Tigers and Lions wrap up inaugural SCL winter season
The Analy Tigers were rewarded for their second half soccer resurgence on Sunday at the annual North Coast Section seeding meeting, landing the number 15 seed in the NCS Division 3 Playoff Tournament.
At press time the Tigers (9-8-2) were preparing to visit number two seeded Marin Academy in the opening round on Wednesday, Feb. 15 in San Rafael (5 p.m.). Should Analy pull an upset, it will meet the winner of the Healdsburg-St. Mary’s match on Feb. 18.
“The 15th seed is about right,” Tigers veteran coach Peter Meechan said. “We could have been anywhere from 14-16 and that would have made sense. It would have been a shame if we missed out because we’ve been playing consistently well for most of the season, but just haven’t had much luck.”
The complete list of NCS Division 3 teams in seeding order is University, Marin Academy, Drake, Bishop O’Dowd, San Rafael, Kennedy, St. Mary’s, Elsie Allen, Albany, Healdsburg, Sonoma Valley, Miramonte, San Marin, Pinole Valley, Analy and Alhambra.
Last week the Tigers wrapped up the Sonoma County League schedule with three matches, beginning with a Feb. 7 clash at Sonoma Valley. Oliver Ziemer got Analy on the board to forge a 1-1 tie at the half. The score remained unchanged through the second half and the game moved to overtime knotted at 1-1. Following a scoreless first overtime period, the Dragons pulled it out with a pair of goals in the second extra frame to emerge with a 3-1 victory.
The Tigers played host to El Molino in the second of two “Apple” matches on Feb. 9, with the teams playing to a scoreless tie at the half. The Analy floodgates opened after the break as the Tigers got goals from Eric Agresti, Isaac Trevino and Ziemer in an eventual 3-0 win.
Analy visited Piner in the league finale on Friday, spotting the Prospectors a 1-0 halftime lead. Ziemer continued his hot streak with another goal in the second period to send it into overtime, but neither team could break through in two extra frames as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Lions opened their final week of the season against visiting Elsie Allen on Feb. 6, falling to the first-place Lobos (5-1). El Molino finished the season winless in SCL play at 0-12, and 1-15 on the year.
