The East Union Lancers’ quest for a second Sac-Joaquin Section title ended in heartbreak Saturday night at Sacramento City College in a hard-fought 1-0 loss to defending champion Liberty Ranch of Galt in the Division IV final.

“Credit to Liberty Ranch; they made things difficult with the way they pressed us, and we were unable to do the same to them,” East Union head coach Ronnie Green said. “It was a battle of systems, and they just did a better job executing theirs.”

The second-seeded Lancers (24-4-2) came into Saturday night’s contest seeking its first section title since 2020, when they went on to win a NorCal title. The 2026 version of East Union was a young one with 10 sophomores on the roster, five of whom saw significant playing time all season long.

“This was a young team, and tonight is a massive opportunity for them to not only be proud of their accomplishment, but to also learn what it takes to win a section title,” Green said. “The margins are so slim, and I’m confident they will be better for it.”

The No. 4 Hawks (19-5-1) seemed determined from the opening whistle to put pressure on the Lancers and their sophomore standout Yandel Gutierrez, who came into the final tied for the most goals of any boys soccer player in the nation with 52 on the season.

“We knew it would take a gritty effort on not only Yandel, but the rest of their forwards and attack,” Liberty Ranch head coach Garett Arechiga said. “Soccer is a funny game; the best team doesn’t always win, but we were able to do just enough to repeat, and I’m so proud of my guys.”

Quality opportunities were hard to come by throughout the match, especially in the first half. The teams spent the first 20 minutes feeling one another out, with East Union controlling possession but unable to get anything going offensively.

“We weren’t great on the turf tonight,” Green said. “You have to play quicker on this surface. or the defense is on you before you realize it, and I think they did a better job with those quick first touches and movements.”

The best chance for either team in the first half came when Gutierrez found himself in space just inside the Hawks half with Liberty Ranch goalkeeper Abraham Flores (six saves) way off of the goal line. Gutierrez launched a shot into the air that sailed over Flores’ outstretched arms and just over the crossbar. The teams would go into the break tied after a physical first half.

Both teams came out of the halftime intermission with increased intention to go forward. Liberty Ranch found space down each side but time and time again saw its efforts thwarted by a great back line of Elias Salgado, Kevin Vasquez and Alex Hernandez.

East Union keeper Nickolas Zavala was kept largely unscathed throughout most of the match, thanks to great play from the defense in front of him.

The probing from Liberty Ranch finally led to a breakthrough 17 minutes into the second half. After a foul outside the box near the sideline, Hawks’ forward Beto Dominguez stood over a free kick. In previous free kicks in the game, Dominguez had sent high crosses goalward looking to be connected on by a teammate. This time, the junior skipped a low liner off of the turf in front of a crowd of players. The ball seemed to take a slight deflection before sliding by Zavala slowly just over the line to put the defending champs up.

“Listen, those are the margins you talk about when you talk about what it takes to win a game like this,” Green said. “He put a great strike on the ball, and some weird stuff happens, and before you know it, you’re chasing the game down, 1-0.”

Almost immediately, Liberty Ranch sat back and waited for the Lancers attack, hoping to preserve its lead. Chances would mount for the Lancers, but each time Flores was up to the challenge in goal for the Hawks.

With six minutes left and the Lancers pressuring, Gutierrez looked to get fouled in the box for what would be a clear penalty, but whistles stayed silent from a crew that had called way less a foul for most of the evening.

“Everyone in the stadium knew a penalty should have been awarded there,” Green said. “Obviously, we had other chances, and one play doesn’t define a game, you just hate to see a scoring chance get stopped on a foul that isn’t called.”

With two minutes frozen on the clock in stoppage time, Efren Ruiz would find Damian Valencia with space in front of the goal. One-on-one with the keeper, Valencia fired a shot that Flores got just enough of to send just past the post for a corner kick. On the ensuing corner, the ball deflected outside the box to Alex Hernandez, who put a great strike on it, sending it just wide of the same post and preserving the lead for Liberty Ranch.

“I can’t say enough about the way our keeper played,” Arechiga said. “What’s crazy is the kid made the game winning-goal in last year’s section final as a striker, and this year comes out and plays they way he did tonight as our goalkeeper — just an insane run from a great kid.”

Shortly after the Hernandez long range attempt, the referees whistle blew sending the Liberty sideline onto the pitch to celebrate.

Saturday’s loss does not end the season for East Union, which will await their match-up in the NorCal playoffs next week.

“This one will sting, but our focus now is the next four games,” Green said. “We know what kind of team we have and what kind of a run we are capable of, and we’ll be anxious to get back out there and put this loss behind us.”