SAN RAMON – Seconds after the referee’s whistle blew three times and finalized Dougherty Valley’s 2-1 victory over visiting De La Salle, victorious goalkeeper Atharv Kundur could finally exhale.
The East Bay Athletic League rivals had battled for 80 minutes in the North Coast Section Division I championship match, and Kundur had spent the better part of the last hour and a half defending corner kicks and threatening De La Salle set pieces.
With the hard-fought game finally over, the senior celebrated his school’s first-ever section title in any division.
“This moment, this is so special,” Kundur said.
Saturday’s match was a contrast of styles between 14-time NCS champion De La Salle, and the new kids on the block in Dougherty Valley.
Most of the Wildcats’ most incisive passes skimmed across the turf, immune to the same gusts that could knock a long ball off-course in the air.
The frigid, wintry winds forcefully cutting through the air at Dougherty Valley’s soccer field had little effect on the home team.
Those quick passes, often from technically-gifted attackers such as Praneel Siddireddy, Jameson Raby and Hudson Pipp, continually kept the hosts a step ahead against De La Salle.
Dougherty Valley outshot De La Salle 10-6 in a chippy game that saw six yellow cards handed out.
Pipp, somewhat ironically, scored Dougherty’s first goal on a rare Wildcat corner kick, with his looping pass turning into a shot that bounced off the De La Salle keeper in the 17th minute.
“That’s something he’s done before,” DV coach Bijan Sadeghy said. “He’s a captain, he’s the leader of this program, and for him to do something special in that moment is big-time for him.”
The game then entered a scoreless phase, though not for lack of effort by either side. De La Salle, led by Ronan Rattigan and Matthew Rajecki, employed a direct passing attack that looked to take advantage of the Spartans’ size advantage.
The Concord program focused on generating offense via set pieces – corner and free kicks – and kept the Dougherty Valley defense, led by Michael Xiong and Juan Sanchez, from getting too far forward.
“They’re super well-coached by Derricke Brown and they’re a fantastic program that has been here before,” Sadeghy said. “I’ve seen them come back in so many different games.”
Dougherty Valley’s home fans finally celebrated a second goal in the 68th minute after a number of close calls.
Sophomore Brian Ayabe knocked ahead a quick through-ball to senior midfielder Emmanuel Silvera, who banged one in past the keeper to put Dougherty up 2-0.
That insurance goal proved to be invaluable two minutes later, when Dougherty’s defenders yanked down a De La Salle player in the box on a set piece and were called for a penalty.
Rattigan calmly stepped up to the spot and buried the penalty kick with a powerful shot to the low right corner, cutting Dougherty’s lead to one with 10 minutes left to play.
De La Salle had one more great chance in the 78th minute, having a free kick right outside of the 18-yard box directly in front of the goal.
Kundur saved the shot.
“I just blocked out the noise, because there were so many people talking,” Kundur said. “I just locked in.”
After a bit of stoppage time, Dougherty (19-3-2) celebrated, while De La Salle (17-3-4) could not add a 15th NCS trophy to its collection.
Both programs will advance to regionals, where Dougherty Valley is already dreaming of more success.
“We’re going to go in with the same mentality, and just try to win every game.”
