Mills hands Mercy tournament loss

"We have a depth chart," Andreacchi said. "Everyone is contributing. We're getting better. We've done a good job building the program."

The Vikings needed everyone to play well in their second game of pool play in the annual Burlingame Thanksgiving Invitational tournament when they faced Mercy-Burlingame. Both teams had suffered losses in their first games so a win was imperative if either hoped to make the semifinals.

In an entertaining back-and-forth match, Mills scored the game's only goal with less than 15 minutes to play. Junior forward Arleen Winkelbauer took a pass from Brittany Pickett at the top of the Mercy penalty box and beat the Crusaders goalkeeper. The goal came against the run of play as moments before, Mercy was putting heavy pressure on the Mills goal.

On one of the Crusaders' eight corner kicks, Kelly Gorrell crossed the ball into the Mills penalty box. Alli Gilmartin got her head on the ball and it appeared destined for the back of the net.

Unfortunately, the ball ricocheted off the post and into the arms of the Mills goalkeeper. Minutes later, Mills scored.

"That's probably one of the better Mills teams I've seen in a while," said Mercy coach Kevin Corsiglia. "They're big, strong and fast. We don't match up with big, physical teams."

The opening minutes of the first half were a feel-out period for both teams. As the half wore on, however, Mercy started controlling the ball and making menacing attacks on the Mills goal. On a free kick, Amy Matthews sent a cross into the penalty area but no Crusader could get to the ball to get a shot off. Later, a Gorrell shot was deflected by a Mills defender that nearly rolled into the goal.

"In the first 15, 20 minutes, they took us out of what we do, which is a short passing game," Andreacchi said.

Mills came out flying in the second half, dominating the opening 10 minutes. The Vikings got four of their eight second-half shots during that span.

In the end, however, Mills got the break it needed.

Despite the loss, Corsiglia was not too upset.

"I thought we played well," Corsiglia said. "The main thing I was looking for was improvement. It's only a preseason game. We could lose all our preseason games, win all our games in league and still make [the playoffs]."

Mills will be back on the field Friday at 5:30 p.m. to face Notre Dame-San Jose. Mercy faces Los Gatos at 1 p.m. Friday.

San Mateo 1, South City 0

The Bearcats had the run of play against the Warriors but could only manage one goal.

San Mateo outshot South City 10 to 3 but needed a goal from senior Kim Won to keep the Bearcats chances alive of advancing to the knockout round of the Burlingame tournament.

"I had her at forward but I dropped her to midfield," said San Mateo coach Vic Montoya. "That really worked out."

San Mateo dominated possession but could not solve the South City defense. Won had a number of nice runs into the Warriors' penalty area but the South City sweeper time and again kept the Bearcats in check.

"We dominated the game," Montoya said. "We had a lot of chances. I wish we could have scored more."

San Mateo takes on Aragon at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Woodside 4, Hillsdale 1

Two bad breaks against Hillsdale sparked Woodside to the win.

The Wildcats scored two goals off Knights' mistakes in the first half. Three minutes into the game, Rebecca Lyman's corner kick bounced off the Hillsdale goalkeeper into the goal. Six minutes later, Mia Ortiz took a perfect through pass from Sonia Crockett and broke in on goal. Ortiz carried the ball to the endline and sent a cross toward the goal. The Hillsdale goalkeeper bobbled the ball and a defender tracking back inadvertently tapped the ball into the net.

Hillsdale cut the lead in half just before halftime with a nice goal but Woodside got the goal back three minutes into the second half on a goal from Amanda Torres.

Jackie Flowers rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats two minutes from the end.

Woodside faces host Burlingame at 11:30 a.m. Friday while Hillsdale takes on Terra Nova at 10 a.m.