ATHERTON, CA - Menlo School's bid to tighten the West Bay Athletic League soccer race fell short on Friday, though the Knights didn't lose any ground.
After taking an early lead against visiting Sacred Heart Prep, Menlo had to scramble to leave with a 2-2 tie as the Gators remain atop the league race.
"We got a point in the end and I think we would have wanted three, but I think we can be proud of getting that point," Menlo coach Marc Kerrest said.
Said SHP coach Armando del Rio: "Of course we want to win, but playing away against a really good team that's trying to close the gap -- we're still the same amount of point ahead as before and I'm happy to leave here with a tie."
Menlo has not defeated SHP in 14 games (the Gators hold an 11-0-3 edge in that span). The Knights (7-4-2 overall, 5-1-1 league) still trail SHP (10-1-3, 6-0-1) by three points in the WBAL.
The Gators were playing without standout Riley Tinsley (leg injury).
Will Chisholm's penalty kick in the 17th minute gave Menlo a 1-0 lead that it took into halftime. But that lead evaporated quickly in the second half on a penalty kick by SHP's Derek Chou .
Five minutes later the Gators went up 2-1 on a goal by Danny Sanchez.
But in the 74th minute Menlo's Dylan Williams approached the goal and collided with SHP goalkeeper Zach Haire and Haire was called for the infraction. Chisholm made another penalty kick for the tie.
The game was unlike the Jan. 7 meeting between the teams at SHP when the Gators prevailed 2-0 in a testy contest filled with yellow cards.
"This game was tightly called," del Rio said. "The first game was not called at all; it wasn't safe. I don't think either team got into a rhythm, but these were two good teams going at it."
Kerrest thinks his team has come a long way since the new year.
"The first one -- we struggled a little bit in pre-season and we had some injuries and we were still trying to find our feet and I kind of wish that game had come a little later in the season," he said. "But we regrouped from there and we got on a little run and got some momentum and found our shape and so I think we had a lot more confidence going into this game."
