The favored No. 5 Vikings will move on to the second round of the NCS Division 2 soccer playoffs, thanks to a 68th minute goal by Alan Soto that provided the firepower in host Montgomery’s 1-0 win on Wednesday night versus No. 12 Tamalpais.
Soto converted a free-kick from 30-yards out as he lofted ball that just got under the crossbar in the upper right corner for the goal.
“Alan put it in the right place and there was a lot of traffic in front of their goalie. I thought we would get a head on it but it went in,” Montgomery coach Jon Schwan said. “After we scored with 13 minutes left to play, it seemed like we took the wind out of Tamalpais’ sails. We were pretty easily able to keep the ball in their end and kill the game.”
The Vikings (18-4-3) had 12 shots (seven on goal) and Tamalpais (11-6-3) had 10 shots (four on goal). Vikings goalkeeper Joel Herrera had four saves.
“Joel wasn’t tested a lot but he was there when he needed to be,” Schwan said. “It was a good performance.”
Montgomery travels to No. 4 Concord for a Saturday evening quarterfinal.
“We are going to Concord with something to prove,” Schwan said. “We have a chip on our shoulder.”
Santa Rosa 1, College Park 0
The No. 8 host Panthers (14-8-2) gritted out a win against the physical No. 9 Falcons (10-7-6) in a Division 1 opening-round game.
“It was a pretty aggressive, physical game,” Santa Rosa coach Antonio Garcia said. “We made good plays on the defensive third of the field to make sure they didn’t score on us.”
The only goal came in the 65th minute, as Santa Rosa center back Gavin Weitzenberg won a 50/50 ball at midfield, eluded two defenders with a deft dribble, and punched the ball past the College Park (Pleasant Hill) goalkeeper from 15 yards out.
“Gavin made quite a run. It was a great play. What was impressive was how he went by two of their midfielders,” Garcia said. “The College Park keeper never had a chance.”
The Panthers had 11 shots (six on goal) and the Falcons had 12 (five on goal). Santa Rosa goalie Enrique Alvor had five saves.
“Enrique did really well tonight. He saved two one-on-one breakaways,” Garcia said. “He has been outstanding all year.”
The Panthers play a quarterfinal game Saturday at 7 p.m. against No. 1 San Ramon Valley. Santa Rosa lost to San Ramon, 2-1, in the first game of the season after the Panthers had an early 1-0 lead. Saturday will be the Panthers chance for payback.
Elsie Allen 3, Albany 1
It was the Jesus Torres show in a Division 3 first-round victory for the No. 8 Lobos over the visiting No. 9 Cougars. Torres, a senior, scored all three Elsie Allen (11-5-0) goals to propel the Lobos into the quarterfinals.
Torres scored in the 15th minute on a 35-yard through-ball, in the 20th minute on a 20-yard shot outside the box and in the 23rd minute via an up-close encounter with the Albany (6-9-3) goalie after the ball ricocheted through traffic.
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