Escalon soccer teams were in action Wednesday, Jan. 29 with the boys at home and the girls on the road. It was the only game of the week for the squads, with both programs having a bye on Friday, Jan. 31.
Varsity Boys
The varsity Cougar boys hosted Hughson and battled the Huskies to a 0-0 draw in Trans-Valley League play.
“Not the result I wanted but I was pleased with how we played,” head coach Paul Silva said. “Preston Berhorst was in goal for us and had five saves. He has been a rock for us in goal, especially recently.”
The saves included a key diving stop late, deflecting the ball away with a headlong dive across the goal mouth shortly after Escalon failed to convert on a penalty kick attempt at the other end of the field.
“We were missing a number of players due to illness, including our starting center backs,” noted Silva. “Juan Navarro and Raul Calderon started the season as midfielders, but both filled in at defense and performed brilliantly on the back line.”
Defense proved to be key in the contest, as neither team found the back of the net.
“We collectively did a great job of restricting their ability to take easy chances on our goal,” pointed out Silva. “We created a few chances offensively to score, but just couldn’t capitalize. Not converting a PK at the end of the game was tough, but credit to the Hughson goalie for making the save.”
Silva said the team has a few more chances to get another TVL win.
“Hopefully we can find the right balance of being defensively sound and more clinical in front of the goal in our last three games,” he said.
JV Boys
Also welcoming Hughson on Jan. 29, the JV boys got a goal in each half while keeping the Huskies off the scoreboard, winning 2-0.
“We started off slow but kept on pushing,” said coach Polo Rodriguez. “Ivan Lopez got our first goal off a PK shot right before the half.”
In the second half, Rodriguez said the host JV Cougars “got a great breakaway from Fidel Segura, who shot past the goalie but the ball hit the post, bouncing out.”
With luck it hit a defenders leg and made an own goal, the coach added, with the JV boys notching the 2-0 win.
The JV and varsity boys are scheduled to travel to Ripon Christian on Feb. 5 and will be home to host Ripon on Friday, Feb. 7 with the final game on the road Monday, Feb. 10 at Orestimba.
Varsity Girls
On the road for a contest with Hughson on Jan. 29, the varsity girls battled to a 1-1 tie.
“We came out sluggish, and weren’t playing up to our level,” said assistant coach Jim Ball, with Hughson leading 1-0 at half. “We also lost Soraya Aguayo early in the first half due to injury.”
The team regrouped, however, and were able to get the score tied.
“We were much more aggressive in the second half,” said Ball. “Kenadie Baker, usually a defender, performed really well stepping in for Aguayo at forward.”
Escalon nearly got the equalizer midway through the second half.
“It was a beautiful shot by Payton Abbott that just missed off the left post,” Ball explained. “We tied the game with 15 minutes remaining on a goal by Yareli Cervantes assisted by Kenadie Baker.”
Goalie Karisa McNeil and the defense led by Gweneth Goodman played well, the coach added, holding Hughson to just one goal. McNeil had 11 saves, with 10 of them coming in the first half.
JV Girls
It was a tough road loss, 7-1, against Hughson for the JV girls.
Jaleny Delgado scored for the Escalon JV girls with an assist from Alexandra Romero.
“Our back up goalie was hurt this game so there wasn’t much we could do,” head coach Lindsay Plascencia said of having a tough time keeping Hughson off the scoreboard. “We’ve had Isabella Raley play goalie; she tried her best and we worked hard as a team.”
For the girls teams, they are to host Ripon Christian on Feb. 5, travel to Ripon on Feb. 7 and then host Orestimba for Senior Night on Monday, Feb. 10.
