Heritage Sports Club

Heritage Stampede advances to second round of State Cup.
In the opener on Saturday against Elk Grove Orange, the Stampede quickly took advantage of a PK by Anthony Ortolan in the first few minutes and went up 1-0. The Stampede dominated play in the first half but could not put any of the multiple shots on goal in the box. Elk Grove used an aggressive midline trap to shorten the field during most of the game. Elk Grove scored three unanswered goals to come away with the 3-1 victory.

Stampede played PXSC Gold from SSF on Sunday morning. It was well played by both teams in the first half with control swinging both ways and the half ending 0-0. In the second half, Stampede opened the scoring with a shot into the back of the net by Will Mason. It was followed by a heads up play by Tres Soltero in which the shot on goal bounced over the keeper and was confidently put away by him. An aggressive attack by SSF at the end was halted and the game ended 2-0.

In the finale, Stampede played San Carlos Thunder which had won its first two games by scores of 6-2 and 3-0. It was a must-win for Stampede to move on but they also needed SSF to beat Elk Grove in the other match up. San Carlos opened the scoring with a PK in the first few minute of play. However, Stampede kept up the attack and capitalized on a cross by Victor Mendoza to Sean Flanney to end the half 1-1. In the second half, both teams fought hard and had chances but Kenny Utler scored from about 45 yards out with 15 minutes to play. A resilient attack by San Carlos was well defended by Stampede and they ended 2-1 to advance to the second round of State Cup. SSF also beat Elk Grove 6-0 to assure Stampede's advancement.

Strikers advance to second round of State Cup.
In the first game against San Francisco Tremors, the Strikers dominated play with multiple shots but were unable to score in the first half against a very capable keeper. In the second half a ball was slotted past the near post for a 1-0 lead. With 5 minutes to play, the Tremors scored the equalizer. A first game tie was not in the books as the Strikers rallied and scored with under a minute play. The final score was 2-1 in favor of the Strikers.

The Strikers found their offense against an aggressive and skilled Rangers team from Manteca on Sunday morning. With both teams booking wins the day before, each team needed a win to have a chance to move out of the first round. The Strikers scored early and often taking a 2-0 lead. The Rangers responded shortly thereafter on a well struck shot from a corner. Scoring continued in the second half with the Strikers netting three more goals, to Manteca’s two, for a 5-3 win.

With the Strikers already assured of moving into the State Cup round of 16, they played a good defensive team in Pleasanton Rage. The Rage, having only given up 3 goals in its first two games but winless, held the Strikers scoreless in the first half with some excellent goal keeping. Both teams scored in the second half and drew to a 1-1 tie.

The Strikers move on to the Round of 16 in Morgan Hill on Sunday, April 15^th.

Congratulations to the following Heritage players who received All-League honors this past season playing for their respective high school teams:

Greg Downs, 1^st Team DFAL, Concord High (U19B United); Jordan Zerbini, 1st Team BVAL, Antioch High School (U19B United); Drew Scheider, 1st Team BVAL, Antioch High School (U19B United); Chris Murray, Liberty High School (U19B United); Mark Smith, Antioch High, 2nd Team BVAL (U19B United); Matt Mayo, Honorable Mention, Antioch High (U19B United); Donnie Beeler, 2^nd Team DFAL, College Park (U17B Regal); Matt Pereira, Honorable Mention DFAL, Concord High (U17B Regal); Garrett Paquin, Honorable Mention DFAL, College Park (U17B Regal); Kevin Brauer, Honorable Mention DFAL, College Park (U17B Regal); Tareena Oakley, Defensive MVP DFAL, College Park (U18G Sundogs); Rachel Quintana, 1^st Team DFAL, College Park (U18G Sundogs); Briana Levin, 2^nd Team DFAL, College Park (U18G Sundogs); Carrie Rubendall, Honorable Mention DFAL, College Park (U18G Sundogs); Eugenie Foote, Honorable Mention DFAL, College Park (U18G Sundogs); Kim Bowen, Honorable Mention DFAL, College Park (U18G Sundogs); Marissa Furtado, Honorable Mention DFAL, Alhambra (U16G Heat); Laura Gordon, Honorable Mention DFAL, Alhambra (U16G Heat); Stephanie Scoles, 1^st Team BSAL, Berean Christian (U17G Synergy); Kaitlin Dick, 2^nd Team BSAL, Berean Christian (U15G Strikers).

A hearty well done to all Heritage players who just finished their high school season, and welcome back to the Club!!

Magic Moves on to the Quarter Finals...The Super Bowl wasn’t the only big game on Sunday, as Heritage Magic rolled into Morgan Hill to face a very physical and skilled South Valley United team out of Fresno. Coming off two weeks of preparation where more than half the team was sidelined due to illness, our ladies pulled together and showed heart, courage, and determination in a game that had everything.

Magic landed the first blow of the afternoon when forward, Nikki Hohenstein scored off a keeper deflection 8 minutes into the match. South Valley would not be denied though as they provided the equalizer 10 minutes later. The score remained knotted 1 – 1 through regulation play and overtime, and as the game grew so did the number of fans on the sidelines. By the end of double overtime the score was still tied as both teams prepared themselves for the dreaded penalty kick phase of the afternoon.

The energy was electric and remarkable is the only word that can describe what happened next. Jordan Vaelei–Bilich stepped into the box and made three amazing deflections of shots on goal as well as scoring one of her own. Nicole Tabone added another goal to the total and then Ally LaBorde put the game away with a rocket in the high post.

Magic’s next stop will be in Turlock, where they will play cross town rivals and friends, MDSL Velocity, for a spot in the semi-finals. Good Luck Magic, we’re rooting for you!!!

Congratulations to Heritage Lightning U12 Boys who took first place in their regular season! This was their inaugural year as a Heritage team and what an exciting season they had!! Sandy Jones, their coach, was dedicated to creating and developing this new team. During the pre-season, they took 2nd place in the Bob Fowler Memorial Tournament. Then they opened their season with a game winning score of 5-1. They continued to work together as a team throughout the fall and went on to win seven more games. They had one loss and one tie during the regular season. In September, they played in the Danville Mustang Tournament and came home with 4th place medals. The San Ramon Halloween Tournament gave them an opportunity to prove they could make it into the finals again, which they did; they brought home 3rd place medals. Lightning is looking forward to participating in the Association Cup in January. picture

The Heritage Bears “graduated” from U10 soccer in style this fall by playing their first non-jamboree format tournaments Nov. 18th and 19th in the NorCal Cup at Sonoma State, and Dec. 2nd and 3rd in the Copa Del Rey hosted by River City Boca in Sacramento.In the NorCal Cup, the boys just couldn’t get a lucky bounce. The Bears started with a frustrating 2-0 loss to Union FC of Palo Alto – hitting the post three times and dominating play. The second match saw a fast-paced 3-2 victory over the Walnut Creek Diablos, followed in the evening under the lights with a hard-fought last minute 2-0 loss to Sacramento United. Sunday saw the Bears seeded in the silver bracket against tough opponent Atletico Santa Rosa. Again, the boys dominated possession but missed several opportunities, and ended up losing on a fluky goal from a free kick.Two weeks later, the Bears traveled to Sacramento State for the Copa Del Rey and were clearly ready to prove themselves. Starting with a dominating 4-2 win over a tough Santa Rosa United Gold team, the boys looked to be back to their goal scoring ways. Building momentum, the afternoon saw a convincing 6-1 victory over Eldorado United. Needing a win on Sunday morning to advance to the final, the Bears played resolutely in defense and did enough to put out a strong challenge from Elk Grove and won 2-0. Their first Cup final proved to be one of their finest matches played all season. The boys were unlucky to give up the first goal on another free kick against a fast Davis Legacy team. However, the boys rebounded with quick passing, sharp finishing, and strong midfield pressure to go on and win 4-2 and claim their first tournament trophy. The final match was the team’s 40th of the season, which saw the team end up with a fantastic 34-6 overall record in tournament and league play. picture

Knights win back to back league championships! With a 1-0 victory over the Rockridge Sting on Saturday November 4, the Knights secured the U16 Gold Division Championship, giving them two league titles in the past two years. In 2005, the Knights won the Bronze division, playing as a U15 team in the U16 bracket. Now fully U16, the Knights jumped two divisions to play Gold and continued their winning ways in this extremely tight and competitive league. The final game of the season pitted the two teams that had been at the top of the league table all year, with the winner of this game to be crowned champion. The only goal scored came off a free kick by Scott Wuestenberg. Scott lofted a perfectly weighted ball to Mark Szymanski who headed it to Rafael Araujo at the top of the penalty area. Rafa turned and rocketed a shot past the Rockridge keeper for what proved to be the winning tally With nearly half the game remaining, the Knights bottled up the Rockridge attack, dominating play while carefully preserving the one goal margin. Truly a team effort, highlights from the game include Adan Elizondo, James Sears and Stan Spafford controlling the midfield and suffocating defense by John Viano, Gerardo Gutierrez, Chris Wong and keeper Marshall Jimenez. Disciplined team play by Mark Szymanski, Andrew Hogenson and substitutes Dominic Alvarado, Andrew Gibson, Ryan Geraghty, Scott Spafford and Juan Contreras allowed the Knights to control the game. The Knights were the only team to beat Rockridge this year, having scored a 3-1
victory earlier in the season. The Rockridge coach complimented the Knights after the game, saying “This is the best team, and the smartest team we’ve played. The way they coordinated their defense, covering for each other during our attacks was great to watch”. An outstanding and well deserved compliment,
particularly considering that one key member of the defense, Sean McInturf had to watch from the sidelines having suffered a broken leg in October.

Congratulations to coaches Matt Sears, Mike Geraghty and Julio Borge on the
championship and on the continued development of the Knights.

Velocity Storms the Silver A Division, Crowned Champions- Heritage Velocity won the Silver A Division in U-16 Division III silver A) with a 2-0 win over ACC Blackhawks in an away game on ACC’s turf. The first goal of the game was scored by midfielder Nick Corona who sent a soft shot at the goal that took a quirky bounce in front of the rolling back into the goal. As the Blackhawks put more pressure up front to score, Nick Kelly received a ball at midfield and made a nice turn and was off to the races, putting the ball into the right corner of the goal right as the keeper committed to the left. The game ended with a final score of 2-0 in favor of Velocity.

Velocity clinched 1st place in league after only 8 games. The team has averaged almost 4 goals per game, quite remarkable, with 7 shutouts, 6 consecutively. Congratulations to the Velocity players and the coaches, Mike Bedig, Todd Hogenson and Alex Valdivia on an outstanding season! Well done!

With a bye on November 4 and the end of the season approaching, Velocity entered the Sonoma Halloween 2006 Tournament over October 28-29 to keep sharp for Association Cup. Velocity, an age pure U-15 team playing against predominantly U-16 Division teams, played extremely well and took second overall for the Tournament. Quite an accomplishment playing up. The team lost a tough, hard fought match to Sonoma United in the Championship game. Congratulations to Velocity for bringing home the Silver hardware!