The second-seeded Analy Tigers came agonizingly close to a trip
to the North Coast Section, Division-1 soccer title game on Nov.
10, falling to 11th-seeded Cardinal Newman in the semi-finals on
penalty kicks, 0-0 (5-4).
On a night that best illustrated the beauty and cruelty of the
sport, the soccer gods didn’t smile on the Tigers in this one.
Analy applied constant pressure on the Newman defense most of the
game, outshooting the visitors by almost a 3-1 margin.
But after a regulation and a pair of 10-minute overtime periods
failed to produce a score, the game would be decided by penalty
kicks. The Tigers would come up one short, and Newman was the team
celebrating at mid-field.
“The game was a heartbreaker,” said Tiger coach Peter Meechan.
“We dominated and had probably 70-80 percent of the play, but could
not score. Defensively, they put so many defenders behind the ball
that it was hard to get any clean looks at goal.”
Top-seeded Montgomery won the NCS Division-1 title on Saturday,
beating Cardinal Newman in the championship match, 1-0.
Although disappointing, the Tigers went farther than perhaps
even they envisioned at the start of the season. Their list of
accomplishments include multiple tournament titles and the Sonoma
County League co-championship, finishing the season with an overall
record of 23-3-3.
“Overall, the season exceeded our expectations and the best
thing was how consistently we played,” noted Meechan. “We had a bad
half now and then, but we didn’t really have an entire bad game.
This is a huge feat in soccer and one that we really worked hard to
accomplish this season. The boys played great for the entire
season and they have a lot to be proud of,” he added.
