Four teams seek CCCAA Women's Soccer State Championship beginning Friday

Tournament Central
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CUPERTINO - The stage is set for the 2019 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) women’s soccer championships following regional play. Three teams will make their second-consecutive appearance, while one new team looks to make a push for a title. The semifinal round will kick off on Friday with the State Championship game set for Sunday at 10 a.m. at De Anza College.

Lake Tahoe (21-0-2)  will face San Diego Mesa (21-1-2) at 9:45 a.m. in Friday's first semifinal while Santiago Canyon (16-3-3) will face San Joaquin Delta (23-0-2) at 1:15 p.m. in the second.

Between the top four seeds, there are a combined four losses. Lake Tahoe represents the top seed in the north, while San Joaquin Delta with holds hold the second seed. The top seed in the south is awarded to Santiago Canyon as they will look to defend their 2018 State Championship, while San Diego Mesa will hold the second seed.

Santiago Canyon hauled in their third state championship in program history and will look to repeat this season. After receiving the third seed in the southern region, the Hawks squeaked by a first-round matchup on penalties against fellow conference foe Santa Ana followed by shutout victories against Chaffey and Santa Barbara. The Hawks share the wealth on the offensive front with Brianna Diaz being responsible for six goals and five assists to equate to 17 points. Kendra Koerth follows with five goals, while Tara Hansel has recorded five assists.

Lake Tahoe, who returns to the state tournament for the second-consecutive season, will look to earn their first-ever state title after falling just short a year ago. They continue to perform well on the offensive end as they rank second overall in the state in goals scored with 104 leading to a 4.52 goals-for-average. Furthermore, they have allowed a mere nine goals on the season which ranks tied for second in the state. They breezed through regional play after not allowing a single goal. They defeated Sierra, 2-0, to earn their bid. The Coyotes are paced by freshman Alexandra Trinidad who has scored 27 goals on the season and dished out 10 assists. Eight of her goals have acted as game-winners.

San Joaquin Delta earns their second-straight bid and looks to reel in their first-ever state crown. The Mustangs had one of the most difficult roads to the state tournament as they had to get through third-ranked Fresno City. They advanced with a 1-0 victory. They have netted 97 goals on the season which ranks them third overall in the state. On average, they score just under four goals a game and have allowed just six goals all year which paces the state. Goalkeeping by committee has been the root of their success with sophomore Marcella Salyer and freshman Callie Crain sharing time between the pipes. Salyer has earned all 22 wins and two ties and is responsible for 42 saves and two shutouts. Sophomore Jaylin Meza leads the offense with 18 goals and seven assists.

San Diego Mesa edged out 2018 state championship participant, San Bernardino Valley, to reach the final four. SD Mesa paces the state in goals scored with 109 while allowing just nine goals on the season thus owning the strongest goals score versus goals allowed ratio. Sophomore Violet Renard leads the state in goals scored with 35. She has yet to score in the playoffs, but has scored in 18 games earning 13 multi-scoring games.

(Nicho DellaValle, Riverside City College Athletics)