There was nothing extraordinary about the first 25 minutes of Sierra’s Valley Oak League matchup with host East Union, but after Nicholas Gonzalez’s first goal at the 27-minute mark things changed in a hurry for Sierra.

The Timberwolves (6-1-2) and Gonzalez would add another goal four minutes later, and the rout was on in a 5-0 Sierra stomping Tuesday at Dino Cunial Field.

Sierra stepped into the driver’s seat and never looked back, cementing its lead with a penalty-kick goal from Juan Acosta in the third minute of the second half. The 3-0 lead was more than enough, but the Timberwolves added a pair more on goals from Ruben Lopez and Bryan Ramos.

“The second half of the season the kids have made the effort to become a better team,” Sierra co-head coach Jose Montes said. “We had a good preseason but we didn’t play like we should in that first half.

“Now, the second part of this season we are going to take it one game at a time and finish what we’ve started.”

The Lancers were seemingly sapped after the second of Gonzalez’ goals. What it would have taken to muster a comeback and force the Timberwolves back into a fight East Union did not have. And by the time Sierra scored its third goal of the second half, it was more than obvious.

“I don’t think we had our best game today,” East Union head coach Victor Polanco said. “I think the two goals early in the second half really hurt us. We had our opportunities, but the ball doesn’t always go in and that’s the way it is.

“Sometimes you have a good game, or a bad game. Give Sierra credit, they played better than we did.”

Gonzalez’s goals in the first half may have had more of a negative impact on the Lancers than the late ones. East Union, in a scoreless tie battling for the league’s top spot, was a completely different team than the club that got down two goals and had no answer.

Sierra goalie Manuel Garcia was fabulous for the Timberwolves in the net, turning away every East Union attempt and collecting nine saves. His play definitely inspired the Timberwolves and definitely pushed the Timberwolves a little bit closer to their goal.

“I just knew I had to step it up out there,” Garcia said. “We were down in league and we know we have to go take on Manteca, so we had to take care of business first; one game at a time.

“The team stepped  up and we did what we had to do and came out with the ‘W’.”