Two tough losses for Escalon’s varsity soccer girls went on the books this week, while the varsity boys split their Trans-Valley Leage games. The JV girls also lost two, the JV boys had a win and a loss. The teams faced off with Ripon Christian and Ripon; following are highlights of the contests.
VARSITY GIRLS
Opening up the week at home on Wednesday, Feb. 5, Escalon’s varsity Lady Cougars fell by a 1-0 final, visiting Ripon Christian finally breaking through for a score with just under 20 minutes to go in the contest.
“We just couldn’t get our offense going,” admitted assistant coach Jim Ball. “We had only three shots, two of which were on goal. This is a team that we think we could beat but the girls struggled to get anything going on offense.”
The defense kept the team in it, however, giving Escalon a fighting chance.
“The defense played well to hold them to only one goal,” Ball agreed. “Reagan Baker, Yareli Cervantes and Gweneth Goodman gave everything they had. Karisa McNeil had another solid game with 14 saves.”
Friday, the girls were on the road and played at Ripon, battling to a 3-1 loss.
“The whole team played great; we held them scoreless in the second half,” said Ball. “Ripon scored first and we were able to tie it at one with a goal by Jasmine Barron on a beautiful pass from Soraya Aguayo.”
Ripon managed to net two more first half goals to take the lead and the teams played a scoreless second half, the host team earning the win.
“We had two more injuries to our defense and three of our players stepped up to make the second half shutout happen,” Ball explained.
Isabella “Bug” Podwinski, Gabby De La Vigil and Bailey Schultz earned kudos from the coach for their defensive efforts.
“The Baker sisters played well with Kenadie getting time at forward, mid and on defense,” added Ball. “Karisa McNeil had another great game in the net with 15 saves against the top team in the TVL.”
VARSITY BOYS
The varsity boys started their week on the road, falling 6-0 at Ripon Christian on Feb. 5.
“We were down 4-0 at the half, a poor performance from us,” head coach Paul Silva said. “We were poor from an effort standpoint. That led to a poor job marking the opponents, we made it too easy for RC to control the game.”
The squad came back with a renewed sense of urgency and purpose as they hosted Ripon on Friday, Feb. 7. It was also observed as the squad’s Senior Night.
“We won 2-0 with goals by Dominic Murillo and Jesse Gomez in the second half,” said Silva. “Our collective effort was much improved in the game.”
Angel Perez and Preston Berhorst combined to make six saves in goal to preserve the shutout.
“It was a great team performance from the first minute to the final whistle,” Silva noted. “A great way to honor our seniors.”
Recognized prior to the Friday game were seniors Dominic Murillo, Angel Romero, Angel Perez, Jesse Gomez, Raul Calderon, Miguel Ordaz, Dylan Pena, Owen Nielsen, Preston Berhorst and Jorge Salazar.
JV BOYS
It was also a split of league games at the JV level, the boys winning on the road but losing at home.
They played RC on Feb. 5 and took a shutout win, 3-0, with Ivan Lopez scoring two goals and one coming from Pablo De Luna. Assists came from Christian De Nava and Miguel Arce.
“Unfortunately we lost to Ripon at home Friday 4-2,” said head coach Polo Rodriguez.
Goals for Escalon came from Antony Torres and Ivan Lopez.
“It was a very hard loss with very huge mistakes costing us three goals that should’ve never happened,” admitted the coach.
JV GIRLS
Wednesday, hosting Ripon Christian, the JV girls had a 1-0 lead at the half but ultimately fell by a 2-1 final.
Alexandra Romero scored for Escalon with an assist coming from Lola Duenas.
Sharing time in goal that game and doing well were Jaleny Delgado and Isabelle Raley.
On Friday, the girls fell by a 3-0 final to Ripon on the road.
“I’m actually really proud of the girls because last time we played them, we lost 10-1 so the girls have made major improvements since then and now,” head coach Lindsay Plasencia said. “Alondra Aguirre played goalie for us; she had about eight saves. It was her first time playing in goal for us, she really stepped up for her team and I’m proud of her.”
