If you take a look at the brackets and the matchups for Saturday, there is one obvious place to go to get the best bang for your buck – Santa Rosa High. First, you will get to see Windsor go against Santa Rosa in a girls game at 5 p.m. and then the Santa Rosa boys team takes the field against Tamalpais. And, yes, you could make it a triple-header if you … Read More »

Corner Kicks can critique a soccer game a little better than he can a movie, so take this for what it’s worth… “The Damned United” is now playing at the Rialto. It’s about the making of Leeds United into one of the best teams in England in 1974. As woeful as Corner Kicks is at interpreting the nuances of any movie, at least in this one anyone can tell that Michael … Read More »

Patrick Sigler and Evan Chambers were teammates on the same Cardinal Newman High team three years ago. Now they are making an impact on their respective collegiate squads. Sigler is a red-shirt sophomore defender who has started all 19 games for Cal Poly this season. From his defensive position he has two goals, two assists and has taken 14 shots for Cal Poly which is 8-9-2 as it awaits its position … Read More »

Go north a bit and you’ll find the UC Davis mens & women’s rosters is sprinkled with Sonoma County talent from three Empire high schools. The 6-11-1 Aggie men play their regular season finale at 7 Saturday night at UC Santa Barbara. Empire players on the UCD men’s roster: - Andrew Robello, a Cardinal Newman product who plays midfield and forward, has been in 14 games and started one. The red-shirt freshman has taken four shots but hasn’t … Read More »

If you need a soccer fix, and if you get ESPNU as one of the kijillion channels from your cable/satellite provider, you might want to tune in at 8 tonight when the University of San Diego Toreros face Portland for the West Coast Conference women’s tournament title. Why? Well, on that USD roster are three more Sonoma County products (are you starting to get the picture here of just how good soccer … Read More »

As you watch the players in this year’s North Coast Section tournament remember many of them will be playing at the “next level” real soon. If you don’t think the players you are watching have talent, take a look at some who played in this tournament not so long ago. For instance,  look at Div. I San Diego State. The Aztecs will face BYU on Saturday for the championship of the Mountain … Read More »

Action from Wednesday night’s Analy win over Maria Carrillo. Corner Kicks has decided to not comment on the officiating this season. Oftentimes, it has become more of a topic at gamesthan the players on the field. And Wednesday night appeared to be one of those occasions. But the epitome of the situation came in the second half when the center ref, jogging backward, took a misstep and fell done on the Maria … Read More »

Now we are down to the Elite Eight in all four mini-tournaments (remember there are no regionals or state playoffs…..yet). So, what’s next on the pitch. Well, for starters there are some lovely matchups and all games will be contested on Saturday.  Let’s start with the Boys Division I quarterfinal pairings: - Analy at Marin Catholic, 2 p.m. - Elsie Allen at Terra Linda, 2 p.m. - Tamalpais at Santa Rosa, 7 p.m. - Casa Grande … Read More »

North Coast Section DIVISION  I BOYS Analy 3, Maria Carrillo 2 Marin Catholic 3, Redwood 0 Terra Linda 3, Piner 1 Santa Rosa 4, Healdsburg 0 Windsor 2, Arcata 0 Casa Grande 2, Drake 1 Elsie Allen 3, Montgomery 1 Tamalpais 4, Sonoma Valley 3 GIRLS Petaluma 7, Fortuna 1 Sonoma Valley 2, Eureka 0 Arcata 2, Ursuline 1 DIVISION III BOYS Marin Catholic 6, Fremont Christian 0 International 2, Drew School 0 Calistoga 2, Bentley 1 Fort Bragg 2, Head-Royce 1 Branson 4, St. Helena 1 Roseland Prep 4, College Prep … Read More »

So the brackets are set  at long last. No coach made an on-site pitch for his or her team. They simply fought it out via e mails. Certainly made it a lot easier on the selection committee cause they didn’t even have to look anyone in the eye. So, here are some random thoughts: Underdogs in the first-round I would not want to play: Div. I Boys: Casa Grande Div. I Girls: Eureka Div. III … Read More »