MERCED — Manteca is embracing its role as road warrior.
Seeded 11th in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III girls soccer playoffs, the Buffaloes got two early goals and held off No. 6 El Capitan 2-1 at McNamara Park on Wednesday.
They’ll travel to Sacramento on Friday to take on No. 3 Christian Brothers (12-4-5), which was victimized by a first-round upset at the hands of these Buffaloes last year.
“We are really young this year with a ton of freshmen and sophomores, so we talked about how fun it would be to go on the road and upset a team,” Manteca coach Justin Coenenberg said. “The girls are pretty fired up.”
Manteca (9-8-5) took advantage of a strong tailwind in the first half, getting its goals from sophomore Kaylee Gines. She scored the first from distance, then the second with a head shot off the bounce after Kaley Miller hit the post on the initial attempt.
The Buffaloes held on for dear life in the second half, repelling El Capitan’s counterattacks spearheaded by speedy underclassmen Anaya Shelton and Haley Espinoza.
It was Espinoza who struck for the Gauchos, nailing a shot from the corner of the penalty box. Shelton had a one-on-one opportunity to tie it late in the contest but was thwarted by sliding goalie Aimee Meier.
“I thought it was a goal,” Coenenberg said. “Aimee made a couple huge saves and she stepped up big time today.”
Coenenberg also lauded his back line anchored by sweeper Mia Treacy, who was supported by Jordyn Silva and Isabella Pires in the middle and Melissa Poncini and Aleah Melendez on the outside.
“They have a lot of speed and some talented girls up front,” Coenenberg said of El Capitan. “They’re pretty one-dimensional, and I think we frustrated them because we kept them from playing any through balls.”

East Union 3, Golden Valley 2
Senior striker Jasmine Mejia notched her 33rd goal of the season, and it’s what put the No. 5 Lancers (16-2-3) ahead for good late in the second half at Dino Cunial Field.
Golden Valley (11-9-3), seeded 12th, took the first lead of the match and tied it at 2-2.
“We came out a little flat today,” East Union coach Carlos Gaspar said. “We just have to fix the little mistakes and look forward to the next game. We have to play our game.”
Taylor Campbell knotted it at 1-1 with a direct kick. East Union jumped ahead in the second half after Hailey Sims deflected in a corner kick cross from Mariana Huizar.
Malia Allen came up with five saves for the Lancers, who face Western Athletic Conference champion Beyer (19-1) on the road Friday.

Sierra 4, Rosemont 0
The top-seeded Timberwolves (24-2-2) scored three times in the opening half and cruised to the second round.
Jadyn Shinn and Tiana Cello netted two goals apiece. Jenna Castro, Kaitlyn Berdiago and Callie Crain each had an assist. Crain, Sierra’s goalie, also had two saves.
Sierra awaits the winner of the Nos. 8-9 matchup Friday back at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium. The Vanden-Pioneer contest will take place today.