After keeping the opponents out of their net for the first two games of the Buffalo Cup, the East Union Lancers battled with Franklin-Stockton until the waning seconds of the championship game when Elias Muro arced a shot for the Yellowjackets that barely broke the plane under the crossbar but it was enough to give Franklin the championship trophy with a 1-0 win at Guss Schmiedt Field.
“They were a strong team,” East Union coach Ronnie Green said. “Possession was about 50-50. We might have possessed a bit more in the first half, they might have possessed a bit more in the second half and they were able to finish their goal with an unfortunate bounce for us.
“That was the first goal of the tournament against us and it came in the final 30 seconds.”
Both teams’ offensive outputs were about the same with the Yellowjackets (4-1) getting off nine shots with two on goal and the Lancers (3-1) firing seven shots with two on goal.
Franklin coach Nicolas Guzman was pleased with the experience the Buffalo Cup provided to his team.
“It was a good tournament for these kids to play in,” Guzman said. “It was a good experience for these guys and great to come out in first place.”
Third place
West-Tracy 3, Manteca 2
The Wolf Pack (2-1) edged the Buffaloes (1-2) for third place.
“The tournament was great,” Manteca coach Daniel Guevara said. “Friday’s first game was a good example of how we have really good chemistry.
“Today’s was a good opportunity to see where our weak points are at. All in all we can’t say it was bad because any time you lose you have opportunities to get better at being successful. We did see some strong points today too so all in all it was a positive tournament for us.”
Richard Parr and Alexis Lopez each scored a goal for Manteca.
East Union 2, West 0
The Lancers dominated the semifinal contest.
“West was a strong team,” Green said. “We just out-possessed and controlled the game.”
Jesus Hurtado and Angel Guizar each had a goal for East Union with Hurtado and Jonathan Quintana had an assist apiece.
Franklin 4, Manteca 1
Lopez had the lone goal for the Buffaloes.
Pitman Tournament
Weston Ranch 2, Linden 2
The Cougars (0-4-1) were less than a minute away from their first win of the year when the Lions got a last-minute goal for the tie.
Ariel Silva scored in first half on an assist from Nery Guerra to give Weston Ranch a 1-0 halftime lead. Jesus Espinoza second-half goal put the Cougars ahead 2-1.
“This gave us a good sense of what we have and what we need to work on,” Cougars coach Francisco Cisneros said. “Some of the players are fitting in their roles and each game things are getting a little better.”
Pitman 3, Weston Ranch 0
Francisco Vega stopped a penalty kick for the Cougars.
Sophomores
Buffalo Cup
East Union dominated the tournament, going 3-0 and outscoring the opposition 22-0 with wins of 13-0 over Summerville, 6-0 over Valley-Sacramento and 3-0 over Liberty Ranch-Galt.
Christian Perez had five goals for the Lancers who enjoyed solid play from Alberto Gomez and Noe Martinez. Fernando Ambriz was the goalie for all three East Union shutouts.
“We played great all tournament,” Lancers coach Jason Silva said. “We stayed disciplined and played our style of soccer. It was a total team effort from start to finish.
“I’m extremely proud of the boys. It’s a great start to our soccer season.”
