to be successful this season).”

A longtime coach who has experienced plenty of success, Mederos was still nervous the night before Wednesday’s showdown.

“I couldn’t sleep [Tuesday] night,” Mederos said. “Wondering what find of focus we’d have.”

Turns out Mederos could have slept easy. After weathering early offensive pressure from Hillsdale, the Cougars methodically controlled possession and shut down the Knights’ dynamic forward, Guillermo Garcia.

“Guillermo couldn’t do anything,” said Hillsdale coach Andy Hodzic.

Half Moon Bay countered Garcia with a slew of skillful players of its own, including playmaking midfielder Peter Sarabia and strikers Miguel “Piti” Carrillo and Miguel Vasquez. They’ve been the key to a Cougars offense that Mederos estimates is averaging three goals per game. All three accounted for Half Moon Bay’s scoring Wednesday night.

“I put my best defender (on Sarabia) and [my defender] couldn’t do anything,” Hodzic said. “[Sarabia] really facilitated their top guys.”

It was a pinpoint pass from Sarabia that resulted in Half Moon Bay’s first goal 17 minutes into the game. From just past the midfield stripe, Sarabia sent a perfectly weighted ball over the top of the Hillsdale defense and right into the path of a streaking Vasquez, who one-touched it past the goalkeeper into the upper right corner of the goal.

It was a quick turn of events, given that the Knights had their best scoring chance snuffed out just six minutes earlier. Hillsdale’s Kelly Lau guided a pass through traffic into the stride of Dylan Magann in the Half Moon Bay penalty box. Cougar goalkeeper Jose “Bobby” Vazquez came aggressively off his line and smothered the shot on Magann’s foot. The rebound was then cleared out of danger.

“Had he not come out and saved that ... it would have been a different game,” Mederos said.

The Cougars padded their lead just nine minutes into the second half. Sarabia intercepted a goal kick about 50 yards from goal and immediately sent a long ball into the Hillsdale penalty box. Carrillo ran on and put it away for a 2-0 Cougars lead that all but clinched the victory.

Hodzic believed the Cougars were the better team and knew that even though the teams tied at 2-2 in their previous meeting, the Knights were lucky to come away with a point that day.

“I think Half Moon Bay is a much better team (than we are). They have a lot of skill,” Hodzic said. “They played a much better game (Wednesday night) than when we met them before.”

It didn’t take long for Mederos to know he had the makings of a special team, but also knew the competition atop the Ocean Division would be tough.

“I thought the third game of the season (we’d compete for the title). I thought it would come down to Hillsdale, San Mateo and us,” Mederos said. “I thought we’d be one of the top three teams.”

Turns out, the Cougars are the top team.