The No. 2 seeded De Anza Dons soccer team was upset by visiting No. 7 seed Evergreen College 1-0 in their opening playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Evergreen vaulted ahead 10:00 into the second half, when they scored on a short kick inside the box. The Dons attacked Evergreen’s goal often, with a 2-1 shots on goal advantage, but did not connect on several scoring opportunities.

“We created a lot of chances and opportunities and it just didn’t happen for us … we played well enough to win, but we didn’t come out on top,” said Coach Kulwant Singh.

Adriano Toni, team leader in both goals (16) and assists (9) had seven shots on goal, but couldn’t get in the net.

With 5:00 remaining, the Dons put heavy pressure on the Evergreen goalie trying to tie the score.

The refereeing was questioned at this point, when the Evergreen goalie and several De Anza and Evergreen players collided inside the goalie’s box. Yellow cards were handed out to both teams.

“I think it was more frustration than anything, we reacted a little strong, but I don’t think anything was that questionable,” said Singh.

The Dons’ 16-2-4 season allotted them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and scored them a first-round bye. On Oct. 18, Evergreen beat the Dons 2-1, one of De Anza’s two losses in the season. Players said that they had a lot of incentive to beat Evergreen, as the game was at home and that they had lost to them earlier in the year.

“It’s always disappointing to lose in the playoffs at home, and it is hard to reflect on our season at this point, but I feel we had a good season,” said Singh on the Dons’ Coast Conference Championship.