Vista boys hot at right time of year

At the beginning of the season, Vista del Lago varsity boys' soccer coach Grant Tyler said this year's team isn't one of his stronger groups. That might be the case, but two impressive performances have the Eagles in the semifinals of the Division III playoffs and the team has a home game Wednesday against Pacheco. Not only is it a home game, but it's against the team that knocked the Eagles out of the playoffs a season ago 2-1 in double overtime, giving the Eagles extra motivation and incentive. As impressive as Vista's 2-0 win over Rio Linda was in the first round of the playoffs, the Eagles did it with four players out with the flu: Garrett Veirs, Mason Curtis, Ben Estes and Elijah Tyler. Estes and Tyler didn't play in Friday's 3-0 win over Antelope, while Veirs and Curtis played minimal minutes. "The boys have stepped up," Vista del Lago's coach Grant Tyler said. "We pulled a junior varsity player up to take Garrett's place and Preston Martin played great. He also played last night, but didn't play as many minutes. Our two center backs, Blake Wise and Logan Brown, also played well." Max Leonelli scored Vista's first two goals Friday against Antelope, while Simon Varghese scored the third. "We have a young team," Tyler said. "The team's been coming together and they work hard for each other. Our keeper hasn't had to make a save in the two playoff games. We completely controlled the game against Antelope. Any time they got the ball close to midfield, we pressed them and created tons of turnovers." Next up for the Eagles is Pacheco, who visits Vista del Lago at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.