Colfax blanks young Grizzlies to clinch GEL-East Crown

Colfax-Golden Sierra Soccer, By Andy Wilcox, Journal Sports EditorGARDEN VALLEY ? Golden Sierra may have had one of its more talented boys soccer teams in years, but it was also one of the Grizzlies? youngest. With only two seniors, they were no match for Colfax?s senior-loaded squad as the visiting Falcons cruised to a must-win, 8-0, and secured a share of their eighth straight league title Wednesday.Colfax finished 12-1-2 in the Golden Empire League-East, giving head coach Steve Robinson his sixth consecutive GEL title and improving to 58-2-11 in GEL in his five years at the Falcon helm.?Colfax is tough, and that?s why they?re first in the league,? Golden Sierra coach Randy Braziel said. ?We were just looking to keep the score down today and try to blanket them defensively, but Steve is a great coach and his players have a lot of experience.?The Falcons (15-2-2 overall) will open the Division III section playoffs at home Tuesday with a 3 p.m. match against Trans-Valley League runner-up Patterson.?They?re new to the playoffs, but they played Hilmar tough,? Robinson said of the TVL champion, which beat Colfax in the 1999 section final in overtime.?We?ve got some excellent defensive players and you?ve got to play great defense in the playoffs. I?m confident we can score, but I?m also confident we can play defense. It will be nice to be at home in front of our fans and families. A lot of our players have been coached by parents or their friends? dads.?Robinson has been most pleased with the defense of main marking backs Logan Maier and Dan Dilulo, defender and team captain Casey Wolfgang, starting goalkeeper Kyle Spencer, and sweeper Rich Schreiber. With their leadership, the Falcons allowed only nine goals in 15 league games.Clayton Reed, who was moved up to varsity for the first time Wednesday as a back-up goalkeeper, helped shut out Golden Sierra (4-11 GEL) with two saves in 20 minutes.Chris Hall opened the scoring by taking a pass from T.J. Guinard and booting the ball into the right corner. Guinard also assisted on the next goal, which Luke Pierceall shot into the right corner after a fake.Jeremy Cook then scored from eight yards out on a Pierceall pass. Brazilian exchange student Jonas Trannin gave the Falcons a 4-0 halftime lead with a toe-punt goal set up by German exchange student Marius Mertens.Joel Semenoff opened the second half with a goal, taking a pass from Dan Wright, dribbling through two Grizzlies and scoring into the left corner. Wright set up James McNair for the sixth goal, before his corner kick allowed Mertens to set up Trannin for a 7-0 lead.Back-up goalkeeper Steven Woolworth closed the scoring with a penalty kick into the upper left corner, after Macnair was fouled.Coach Braziel was pleased with Grizzly defenders Gary Staves ? his only senior other than top scoring threat Jason Mortensen ? and his sophomore brother Jimmy Staves, sophomore Mike Braziel, and sophomore midfielder Grant Tonelli.?We?re looking at all but two guys coming back next year. With league realignment, we?ll be moving down to Division IV with (third-place San Juan), and Colfax will be in Division III and Union Mine in Division II leagues. With these kids and our JV kids, we should make a run next year.?The Grizzlies will also have goalkeeper James Thompson back. The junior made six big saves against Colfax.?James was my defensive standout,? Coach Braziel said. ?Any goalie who can handle as many shots as he did this year should be all-league. With his aggressiveness and agility, he could handle anybody in the league.?Colfax?s JV won 3-2 despite having only 11 players, due to Reed being pulled up to the varsity and a couple of ill players. The win gave the JV Falcons their third straight GEL championship.