With help from East Union, Weston Ranch finds itself comfortably ahead of the pack at the midway point of the Valley Oak League boys soccer season.
Head coach Francisco Cisneros isn’t celebrating any time soon. On Monday, his Cougars scored all of their goals in the opening half of a 5-0 victory at Sierra. That, combined with East Union’s 5-3 upset of second-place Manteca, has Weston Ranch in first place by six points. With another round of the VOL gauntlet still ahead, Cisneros knows there is plenty of work left to be done.
“It’s going to come down to the last game,” Cisneros said. “Somehow, things always play out that way. There are a lot of quality teams in this tough league.”
The red-hot Cougars (7-0, 14-2-3 overall) haven’t lost in a month and are winners of eight straight. Since the start of the second half of 2013, Weston Ranch is 12-0-2 in league.
Weston Ranch wasted little time in establishing full control of Monday’s match, as Joseph Mayorca scored in the second minute. He would finish with two goals and an assist, while Hector Maldonado added one goal and three assists.
“Hector had a huge day for us today and did a good job of distributing at the top,” Cisneros said. “I’m real happy with his effort. It’s kind of unusual for a striker to have three assists in a game.”
Weston Ranch has unusual quick-striking ability that no other team in the VOL has been able to keep pace with yet. Omar Centeno kept the Cougars rolling with a goal in the 14th minute, and Deon Coffey recorded his first goal of the season in the 27th.
First-half keeper Eduardo Acosta did his job to keep the sheets clean, coming up with a pair of saves.
“He had two big saves in the first half,” Cisneros said. “Had Sierra scored there it could have swung momentum their way.”
Kimball (1-4-2, 2-10-3) is the next team to try and slow Weston Ranch’s season-long momentum Wednesday.
Lathrop 2, Kimball 2
In Tracy, the Spartans (1-5-1, 8-9-2) were able to salvage a draw from Monday’s physical game.
Ramiro Ceja Flores scored once and assisted Jose Castellanos’ goal.
Frosh-soph
Lathrop 5, Kimball 1
Alexis Palomares accounted for four of Lathrop’s goals in the rout. Adrian Chavez added one of his own.
