The Dons opened the NCS playoffs at home on Tuesday night as the 5th seed in Division III and faced off against the Piner High Prospectors from Santa Rosa.

The positivity from the Dons home crowd spilled onto the field as the boys collected two first-half goals for the first time in many matches. Colby Ebner got the Dons rolling with a delicate lob pass over the Piner backline and Niko White took it forward and scooted the ball around the goalkeeper to put the Dons up 1-0. About 15 minutes later, Jonny Roth drilled a stunning free kick about 30 yards out from the far left side of the field and the ball cruised just over the outstretched arms of the keeper and into the back corner of the goal to extend the lead to 2-0. Less than five minutes into the second half, the Dons lit the scoreboard again when super-soph Omri Noiman knocked in a corner kick to give the Dons a commanding 3-0 lead. About ten minutes later, there was Ebner again setting up a teammate by delivering a sweet centering pass from the left side into the middle where senior forward Lucas Dissman raced in and sent the ball to the back of the net to complete the Dons offensive barrage.  

The Prospectors found neither gold nor goals on the Acalanes field as the Dons robust backline consistently snuffed out the visitors’ advances. Senior goalkeepers Jake Boselli and Evan Sverak quickly collected any loose balls in front of the goal and contributed to the Dons posting a clean sheet.  Coach Curtis played the entire roster, including several JV players who made contributions. Boselli was honored as “Man of the Match” for the Dons. 

The Dons next travel to Ukiah on Friday night in a rematch of last year’s controversial NCS playoff loss.  A victory in Ukiah would likely set the Dons up for an exciting visit to the #1 Marin Academy squad next week. LET’S GO DONS!!