After struggling to get results in the first three-plus weeks of the season, Sierra is now off to the races in Valley Oak League play.

The Timberwolves downed rival Manteca 3-0 Thursday at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium, scoring every goal in the first half.

“The team was a little bit scattered, in general, but now, they’re more engaged and united,” Sierra coach Joe Pires said. “We lost almost all the preseason games, and I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any finger pointing or anything like that.

“Now, it’s a new season. This is VOL, and this is what we play for. The guys got it together now, and there’s unity on the team. Of course, winning helps manufacture that.”

Sierra (2-0 VOL, 3-5 overall) dominated its first two league matches, starting with an 8-2 rout of Central Catholic on the road earlier this week. The Timberwolves appeared to be on their way scoring at the same rate on Thursday, striking three times during a one-sided 14-minute stretch.

Aydin Akca assisted all three of their goals. He first found Jose Gonzalez streaking into the box with a short pass in the 21st minute, and the junior striker took a touch before putting it away.

Axzel Razo and Johan Arroyo followed up in the 25th and 35th minutes with long-range bangers.

Pires hoped to see at least one more goal for insurance in the second half, but his side was mostly in control. The T’wolves outshot Manteca, 14-7.

“We had a really good first half, but like I told the guys, not so much in the second half,” Pires said. “If we allow the goal, that changes the momentum, and things can go sideways real quick. We’re still trying to play the full game. We didn’t have a lot of subs tonight, so can’t really blame anybody, but they did take the foot off the gas in the second half.”

Some of that was the Buffaloes’ doing.

Improved play in the midfield and some clutch defending helped keep Sierra out of the get in the latter 40 minutes, but the Buffaloes (0-2, 6-4-2) could not generate some of the chances they had early on.

Mateo Esparza had clean header off a free kick that went wide in the first half, and Manteca had another crack a minute later when Anthony Espinosa’s half volley deflected off a defender and into the waiting hands of Sierra goalie John Thomson.

Manteca’s Julian Oregel came up with a goal-line clearance early in the second half on a headed shot from Kevin Gracia.

“I liked the way we approached the game,” Manteca coach James Burns said. “We had been struggling with the fight coming out of the gate, but our Achilles’ heel all season long has been our midfield. We’re a little slow-footed at times, and today we were mistake prone. All three of their goals came off our mistakes.

“That’s’ a good team over there, they have a lot of talent, and if you make mistakes, especially in the middle third or building out of the back, they’re going to take advantage of it. That kind of fed into their confidence and took some of the wind out of our sails that we might have had, and it was tough to get it back.”

His Buffaloes will look to rebound in a non-league game at Tracy next Tuesday. Sierra will host former VOL foe Kimball on Monday.