Page One

BHS girls now 6-2 in ACCAL 

If Berkeley High’s athletic field was built on dirt, players would have been treated to a mud bath during Tuesday’s waterlogged girl’s soccer match that saw the host Yellowjackets defeat Richmond High 2-1. 

As it were, the artificial field kept the players’ uniforms clean while the rain poured down, causing water to splash and the ball to skid each time it touched the turf. 

“We’re used to playing here, so I thought they did a pretty good job of adjusting,” Berkeley coach Suzanne Sillett said. “When the turf gets wet, the ball hits it and it skids. I don’t think it really affected us that much.” 

For Richmond, the constant drizzle and a slick surface combined with Berkeley’s remarkable ball control was too much to overcome. 

“They played hard,” Oilers coach Jaime Anguiano said. “The turf definitely made a difference. We’re not used to that and the wet ball would just skid really fast.” 

The win marked Berkeley’s second straight come-from-behind victory as the Jackets improved to 6-2 in the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League.  

“The first 15 minutes we really didn’t have the intensity we wanted,” said Berkeley forward Maura Fitzgerald. “It was a lot like the last game we played (against Bishop O’Dowd) when we took control in the second half.” 

After Richmond’s Isela Cazarez scored on a break-away shot midway through the first half, Berkeley regrouped to tie the game at one heading to the break when sophomore Rocio Guerrero scored on a pass from Fitzgerald. 

“What I didn’t like was that it took (Richmond) to score a goal before we woke up and started playing the way we should have been playing all game,” Sillett said. “I think once they scored their goal, we started doing what we needed to do.” 

After a quick wringing of the jerseys at halftime, the ’Jackets carried their late first-half momentum into the second period. At the 66th minute, Berkeley sophomore Annie Borton connected on a strike that found the top left side of the net to seal the ’Jackets’ victory. 

“Borton had a great game,” Sillett said. “She worked really well off the ball and made a lot of runs up top to give us options in our attack.” 

Up next for Berkeley is a road game on the natural grass field at Pinole before the team visits Alameda in a rematch next week. 

“Alameda will be a huge game next Tuesday because they beat us here already this season,” Sillett said.  

A top priority for the rest of the season, Sillett added, is playing the way the Jackets have played all year, with one exception. 

“Finishing,” she said is what Berkeley’s missing. “Our inability to finish is definitely a big weakness that caused us to lose some games this year and barely scrape out games that we clearly have dominated, but the score doesn’t represent that.”  

The Jackets maintained their trademark one- and two-touch game throughout Tuesday’s contest to keep control of the ball and force Richmond’s defenders to work extra hard. 

Berkeley outshot the Oilers by a dozen in the first half and 11-3 in the second. Also contributing, Sillett said, was Veronica Searles, a reserve who stepped in for a sick Esther Schmidt.