Tam Nabs Second Straight MCAL Soccer Title, Eyes Deep NCS Run

For the Tam High boys soccer team, twice is most certainly nice.

Despite ending its Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) season Friday afternoon the - by hoisting the league championship banner - the rewards are sweeter the second time around. Combined with an undefeated MCAL regular season, Tam's 1-0 defeat of Branson Friday for the league title was enough for the Red-tailed Hawks to garner the top seed in the North Coast Section (NCS) District 1 playoffs this week, a seeding that gets them a bye in the first round.

Contrast to 2010, when Tam beat Drake for the MCAL title and was seeded third in NCS but  in Humboldt County because of an NCS rule that required all host teams to have field lights. It  but  a few days after the road trip, the second straight year Tam lost in the second round of NCS.

Tam coach Dustin Nygaard said he's proud of his team's accomplishments to date but knows they're not satisfied.

“This team has its sights set on going farther in NCS for sure,” he said. 

The Hawks have more than a week off to get ready to do so. On Saturday, Nov. 5, Tam plays the winner of a first round showdown between 8th-seeded Elsie Allen High and 9th-seeded Arcata High.

The good fortune of the seedings (brackets at right) came on the heels of an MCAL Championship battle with Branson Friday that stood out for its lack of scoring. After a season in which Tam racked up 66 goals, it found the back of the net just once Friday. But that single goal was enough for the Hawks to garner their second straight MCAL title, this time in front of a packed house at home during .

Despite a number of near-goals, including a header off the crossbar and two shots that hit the post, Julien Melendez’s deflection off a free kick in the first half was all the high-scoring Hawks could muster. Branson moved an extra player into the offensive attack late in the game, creating an agonizingly frenetic final 10 minutes, Nygaard said.

“That definitely created some nervous moments at the end there,” Nygaard said. “We just couldn’t find that second goal to give us some breathing room.”

Melendez put Tam (19-3-2 overall, 14-0-2 MCAL) on the board off Gabriel Calvalcante‘s free kick from about 20 yards out on the left side with about 15 minutes left in the first half. Melendez lined up alongside Calvalcante and casually drifted toward the middle of the field as the mass of players on both sides of the ball swarmed towards the far post, Nygaard said. Calvalcante played the ball to the middle, where Melendez had carved out some space, and the playmaking Melendez deflected the ball past Branson goalie Jordan Lazor.

The battle was close throughout, with the two teams’ contrasting styles proving to be a point-counterpoint, Nygaard said, much in line with their 1-1 tie at College of Marin. Branson fields a tall lineup and uses that height to play longer balls into the box, while Tam stresses ball control.

Tam continued to attack Branson, with two Tam shots hitting the post, including a Melendez strike that hit the inside of the left post, which sent the ball careening straight across the goal. Senior center back James Gilmore headed a corner kick off the top crossbar.

“I thought for sure that his was going to find the back of the net,” Nygaard said. “I was very surprised that it didn’t go in.”

Nygaard said he was proud that his squad nabbed its second straight MCAL title, an accomplishment that came despite raised expectations.

“It’s really neat,” he said. “Last year people said we had a chance to be good but we were more in an underdog role. But this year people had us pegged to win and that can be a lot of pressure. Sometimes you can get full of yourself and think that you can automatically go out and get a championship.”

“I’m just really proud that our guys stayed focused and were willing to put in the work and constantly build our team chemistry. We’re really happy with where we’re at.”

But not satisfied.