After battling through a scoreless first half with visiting 10th-seeded Lodi, No. 7 Manteca put up a pair of second-half goals while keeping its clean sheet in a 2-0 win over the in opening-round action of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II girls soccer playoffs at Guss Schmiedt Field.

“We played hard in the first half,” Buffaloes coach Justin Coenenberg said. “We created some opportunities in the first half, but we came out in the second and I think we wore them down a little bit. We were much more aggressive, and we got more numbers involved in the attack.

“It wasn’t just one person attacking, we had three or four people pushing up in the final third. Any time we were attacking and pressing they just kept retreating.”

Tatiana Orozco helped get Manteca (18-4-5) on the board with a beautiful long-range free kick. Nine minutes into the second half, Orozco toed the ball 5 yards shy of midfield. She sent in on an arc down to the penalty-kick stripe, where Cami Silva popped it into the net for a 1-0 lead.  

“Sienna (Jones) kind of looked at me and ran across,” Orozco said. “Then I played it right to Cami.

“I wanted to place it at the PK (spot) and Cami read it perfectly.” 

Prior to the kick, Silva directed where she wanted the kick and she got it.

“Tatiana and I try to connect more,” Silva said. “I pointed that I wanted her to play it in front of me instead of right at me and she did just that. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the keeper coming.”

Midway through the second half, Alexia Alva took off on a breakaway from midfield. Sprinting toward the Flames goal, she was mirrored by Silva 10 yards to her left. The closer they got to their target, the more the defenders for Lodi (8-6-4) favored Silva, clearing a path for Alva.

That proved to be a mistake, as Alva took advantage and blasted the ball into the net to put the Buffaloes ahead 2-0.

“I think they thought I was going to pass it to Cami,” Alva said. “They kept pushing back and they left me with all the room in the world and I had an open shot.”

Manteca outshot the Flames 13-5 with Haylie Brasil posting three saves for the Buffaloes.

Even when Silva does not have the ball, she still commands attention.

“You could tell when we came out today, Cami was not going to let us lose,” Coenenberg said. “She had that attitude and swagger on the field that we just weren’t losing this one.”

Manteca will need a lot of that attitude and swagger on Wednesday when the Buffaloes take to the road to face No. 2 Woodcreek of Roseville at 6 p.m.