March 14, 2014
Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
Page 11
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AFTER LOSING A 2-0 LEAD IN THE FINALS, MDSA STRIKERS FC WON A PENALTY KICK SHOOTOUT and took home the championship for U12 boys at the President’s Cup in San Jose. The team includes, front row from left, Matthew Loui, Felipe Ognian, Abdullah Saleh, Zachary Kaleal, Thomas Cordova, Aidan Cook and “lucky charm” Javier Cordova”; back row, coach Anthony Kaleal, John Glenn, Mateo Cordova, Nicolas Campos, Joseph Ferrell, Tyler Loui, Ryan Chand and coach Jorge Cordova. Not pictured, coach Jim Hawk and Joseph Hawk. JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
Three teams from Mt. Diablo Soccer Association claimed titles at the President’s Cup in San Jose last month as the AYSO tournament season kicked into gear. The under 10 girls MDSA Vortex, U10 Arsenal boys and U12 MDSA Strikers FC boys all won titles in the busy weekend that required teams to play up to six games over two days. MDSA Vortex won two games but lost to Palo Alto Net Ripper 1-0 on the opening day. They then took a lopsided 6-0 verdict in the quarterfinals over Cupertino Green Dragons. In the semi-finals against Davis Hurricanes the winning goal came in the waning minutes by Kelly Adams for a 1-0 victory. In the championship game the Net Rippers were the opponents again. Olivia Yoshii scored in the last five minutes for a 1-0 Vortex win that reversed the previous day’s result and scoreline. Sister team MDSA Phoenix won its bracket but was eliminated on Sunday. The U12 Strikers FC won five games in two days to reach the championship game. The semi-final game found the Strikers against MDSA United with the Strikers prevailing 3-2. In the finals against Mountain
View Hammers the Strikers took charge with 2-0 lead at halftime, but the Hammers came out strong in the second half and tied the game in the fourth quarter. The teams went straight to penalty kicks at the end of a 2-2 regulation game. The Strikers won it on the sixth PK round. United rebounded from its semi-finals loss to blank Davis Elite 3-0 for third place. The U10 boys MDSA Arsenal had five shutouts in six games en route to a President’s Cup title with a 32-1 scoring margin. Both the semi-finals and finals were 3-0 wins over San Jose Barcelona and Mountain View Tigers, respectively. The MDSA Diablos beat Barcelona 2-1 to take third in the U10 boys bracket in the highest scoring among six games they played. Diablos only gave up three goals on the weekend. In the U14 boys bracket MDSA Legends United FC tied for the best group play record but lost in the quarterfinals 1-0 to Pacifica Electrolytes. In the U14 girls flight MDSA Fury got all the way to the finals before dropping a 2-0 decision to Mountain View Revolution, which beat the local team twice on the weekend. The U12 girls MDSA Legends FC won its red division
bracket but then was upended 3-2 by Intensity in the quarterfinals. In the U12 girls white division MDSA Heat took third by defeating Black Storm 2-0 in its final match after losing to Bel-
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mont in the semis. Belmont ended up winning the championship. The tournament season continues with the 20th anniversary Concord Cup held locally on May 17-18.
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A LATE GOAL IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH gave MDSA Vortex a 1-0 victory and the title at the President’s Cup in San Jose. The team includes, front row from left, Alyssa Birder, Kelly Adams, Emma Williams, Ainsley Townlin; middle row, Carly Urteaga, Milla Anum, Lauren Gherlone, Olivia Yoshii, Julia Stranko, Bailey Kessinger; back row, assistant coach KC Anum, assistant youth coach Devanne Zalewksi, assistant youth coach Nikki Apana and head coach Kim Apana.
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Free Agency: Boon or Bust for Raiders?
TYLER LEHMAN SPORTS TALK Imagine being a kid in a candy store, your pockets full of money, only to find that there isn’t really any good candy in the store to buy. This is similar to the dilemma the Oakland Raiders are currently facing. The Raiders currently have the most cap space of any team in the National Football League with an estimated $66.5 million in cap space. There is no shortage of cap room for the Raiders this offseason, but unfortunately there is a lack of talent in this
year’s free agent market to spend it on. Free agency is filled with many middle tier players. There are a lot of solid rotation men, back-ups and older veterans, but there are not many elite, young players. Another problem for the Raiders this offseason is their conflicting interests between the general manager and owner. Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders, has made it publicly known that if there aren’t improvements to this year’s team both head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie will lose their jobs. With McKenzie’s job on the line, it is questionable whether he will even go after developmental players for the future in free agency. If McKenzie wants to keep his job he needs to win now. He might be more prone to signing stop-gap players who aren’t in the franchise’s long-
term interest, but might help the Raiders win a couple extra games next season. Regardless of McKenzie’s mindset, the Raiders first moves of free agency should be resigning Lamarr Houston and Jared Veldheer. Houston is the best defensive player on the Raiders and it would egregious if they did not re-sign him. He has quick burst and immense power. He is best as a run-stopping defensive end and he is invaluable to a talentdepleted Raiders defense. Veldheer has played well enough over the past few years to warrant calling him one of the better left tackles in the league. It is a mystery who will be playing quarterback for the Raiders next season, but regardless of who it is they will want Veldheer protecting their left side. Once the Raiders have resigned Veldheer and Houston, it remains unknown what direc-
tion they will head. The team is in dire need of a quarterback, but with the top quarterback free agents being Josh McCown, Matt Cassel and Michael Vick, it doesn’t look like the long-term QB answer is in this year’s free agent market for the Raiders. They will most likely take a quarterback with their second or third round pick, sign a free agent quarterback and let the two battle for the starting position. The Raiders have an innumerable amount of needs. They have more than enough money to sign players to fill their roster and it will be interesting to see how McKenzie decides to build this team with his job on the line. Tyler Lehman is a sophomore at Diablo Valley College and a 2012 CVHS graduate. He plans to major in journalism and wants to be a sports writer. Email your comments or questions to Tyler@claytonpioneer.com.
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