The Dublin High Varsity Girls Soccer team won a North Coast Section playoff match for the first time since 2016, going on the road to defeat Castro Valley 1-0 on a cold and wet Wednesday night.
Dublin came into the match as the 12th seed, so the win over the 5th-seeded Trojans was the biggest upset of the 1st round of the NCS playoffs. In their previous encounter earlier this season, the Gaels fell to Castro Valley 0-1, so Wednesday’s win avenged that loss as well.
Dublin scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 20th minute off of a corner kick, when Nyla Trias launched a perfect strike towards the box that was headed in by Yoshi Rabi. The Gaels actually dominated most of the first half and had multiple scoring chances, and even scored an additional goal that was called back.
In the second half, Castro Valley was desperate to score an equalizer, as they pushed forward and controlled the ball in Dublin’s zone for the majority of play. The Trojans had an excellent scoring chance in the 45th minute but were thwarted when Kassidy Breining made a diving save. Castro Valley had other chances throughout the final 40 minutes, but the Gaels’ defense did an excellent job holding them back to preserve the victory.
The Gaels now advance to the NCS Division 1 Quarterfinals where they will face #4 seed San Ramon Valley after they defeated Liberty 2-1. Dublin lost by a similar margin when they faced the Wolves in January, and are looking for a similar turn-around in their second match as they had with Castro Valley.
If Dublin is victorious, they will travel to face the winner of the Amador Valley-Clayton Valley match next Wednesday, February 21.
