CIF NorCal soccer: Braces galore, plus a hat trick as Mountain View pulls out thriller, Carondelet, DLS, SRV advance
2026 CIF NorCal championship
Tuesday’s quarterfinals
Division I
No. 4 Mountain View 3, No. 5 Rocklin 2
Mountain View needed some clutch heroics from center back Patrick McGuirk – coach Jim McGuirk’s son — to pull out a win at home and advance to the semifinals.
Rocklin (14-6-4) opened the scoring midway through the first half before Patrick equalized on a header just before halftime.
Jonah Fernandez scored for Mountain View with eight minutes remaining, but the lead was short-lived. Rocklin equalized three minutes into stoppage time to send the game to extra time.
In the extra 15 minutes, just before the end of the period, Cyrus Shafie served in a free kick that Patrick headed not once but twice, staying with the play after Rocklin’s goalie made a save and heading the rebound into the left side of the net for the golden goal.
“Wow,” Jim told the Bay Area News Group. “Hard to describe the tenacity of this team. They never seem to give up. We were down and exhausted after giving up the equalizer in stoppage time yet found a way to get it done. Patrick had an incredible night, which of course makes it even more special for me.”
Mountain View (19-3-2) will travel to face top seed Davis on Thursday.
No. 6 Alvarez 4, No. 3 Clayton Valley Charter 1
The best boys soccer season in Clayton Valley Charter history has come to an end.
Fresh off a draining, thrilling and emotional NCS Open Division championship win on Saturday night in Concord, the Ugly Eagles (19-1-1) were unable to keep up with the CCS Division I runner-up and suffered their first defeat of the season.
Clayton Valley’s section title was its first boys soccer crown in school history. Alvarez (23-1) advances to host Monte Vista on Thursday.
Division II
No. 8 San Ramon Valley 4, No. 1 Clovis 1
On a night of many seeding upsets across the NorCal soccer and basketball brackets, SRV (18–5-5) threw its hat in the ring with a dominant effort down in Clovis.
The Wolves got a hat trick from Miles Taylor and a goal and an assist from Aiden DePaco. Taylor also added an assist to cap an unforgettable performance.
“After conceding a goal at the beginning of the game, (we) shook off the nearly three-hour bus ride to put a stranglehold on the game,” SRV coach Don Busboom told the Bay Area News Group.
SRV equalized right before halftime and then scored three goals in 17 minutes to seal the game in the second half.
“Stellar defensive efforts were put in by Caden Stine, Garrett Colley, Noah Dunn, Matteo Vannini and Ethan Day,” Busboom added.
No. 2 De La Salle 4, No. 7 Leigh 2
De La Salle (16-5-1) relied on a robust scoring effort to get past Leigh and will host sixth-seeded Berkeley in the semifinals.
The Spartans got two goals from Flynn Salyapongse and one each from Preston Spalasso and Calvin Virgilio to outscore the Longhorns in Concord.
Bryce Vincent had two assists and Joey Ospeck added one.
“Leigh had a clearly defined style of play, which is difficult to play against,” DLS coach Derricke Brown said. “Credit to their coaches and players for that. At this point in the season, it’s about finding a way to get to the next practice, and we were able to do that tonight.”
GIRLS
Tuesday’s quarterfinals
Division I
No. 8 Carondelet 2, No. 1 Gregori 0
Another major seeding upset helped Carondelet (16-3-3) get past top seed Gregori in the NorCal opening round.
The Cougars got two first-half goals from Madeline Roder and two assists from Mercy Karson to seal the win.
Mackenzie Geddis and Addison Bowles split time in goal, with Geddis saving four shots and Bowles five to earn the combined clean sheet.
Carondelet will face No. 5 Buchanan on Thursday in Clovis.
No. 3 Los Gatos 3, No. 6 Vacaville 1
The Wildcats (19-1-3) continued their strong postseason run with a home win over Vacaville on Tuesday.
Los Gatos got goals from Emma Jackson, Isabella Cain and Abby Nelson to power past the visitors and into the semifinals. Ale Munneke and Teagan Kaefer had the assists for the Cats.
Los Gatos won’t have its semifinal game at home, but the Wildcats won’t have to travel too far.
No. 2 Bishop O’Dowd 4, No. 7 Rocklin 0
Their opponent will be Bishop O’Dowd, which remained unbeaten at 17-0 with a dominant showing in Oakland against visiting Rocklin.
Abby Forsgren and Sadie Siedel each scored a pair of goals for the Dragons.
“The first half was slow, as the game felt a bit eerie after having fewer fans there than Saturday and picking ourselves up from celebrating the final to having to go again back in a quarterfinal,” O’Dowd coach Mark Savvides said. “But in the second half, we looked better. It was 1-0 at halftime, and then the second half we looked more like our usual selves.
“Excited for the game against Los Gatos on Thursday. Without Chloe Keating, it’s going to be tough, but we’ll see what happens.”
Keating, O’Dowd’s top scorer, is unavailable as her club season has overlapped with the Dragons’ extended playoff run. She scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the NCS Open Division championship against Carondelet in what is expected to be her final high school game.
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