BOYS SOCCER: Hillsdale Falls Just Short of Title

The Score: Half Moon Bay 2, Hillsdale 0.

The Star: Hillsdale High sophomore goalie Chris Loo delivered a standout performance in a losing cause as Half Moon Bay clinched the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division championship in a winner-takes-all finale on Wednesday night. Loo’s proper placement and quick reactions helped stave off HMB’s relentless attack in the first half – remarkably keeping his team within one goal until the 48th minute.

The Turning Point: Half Moon Bay’s first goal. Forward Miguel Vasquez received a nice ball down the left side from Peter Sarabia in the 17th minute and flicked a shot over Loo and into the top right corner of the net. Hillsdale entered the day trailing HMB by a point in the league standings, meaning the Knights needed a win – and not a tie – to clinch the PAL Ocean title. In terms of championship implications, Vasquez’s early strike put Hillsdale in a two-goal hole – which proved too much to overcome.

The Quote: “Excellent for the boys. (The program) is just growing. Almost the whole team is back next year. You can see the camaraderie.” – Hillsdale High coach Andy Hodzic, highlighting the encouraging big-picture focus after his team finished agonizingly short of a league championship and resulting trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs.

What’s Next? Very likely, the offseason. Only the PAL Ocean champion earns a guaranteed spot in the CCS playoffs. Now, Hillsdale’s only potential route to the postseason is via an at-large berth. Because the PAL Ocean is classified as a ‘B’ league, the Knights will probably not have enough power points to land such an invitation.

The Bottom Line: Hillsdale had the opportunity to claim the PAL Ocean title as well as its first CCS playoff berth since 1996 in the regular-season finale, but the Knights were outplayed by a wide margin. Nevertheless, Hillsdale finished 10-3-1 in league games and 13-5-2 overall … and looks poised for an even better showing next year with the lion’s share of its starters set to return. Dylan Magann nearly gave the Knights the lead in the 11th minute, but was beaten to the ball by charging Half Moon Bay goalie Jose Vazquez in a bam-bam play. From there, HMB dominated the scoring chances for the rest of the first half … and Miguel (Piti) Carrillo’s goal in the 48th minute essentially ended Hillsdale’s championship pursuit.

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Half Moon Bay 2, Hillsdale 0

At Half Moon Bay

Scoring: HMB: M. Vasquez (Sarabia) 17:00, HMB: Carrillo 48:00.

Records: Half Moon Bay 15-2-5, 11-1-2 PAL Ocean. Hillsdale 13-5-2, 10-3-1.