Tianna Cello found the net twice for host Sierra on Wednesday night, and Manteca managed just one goal late in the 5-1 in Valley Oak League win for the Timberwolves at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.
“This is a rivalry game and it is always something I want to play for,” Cello said. “And I think it was really cool to get those two goals against a rival.”
Sierra remains undefeated in league play at 3-0 and 15-2-1 overall.
“Obviously, everybody wants to get the three points,” Timberwolves coach Manuel Pires said. “This is huge. This is the way we want to start the new year — in a positive way and the rivalry games are never easy. They are always hard games but this one was fun – there was some good competition out there. I thought our team was more dominant and created a lot more opportunities.”
The Timberwolves outshot Manteca (2-1-1, 4-5-3) 23 to eight with 16 of those 23 being on goal.
“Our defensive line did phenomenal and Bella Castro was one of my best defenders,” Pires said. “She is the heart and soul of the back line of our defense. She is a junior and because of knee injuries this is her first season of high-school soccer and she was not sure if she was going to be able to play this year.”
 Castro’s defense helped limit the Buffaloes to just two first-half shots.  
“I thought we were doing pretty good up until that last little bit,” Castro said. “Our defense was working pretty good together, shifting wise. It was smooth.”
Manteca coach Justin Coenenberg focused on stopping Sierra workhorse Jadyn Shinn.
“I was happy the way we played,” Coenenberg said. “Last year we played them three times and in one game we went up 2-0 and they tied it, and then 4-2 and they tied it and it was always (Jadyn) Shinn. She is always tough to stop and we were committed to not letting her score and the girls did a really good job of defending her.”
The Timberwolves’ first goal by Jasmin Ballew and their last by Jenna Villanueva both came on rebounds off of shots by Shinn that were too tough to handle.
“She’s tough to stop,” Coenenberg said. “She is such an exceptional player and she draws so much attention that off rebounds her teammates would be wide open. And they had some other girls step up and score some phenomenal goals as well.
“And like I said, I am happy with the way we played. A lot of the things that we focused on we did a good job on, we just need to clean some things up in other areas.”
Callie Crain got the other Sierra goal when she nabbed a ball the Buffaloes were clearing out and got it in the net midway through the first half. Cello’s first goal was assisted by Zoe Wilson in the 31st minute and her second came 10 minutes into the second half off an assist by Ballew.
Sierra appeared to be heading for a shutout — Timberwolves goalie Michaela Bitle had five saves — when in the closing minutes the Buffaloes’ Ashleen Kahar got control of a corner kick by Jordyn Silva and tapped it in the net top make the score 1-0.
“Honestly, I’m not too sure what happened,” Kahar said. “The ball just came to me and I took a shot. I had a feeling that maybe this was it.”
Manteca goalie Aimee Meyer posted 11 saves. 

East Union 12, Weston Ranch 0
At Dino Cunial Field, Jasmine Mejia tallied four goals and the Lancers (3-0 VOL, 9-1-1 overall) cruised to their eighth straight victory.
The match was called off during the second half. Weston Ranch (0-3, 1-11) is battling through injuries and has players on vacation over winter break and showed up to the game with only 10 available players. East Union also played with 10.
Starting goalie Malia Allen and Hailey Sims contributed two goals apiece. Taylor Campbell and Jackie Galvan each added a goal and an assist. Taylor McMahon and Savannah Hudson chipped in a goal each, while Gabby Cruz, Mariana Huizar and Sonia Ruiz had assists.
“Weston Ranch played their hearts out, EU coach Carlos Gaspar said.
Judith Ramirez recorded 10 saves for the visiting Cougars.
“Judith is the fourth goalie we’ve had to use this year and she did a great job filling in against one of the top teams in the league and (Sac-Joaquin) section,” Weston Ranch coach Gabe Padilla said.