It has been 10 years since Ripon Christian’s boys soccer team played meaningful games this late into a season.

Drew Meester was glad to be part of this particular one on Friday.

The fourth-year striker was among the six players honored on senior night, and they celebrated a 5-4 Trans-Valley

Noah DeBruyn also recorded a brace, and senior Ben Miller contributed one goal. Alfredo Figueroa had a hat trick for Orestimba (5-5-1, 8-11-3), which may have damaged its playoff chances with the defeat.

“This is awesome,” Meester said. “We’ve never been here before, so we’re really loving it. Love having the crowd out here.”

Meester has anchored Ripon Christian’s remarkable midseason turnaround. He was out for about seven weeks with a quad injury, and the Knights have not lost since his return.

“With him being out, everybody had to play different positions that they’re not used to,” RC coach Danny Koolhaas said. “And the second he came back; we were a different team. He’s just a difference maker, and you saw that tonight.”

The Knights are 4-0-4 in their last eight games and have moved into a third-place tie with Ripon and Orestimba. All three teams have one game remaining, and only the top three teams automatically qualify for the playoffs. Hilmar and Hughson occupy the top spots.

Ripon Christian is a likely shoo-in no matter where it ends up. As the No. 2 team in the MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI rankings, the Knights have a firm hold on an at-large bid. The top 10 teams without automatic berths in Division VI make it as at-large qualifiers.

Ripon Christian never trailed on Friday but could not quite shake its old Southern League foe until the final whistle. They previously battled to a 4-4 draw.

The Knights scored the first two goals, with Meester playing a role in both. In the 11th minute, senior defender Isaiah Vander Woude heaved a long throw-in into the middle of the penalty box, and Meester redirected it toward the far post with a flick-on header. DeBruyn was there to finish it off.

Eight minutes later, Orestimba was penalized for a handball in the box on Daniel Lambdin’s corner-kick cross. Meester doubled Ripon Christian’s lead on the ensuing penalty kick.

Meester scored again in the 52nd minute to make it 4-2, heading in another throw-in from Vander Woude. Miller put away his goal late in the first half, taking advantage of a second-ball opportunity on a throw-in.

Vander Woude nearly had a goal of his own in the first half, but his headed shot on a corner kick was cleared off the line by Orestimba’s Omar Covarrubias.

“The last time we played this team, all four of our goals we had came from Isaiah’s throw-ins,” Meester said. “It’s a huge weapon for us.”

The prolific Figueroa kept Orestimba in the fight, but Ripon Christian had an answer every time. He opened scoring for the Warriors with penalty kick in the 25th minute, but they trailed 3-1 at halftime following Miller’s strike.

Orestimba had the Knights on their heels in the first six minutes of the second half. Figueroa’s first shot attempt bounced off the right post, but Pablo Hernandez pounced on the loose ball for the tap-in goal.

The Warriors nearly tied it moments later on a breakaway. Figueroa darted down the right wing and centered it to an open Hernandez, whose first-time shot was thwarted by the sliding Lambdin.

Ripon Christian’s high press and offside trap, which drew 10 offsides, kept the ball on the Orestimba third for much of the match, but that also opened up counter-attacking opportunities for the Warriors’ fleet-of-foot forwards.

Figueroa again shrank deficit, sneaking in behind the Ripon Christian defense to chase down a long through ball for a 1v1 chance. He fired it past Knights goalkeeper Wesley Vander Woude (two saves) to close the Warriors in at 4-3 with still 20 minutes to go.

“We know Alfredo well from our days in the Southern League,” Koolhaas said. “To me, he has been the best player in the area for three years now. You’re not going to stop him; you just try to make it difficult on him. We obviously couldn’t stop him. That kid is special, though.”

Ripon Christian got the insurance goal it needed in the 71st minute. Freshman forward Collin Lecain battled for a 50-50 ball near the top of the 18-yard line, and it took a fortunate bounce to DeBruyn, who outraced two defenders and sent it opposite post with a strong left-footed strike.

Figueroa completed his hat trick in the final minute, giving Orestimba a sliver of hope to salvage a tie. The game ended after an Orestimba free kick was controlled and cleared by Ripon Christian.

The Knights cap their regular-season schedule next Monday at Sonora. They’re one away from notching a double-digit win total for the first time since 2014, when Ripon Christian last advanced to the playoffs under then-coach Keith Terpsma.

Koolhaas, now in his second year as coach, is one of Terpsma’s former players and a 2004 Ripon Christian graduate.

“To me, being part of a Christian school, we believe in the covenant of baptism, that we come back, and we try to mentor kids,” Koolhaas said. “I take that very seriously — our whole community does. I don’t have a boy on the team, but I just love being a part of the program, and I have a competitive itch, and this gets to scratch it.”