Sports
Boys Soccer: Campolindo Clinches NCS Championship With 3-2 Win Over Acalanes
Harlan Raine's header in the closing minutes caps a thrilling section title match.
Campolindo 3, Acalanes 2
The Star: Harlan Raine scored a pair of goals for the Cougars.
The Turning Point: With less than five minutes to go in the match, Jaison Kimura smashed a corner kick to the front of the net, where Raine headed it in to seal Campolindo’s North Coast Section championship.
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The Quote: “There are other teams we played that we thought had more skillful players, and more talent than we did. We’re a family, and we live and die by that. Even at halftime, we were down and we said if we lose this game at the end of the day we’re still a family, and that’s what happens,” Cougars coach Shane Carney said.
The Bottom Line: Carney puts Campolindo, a school without a strong history of soccer succes, on the high school soccer map with a NCS title in just his second year as head coach.
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Campolindo High boys soccer coach Shane Carney knew he had his work cut out for him when he signed on to coach the Cougars at the tender age of 23.
Now 25, Carney — who is often mistaken for a player — has won a North Coast Section title and set a benchmark for future Campolindo boys soccer teams for seasons to come.
Harlan Raine’s header off a Marco Tavecchio corner kick in the 77th minute won Campolindo the NCS Championship, giving the Cougars a 3-2 victory over crosstown rival Acalanes Saturday evening at Las Lomas High School.
“Campolindo boys soccer isn’t a powerhouse by any means,” Carney said. “We’ve only had two titles and this year we won three between the Winter Classic, the DFAL and NCS. It’s just a sign of how we play like a family, and not like individuals.”
As for the game-winning goal, Carney has been reminding Raine of a similar play in their lone loss of the regular season, also against Acalanes. He knows redemption couldn’t have been sweeter for Raine, as Carney’s been reminding him of that play daily.
“He has missed so many open opportunities from that close all season, and I’ve been giving him a hard time,” Carney said. “Our one loss against Acalanes, we had a similar play. I’ve been reminding him about that every single day since then and for him to score the winning goal of the NCS Championship on the identical play that he messed up before shows what our team is about — we make a mistake and we grow from it.”
The Cougars got on the board first, with Raine finding the back of the net in the fifth minute to give Campolindo an early 1-0 lead.
The Dons would respond quickly, with Nick Pereira tapping in a shot from a few yards out in the 11th minute to draw the match even at 1-1.
Acalanes would then take the lead late in the first half, when Dylan Austen’s corner kick found Dan Glascock in front of the net, who headed it in to give the Dons a 2-1 lead at halftime.
But just minutes into the second half, Acalanes’ chances for victory sunk. During a battle at the net, Dons’ forward Cam Carda defended a shot on goal with his hands, drawing an automatic red card which resulted in his ejection and a penalty kick for Campolindo. Jaison Kimura would blast it into the left side of the net for the Cougars to tie the match at 2-2.
“It’s tough. Playing a man down is tough,” Acalanes coach Paul Curtis said. “We had to do that for quite a bit.”
Curtis was still pleased at his squad’s performance playing short-handed.
“The boys played really hard,” he said. “I’m proud of the way we played. We just got a little unlucky there and Campo played a very good match and they deserved to win.”
Carney was still trying to take it all in minutes after the final whistle blew Saturday night. The former Cougars’ graduate said he started a turnaround midseason last year. It safe to say the change came full circle Saturday night.
“We had the confidence that if we played our game we can do it,” Carney said. “Our goals are all just hard work, and it’s awesome that I could come back to my alma mater and make this happen.”
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