Abigail Fraser was on the ball much more than she is used to early in the second half of third-seeded Sierra’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinal with visiting Roseville on Monday.
The right back was given all the time and space to make decisions.
Cross it? Push it ahead to winger Leslie Reyes? Maybe even take the shot.
In the 60th minute, she went with option 3, and the bold strike sent the Timberwolves back to the semifinal round for the first time since 2020.
They held on from there to down the defending champion Tigers 2-1 in a mostly one-sided effort at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.
“Well, they gave me a lot of space, so when I was dribbling up, I’m like, ‘OK, I can cross it, or I can shoot it,’” Fraser said. “I decided to take the opportunity to shoot it, and then I hit a banger top left corner.”
That she did.
She was set up by Zoe Sutton, who switched the field after winning the ball as Roseville (10-5-3) tried to build out of a goal kick. Fraser carried it to the top of the penalty box before uncorking the shot to the upper-left corner.
Haley Gama had a banger of her own in the first half. With the Tigers playing defensively for the opening 45 minutes, Sierra — which finished with a 21-3 advantage on shot attempts — had several chances to net the first goal.
They finally broke through on Gama’s direct kick in the 15th minute. Leslie Reyes drew a foul just above the 18-yard line, and Roseville defender Elizabeth Browning was booked with a yellow card on the play.
Standing near the top right-corner of the penalty box, Sutton ran past the stationary ball with Gama following close behind, crushing it off the left post.
“Zoe and I were trying to figure out who was going to take the kick, and it ended up me taking the kick and Zoe dummying over the ball,” Gama said. “We were trying to trick the other team, basically, to get their wall to move, so that I can kick it over them and hit it top bins.”
Sierra (22-5-1) threatened again in the final minutes of the half. Center forward Kaylee Rodriguez had two cracks at it on one breakaway after Maitland Kohoutek sent a long through ball for her. Rodriguez was first denied by Tigers keeper Heaven Van Stan, and the second try was deflected off of a defender for a corner kick.
Diana Reyes later had a shot bounce down off the crossbar in the 38th minute.
Sierra had another great look early in the second half on what would have been a well-built team goal and a brace for Gama. Fraser started the attack with a progressive ball to Leslie Reyes, who then centered it to Rodriguez. Rodriguez laid off a negative ball for Gama, but her left-footed attempt sent it high.
It was only a matter of time that the Tigers would make good on one of their few opportunities to equalize.
That time came in the 52nd minute when they drew a foul just inside the midfield stripe. Chloe Clark lofted it in off the free kick, and Maki Jew won the header in the crowded box for the goal.
The Tigers, in fact, had a similar chance on the final play of the match. Clark again booted the free kick from near midfield, but this time, Sierra center back Natalie Ruvalcaba was there to head it away from danger.
“We totally had possession almost the whole game. We should have been able to put another one in, but that’s how it goes,” Sierra coach Manuel Pires said. “As you can see, this is a team that is very good on set pieces, and that’s how they created their best opportunities. I have to give it to my team for coming right back.”
The win avenges a first-round loss to Roseville in 2023. It also sets up a semifinal with second-seeded Vista del Lago (13-3-2). They’ll square off Wednesday in Folsom. They last met in the 2019 SJS Division III title game, with the Timberwolves prevailing in overtime, 2-1.
