LATHROP — Dixon played against the force of a heavy headwind to start its Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV opener at No. 8-seeded Lathrop, which made its first-ever postseason appearance Wednesday night at Bennie Gatto Field.
Coach Archie Munoz reminded his team to be wary of the gusts soon after kickoff, but he was more worried about how his defense would hold up against the state’s leading scorer.
Spartans standout Kassandra Ceja did tally her 61st goal for the season, but she was upstaged by Dixon sophomore forward Alexandra Machado, harassed by a wave of defenders led by Cal Poly commit Cailin Bloom and thwarted time and again by goalie Angelina Martinez in a 4-1 defeat.
“Just unlucky a lot of times,” Ceja said. “It can get real frustrating when they are just surrounding you like that, but they played very good defense and the keeper was amazing today. I have to give props to her, she did awesome.”
Martinez set the tone early, blocking Ceja’s first two shots from short range in the second minute. Two minutes later she had a terrific diving save in which she batted away Ceja’s swerving left-to-right attempt with her left hand. Martinez finished with six saves.
The Rams (11-8-4) survived the early onslaught. Then Machado took her turn, converting on Dixon’s first shot attempt in the 9th minute and finishing with a first-half hat trick. Dixon was content to play more defensively in the first half considering Lathrop’s advantage with the wind but managed to capitalize on its fewer opportunities on counterattacks.
With the wind to their backs in the second half, the Rams booted in the final goal in the 42nd minute when Isabelle DeLeon blasted a desperation shot from nearly 40 yards out and one-hopped it over Lathrop keeper Harleen Bal.
Lathrop (11-8-1) managed just one goal in the first 40 minutes despite 10 shot attempts and six corner kicks. Ceja tied it at 1-1 in the 21st minute, knocking in a far-post cross off a cornerkick from Isa Paniagua.
Munoz said his team was fortunate to limit her to the one goal.
“Some of the girls who play competitively for Davis Legacy knows that (Ceja) is part of the ODP (Olympic Development Program), so we knew we had to cover her real tight,” Munoz said. “She still got away from us on a couple plays. She’s real good.”
Bloom played a big part in Dixon’s defense of Ceja, matching her in size, speed and skill. Bloom was twice able to knock the ball away from Ceja in the penalty box with well-timed slide tackles.
Lathrop coach Jose Montes was impressed with Dixon’s disciplined defense.
“They didn’t panic,” he said. “They knew how to play with each other in the back and their rotations were good. Kassandra would beat one but then another came right behind her. As a team, you can see they were very well prepared against Kassandra.”
Ceja had Lathrop’s best chances, but Brianna Salcedo had one of her own in the middle of the second half. Kayla DeAnda delivered a perfect through ball to set up a one-on-on situation, but the Dixon keeper came off her line early and fouled Salcedo outside of the box before a shot was taken. Martinez was assessed a yellow card, and Paniagua’s free kick sailed well over the goal.
Dixon travels to Galt on Friday to take on top-seeded Liberty Ranch (16-4). For the defeated Spartans, they’ll look to reload for another run to the postseason. They graduate just three starters, including Notre Dame de Namur signee Cydney Garcia.
“We had a lot of freshmen coming up who are new to this environment,” Ceja said. “It’s really great for us to be able to make the playoffs for the first time ever. Now that we have this experience, we know what to expect. So hopefully we can make it back next year and go even farther.”