Issue date: October 14, 1998
In the opening minutes of sudden-death overtime Allison Johnston (Menlo Park) scored on a beautiful high shot on a play set up by Amanda Pade (Woodside) and Emma Huntington (Menlo Park). With this dramatic score, the Stanford Tornado (Under 12 Girls, Class 3) defeated the Central Valley Shockers, 3-2, for the soccer championship of the Tall Trees Tournament, recently held at Greer Park. The tournament attracted teams from some of the strongest soccer programs in Northern California.
The Tornado earned its place in the game with victories over Annadel Twisters, 2-0, and Santa Cruz Ciuvasco, 6-0, plus a 1-1 tie with Mustang Flash.
In the championship game, the Tornado led twice, only to have the Shockers tie each time.
Excellent passing and aggressiveness worked for the Tornado team. Fullback play by Leanne and Jessica Perricone (Palo Alto), Megan Gieber (Menlo Park), and Kristin Bagshaw (Atherton) shut down the opposition and kept the ball in the opponent's end for much of the game.
Johnston and Pade each scored five goals, with four of Pade's coming in one game. Emma Hoffacker (Portola Valley) and Regan Riskas (Atherton) also scored goals, with Emma Huntington leading the team in assists with three. Other assists came from Lindsey Stirrat (Palo Alto), Johnston and Pade.
Chelsea Kubal (Atherton) and Karley Marty and Kate Serrurier (both from Menlo Park) sparked midfield play. Kaia Kaercher (Palo Alto) gave excellent outside pressure from her right-wing position. And, finally, Katja Davis (Palo Alto) gave the team a powerful lift by playing key minutes even though recovering from appendicitis surgery earlier in the week.
Chris Stirrat coaches the Tornado, assisted by Tony Perricone and Hill Huntington. Ross Ireland is skills coach.
The team had 15 players returning from last year's squad, which won the district cup and reached state cup quarterfinals.
Stanford Tornado players by city are: Palo Alto -- Katja Davis, Kaia Kaercher, Jessica Perricone, Leanne Perricone and Lindsey Stirrat. Menlo Park -- Meghan Gieber, Emma Huntington, Allison Johnston, Karley Marty and Kate Serrurier. Atherton -- Kristin Bagshaw, Alex Kubal, Chelsea Kubal and Regan Riskas. Portola Valley -- Emma Hoffacker. Woodside -- Amanda Pade.
Assistant Coach Hill Huntington provided this report.
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