Manteca picked up its game in the second half, but not enough to catch the St. Francis in the championship game of the Buff Cup at Guss Schmiedt Field on Saturday.

The Troubadours of Sacramento held on for the 2-0 victory, improving to 4-0 with the tournament championship.

“We came out flat in the first half,” Manteca coach Justin Coenenberg said. “We were not going to the ball or winning the 50-50’s. The out-possessed us the majority of the half but in the second half we came out and played with more intensity which did lead to more scoring opportunities even though we were never able to create a great scoring opportunity. 

“We played a really good team today. They exposed some things we need to work on and Monday we will work to fix those issues and improve together.” 

Marissa Soza notched nine saves for the Buffaloes (3-3).

Manteca’s Caitlynn Wong was named to the all-tournament team and won the Golden Boot award with seven goals. Teammate Isabella Pires also made all-tourney.

In the semifinals, Manteca had its way with Ripon Christian, 6-0. It marked the second game in a row that the Buffaloes did not allow a shot.

“Our back line is playing really well,” Coenenberg said. “And our midfield is playing extremely well with some teams not even to get past our midfield.

“Our midfield is also passing the ball well, possessing the ball well, and creating a lot of opportunities for us up front.”

Wong scored four goals for Manteca with Corrine Jones and Sienna Jones adding a goal apiece.

“I was checking to the ball, moving off and being creative in the offensive third,” Wong said.

Outside back Yudi Vega led the Buffaloes defensive effort.

“We all communicate,” Vega said. “We like to rotate the ball, switch it back and forth and we love to play back to our goalie so we can move the offense up.

“We start from the back, middle, and then up top and then Caitlynn gets it. She leads the team up top and I lead the team in back.”

Knights coach David Morris was happy with how his team never gave up fighting.

“Manteca is just a dominant team,” Morris said. “I told our girls that clearly we got out-skilled but clearly we did not get out-worked. We kept working the entire game and that’s all we can control.

“Manteca is a great team.”

Third place

Ripon Christian 1, Edison 0

Addison DeJong scored on an assist from Maya DeJong in the first half for the Knights (4-1-1) and they held on for the consolation championship.

Tara Heida secured the shutout with nine saves.

Seventh place

Lathrop 2, Waterford 0

Jasmine Ponce and Lupe Zepeda each had an unassisted goal for the Spartans (2-4) in their tournament finale for seventh place.

Lathrop’s Brianna Bedolla was named to the All-Tournament team.

The Spartans dropped their other contest 4-0 to Central Valley.