Top performances from the California NCS title games

The North Coast Section championship games wrapped up on Saturday with a bevy of close, hard-fought matches. The cream rose to the top as six No. 1 seeds came out on top in the eight brackets. <strong>Girls</strong> <strong>Division I</strong> The Carondelet Cougars picked up their 20th win of the season, and at the same time picked up their sixth NCS title, and third Division I title. Carondelet (20-1-2) topped 12th seeded California (6-9-6) after a magical run all the way to the finals. The Cougars went up 1-0 before halftime to break the ice, then scored two goals after that to put the match away. [player_tooltip player_id="19336" first="Elizabeth" last="Vranesh"] scored two goals for Carondelet, Joy Casselman scored the other while [player_tooltip player_id="19096" first="Annaliese" last="Giusto"] provided an assist in the win. <strong>Division II</strong> The Windsor Jaguars made the journey down Highway 101 to Larkspur and upset top-seeded Redwood at its place, winning 2-0 with a goal in each half. Elsa Nolen got the scoring started with the first half goal, scoring off of a corner and easing the pressure for the second-seeded visitors, before superstar Jayden Holdenried scored the second goal to give the Jags some breathing room. Windsor took advantage of a Giants giveaway to score the second goal. Windsor heads into the NorCal Tournament at 16-1-2 while Redwood will head advance at 18-3-3. <strong>Division III</strong> The Branson Bulls, the top seed in the DIII bracket, scored early and held on against No. 2 Acalanes, topping the Dons 1-0. Riley Pearson got a goal for Branson (20-3-2) in the fourth minute, scoring on a cross after a bit of a scramble in the box. Anna Lardner got on the cross first, getting her head to it and after a ricochet Pearson was essentially able to run through the ball, guiding it into the back of the net with her chest for what proved to be the game-winner. For nearly 76 minutes after that, Acalanes knocked on the door, but could not find the equalizer. The Dons (20-2-0) had 20 shots to four for Branson, but could not find a way through the stout and stingy back line of the Bulls. <strong>Division IV</strong> Marin Academy and University squared off for the third time this season, this time with the NCS title on the line. The Wildcats won the first 1-0, then the two teams opened it up in a 4-4 draw in the second Bay Counties League match. Marin Academy built a 4-0 lead on their way to a 4-2 win and its first ever NCS title. Marin Academy (17-2-2) built a 4-0 lead before the Devils fired back twice as Ella Klingelhofer scored the first two goals on assists from Cali Poulos and Becca Sherry. Poulos scored the third and Cami Colpitts, who assisted on that goal scored the fourth on an assist from Sherry. It was just a 1-0 game at halftime after Klingelhofer scored on a cross which led to a scramble in the box. University had a chance to level the match in the 60th minute, but missed a penalty and Klingelhofer scored a minute later to completely flip the narrative. University (19-2-4) continued to fight as Isabella Ong and Hetti Hsia scored the goals for the Devils. <strong>BOYS</strong> <strong>Division I</strong> The De La Salle Spartans won their 14th NCS title, and their first since 2018, with a 2-1 win over Montgomery. The opener came from JP Hernandez then Cooper Kennedy scored to double the lead in the 60th minute on an assist from Paolo Baiati. De La Salle (19-6-1) went 17-1-1 over their last 19 matches, allowing just one goal in the DI playoffs and allowing just nine goals in the last 19 matches of the season. The Vikings (15-3-5) were technically the defending champions, winning the title in 2020 as there were no NCS championships in 2021. <strong>Division II</strong> In one of the better NCS matches of the year, the top-seeded Giants (18-3-3) scored a cracking goal in double overtime to top a very spirited and talented Richmond (16-3-2) team, 1-0. The game-winner came off the foot of [player_tooltip player_id="7391" first="Dave" last="Mazariegos"], who took the outlet from Matt Jessen, controlled the ball with his chest and one-timed a right-footed smash into the net for the game-winner in the 93rd minute. Mazariegos almost ended it in the first overtime, getting into the box and hitting a left-footed rocket, which was saved by the legs of Richmond keeper Diego Albarran. The match was even throughout, for the most part as Redwood applied a good amount of pressure in the final 25 minutes of the first half while the Oilers made tactical adjustments at halftime and evened the match out in the second half. Chances were few and far between as both teams stayed disciplined and organized. <strong>Division III</strong> On Friday, Archie Williams came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat Marin Academy 2-1 for the DIII title, scoring the game-winner only three minutes from time. [player_tooltip player_id="7431" first="Diego" last="Alicke"] scored the game-winner after taking the ball away from a defender and being in on goal 1v1, finishing what ended up being the game winner. The equalizer came off the foot of [player_tooltip player_id="7653" first="George" last="Dick"] who played a long ball in from the back, but the ball ended up striking the crossbar and angling down and in for the first goal for Archie (14-3-5). Marin Academy (16-4-2) got a penalty about midway through the first half and [player_tooltip player_id="6939" first="Aiden" last="Aley"] put it away for a 1-0 lead. <strong>Division IV</strong> The Piedmont Highlanders (14-4-2) finished off a fantastic season as the top-seed scored a late goal in the 68th minute. Piedmont was able to get a cross into the box and after a great save Alex Nealy, the follow up was put away by Andre Stankiewicz. University (14-6-3) had a late opportunity, nearly scoring what could have been an equalizer with just minutes to play, but the goal was ruled out for offside.