Boys Division 1 NCS Preview & Predictions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It all kicks off tonight ladies and gentlemen! This field of 16 teams has a lot of talent. Let's see who brings it home and advances to CIF. It is my belief that getting to the championship game gets you an automatic bid. At large bids are also given out too I believe. The #2 seed De La Salle are my pick to win it all as I think they have the best team from top to bottom. Here is a little bit about each team and some players to look out for.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#1 seed Dougherty Valley- the number 1 seed heads into this tournament as favorites to win it all. They sit at 15-3-2 and came out of the regular season on top of the EBAL. They did lose to De La Salle in the EBAL playoff and will be looking to get some revenge in the final. A player to look out for is Ricardo Feliciano who is their leading point getter with 13 goals and 12 assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#2 seed De La Salle- at 14-3-3 De La Salle head into NCS as my pick to go all the way. The finished second in EBAL and beat Dougherty in the final of the playoff. They are lead by a brother duo of Ronan an Cian Rattigan who have scored 25 goals and dished out 11 assists between them. The Spartans always seem to find a way come playoff time. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#3 seed Clayton Valley Charter- Currently sitting at 15-2-1 the Ugly Eagles are coming off a fantastic season and are entering the postseason with a lot of confidence. They are lead by two juniors Roman Mahmoud who has 13 goals and 14 assists thus far this season and Giovanni Negrete who has 13 goals and 11 assists. They have a tough first round matchup against Campolindo High School and they will need to bring their A game to get by them. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#4 Seed Berkeley High- They head into playoffs with the best record of any team 17-3-1. They have two outstanding seniors in [player_tooltip player_id='159208' first='Oliver' last='Adams'] who has 14 goals and 3 assists and [player_tooltip player_id='54737' first='Zolly' last='Corrigan'] who has 11 goals and 5 assists. They have won it before and they look to do it again in the coming weeks. They will have to get by a tough Vintage team on Wednesday to advance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#5 Seed Ukiah High School- The Wildcats are 15-3-1 headed into the postseason. A player to keep an eye on is Adrian Vazquez. They host the Albany Cougars in round 1 who will have a long way to travel for this one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#6 Seed Richmond High- Rich What?! Richmond! The school made famous by the movie Coach Carter have always had a great soccer program as well. The Oilers sit at 10-2-9 which is most ties I've seen from a team so far this year. For their sake I hope they are good at penalty shutouts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#7 Seed Monte Vista- The EBAL side have a respectable record 9-4-3 this season. They seem to be a little over seeded if you ask me. I think they may be on upset alert against San Ramon Valley in round 1 </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#8 Seed Acalanes- The DAL side head into the postseason after a very solid season. They sit at 13-4-3 and are lead by social media sensation and Mustang product Colby Ebner. Can he lead his team to a round 1 victory against Redwood? Only time will tell. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#9 Seed Redwood High School- They enter the playoffs with a 8-2-5 overall record. They have two standout seniors in Sam Gersh and Masa Fujita what scored 19 goals and dished out 9 assists between them. Unfortunately I see them losing to Acalanes in round 1 and their playoff run coming to an early end. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#10 Seed San Ramon Valley- Going up against their fellow EBAL foe Monte Vista in round 1 I think San Ramon Valley pull off the upset and advance. Three players to keep an eye on are Xander Lee, [player_tooltip player_id='8442' first='Omar' last='Saifan'], and Luke Beckham. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#11 Seed Alameda High- Alameda has strung a very impressive season together. At 15-3-2 they enter the postseason with a ton of confidence. I think they upset the Richmond Oilers to advance in round 1. Their star man is senior Colin Pero who has scored 15 goals and dished out 4 assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#12 Seed Albany High School- Albany will have a long way to travel north to play the Ukiah Wildcats. They are lead by their senior captains Rory Wilmer-Child and Borja Romero. Unfortunately I don't like picking teams who have to travel a long way for a playoff game and I think they get bounced in round 1. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#13 Seed Vintage- Strong side at 13-2-5. They have two players who have been carrying them offensively this season. Junior Henry Drozdowicz who has 18g and 7a so far this season and Senior James Stuart who has 15g and 5a thus far. Unfortunately I think they get bounced by Berkeley tonight. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#14 Seed Campolindo- I think this team is under seeded. They have a superstar senior in Sean Mungunshagai who has scored 17g and 5a this far in the season. At 11-5-3 in a very competitive league I think they pull off the upset in round 1 against Clayton Valley Charter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#15 Seed Windsor- Some players to watch are Junior Yahir Trejo (16g &amp; 8a) and Senior Daniel Lopez (8g &amp; 6a). At 13-6-2 the Jaguars face unfortunately face the best team in this tournament in my opinion and lose. Great season gentlemen I hope you prove me wrong. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#16 Northgate- Squeaking into D2 this year is the Northgate Broncos. Sitting at 10-6-3 headed into the postseason. Lead by Josh Sheehy this team is coming off a very good result beating 14 seed Campolindo recently. I don't think it'll be easy for the 1 seed Dougherty Valley but ultimately I think they get it done in a tight win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>First Round</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dougherty Valley 2-1 Northgate </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Acalanes 2-2 Redwood (Acalanes advances on pens) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Berkeley 3-1 Vintage </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ukiah 3-1 Albany </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>De La Salle 4-0 Windsor </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Monte Vista 1-2 San Ramon Valley </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clayton Valley Charter 2-2 (Campolindo Advance on pens) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Richmond 3-3 Alameda (Alameda Advance on pens) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Quarter-Final: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dougherty Valley 2-2 Acalanes (Acalanes advance on Pens) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Berkeley 3-1 Ukiah </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>De La Salle 4-1 San Ramon Valley </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alameda 1-2 Campolindo </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Semi-Final:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Berkeley 3-2 Acalanes </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>De La Salle 4-0 Campolindo </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Championship: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>De La Salle 3-2 Berkeley </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>De La Salle Champions Berkeley Qualifies for next phase </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->