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Four area teams win away from finals
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Four Manteca-area schools qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section girls soccer playoffs, and all four are a win away from playing for the blue banner.

East Union, Manteca, Ripon and Ripon Christian all host semifinal-round matches today. Top-seeded East Union (18-0) takes on a familiar foe in No. 4 Oakdale (16-7-4) in Division III.

It’s a different story for No. 3 Manteca (21-4-1), which welcomes a dangerous and unknown opponent in No. 10 Ponderosa (10-6-5). Both D-III semifinals are scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m.

A potential final-round matchup looms between city rivals, if East Union and Manteca continue their streak of outstanding play. That’s happened just once before; in 2004, Sierra defeated Manteca, 2-0.

East Union is looking to win back-to-back section titles after capturing the Division IV crown a year ago. To have a shot at repeating, the Lancers will have to beat a tough Oakdale side a third time in a matchup that features two of the section’s most exciting scorers in EU’s Ilena Rivera (33 goals, 11 assists) and Mustang star Ashley Arnett (41 goals, 22 assists).

Oakdale gave East Union one of its toughest matches of the season on April 1 but fell short, 3-2. The rematch on April 27 was more decisive in the Lancers’ favor, 5-1. It’s the last goal East Union’s stingy defense has given up with clean sheets against Manteca (1-0), Central Valley (2-0) and Benicia (4-0) following suit. Oakdale has had blowout wins against 13th-seeded Laguna Creek (6-1) and No. 12 El Camino (5-1) in the playoffs.

Manteca has won six of its last seven, including last Thursday’s 1-0 quarterfinal win over No. 11 Pioneer. Tonight marks the second straight game that the Buffaloes will face a lower-seeded team coming off an upset victory.

Ponderosa of Shingle Springs finished in a third-place tie in the Capital Valley Conference but has since proven its worth, shellacking No. 7 Cordova 7-1 in its postseason opener before stunning second-seeded Vista del Lago 2-1 in overtime last week.

It’s a clash of contrasting styles. Manteca has scored a program-record 121 goals and is paced by Leah Manuleleua’s 38 — two more scored by Ponderosa. But the Bruins have yielded more than three goals in one game just once. That was a 4-0 nonleague defeat to Vista del Lago, which the Bruins of course avenged in the quarterfinals. Leading scorer Abbie Jones (eight goals, three assists) made the game-winning shot in overtime.

Ripon (17-1-1) is the top seed in Division V and aims to return to the section final since winning two straight in 2009-10. In the Indians’ way is Colfax (12-6), which claimed a section banner in the more competitive Division IV bracket just two years ago. The fifth-seeded Rams blanked No. 4 Bradshaw Christian 3-0 in their opener. Bradshaw entered the postseason having won three section titles in a row in Divisions VI and VII. Jenny Vossoghi accounted for two of Colfax’s goals and is the team’s season leader with 13.

Ripon beat Linden 2-0 with two second-half goals last week but was without two starting defenders who were serving red-card suspensions. They’ll return for tonight’s match, allowing freshman Cindy Alvarez to move back to her normal forward position. She played on the back line in Ripon’s playoff opener but still managed to score on a corner kick.

Reigning Division VII champion Ripon Christian (17-6-1) expects a stiffer challenge from No. 4 Vacaville Christian (10-3) after blowing out Hughes Academy 9-0 in the opening round. Ripon Christian sophomore Abby Buitrago led the state in goals scored last season and has 41 to go with nine assists in 2015. Vacaville Christian counters with a super sophomore of its own in Kirsten Daugherty (26 goals). She scored one of the Falcons’ two goals in a 2-0 win over No. 5 Delta.

Both games in Ripon are scheduled to start at 4.