It wasn’t an easy night for the Lathrop High School girls soccer team Monday. 

Within the first 11 minutes they were already down three goals, and by the half Oakdale had already put the game firmly out of reach. 

But the second half, by and large, was a different story. 

It might not have looked like it on paper – the Spartans failed to get a shot on goal while Oakdale notched 13 to bring their total to 28 on the game – but in the eyes of head coach Jose Montes it was a tale of two teams. 

“The first half wasn’t what we practiced – we kept trying to go for the deep ball and when we slowed it down and did what we practiced things with a little bit better for us,” Montes said. “We need to learn to commit and when we do that we have much more success in slowing things down.”

The 7-0 loss might have been discouraging, but Montes said the young age of the team – with only a pair of returning varsity players – means that they’re building for a future in the talent heavy Valley Oak League.

And despite the record of the team you’re going up against, Montes said, you have to be completely ready for each and every game. 

“In the VOL you have to be ready for a battle every week and you have to go hard,” Montes said. “We’re a young club right now but we’ll fix what needs to be fixed and we’ll get there. It’s just going to take a little bit of time.”

Lathrop goalkeeper Noelle Smith notched 10 saves during the match, but Lathrop only managed a single shot on goal throughout the entire contest. 

Oakdale’s Madison Feuerstein netted a pair of goals for the Mustangs, and Viviana Albar, Breanna Garza, Natalie Montoya and Megan Burke all chipped in to find the back of the net.

The Spartans will have to play their next game without Rosa Becerra who was red carded in the 57th minute for a penalty on a scoring opportunity. They played the rest of the contest with only 10 players on the pitch. 

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.