Yandel Gutierrez is inevitable.
The East Union sophomore and national scoring leader came up empty-handed on multiple opportunities in the run of play during the first half of the No. 2-seeded Lancers’ Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV semifinal with visiting Venture Academy on Thursday.
He did not miss on his first and only chance from a set piece.
Gutierrez’s direct kick early in the second half was the difference for East Union in the 2-1 win over the third-seeded Mustangs, whose only two losses of the season have come at the hands of the same team. They previously met two months ago in the Buffalo Collegiate Showcase, and the Lancers (24-3-2) won by the same score.
The go-ahead strike was the result of Manny Curiel drawing a yellow-card foul on Jessie Gonzales’ dangerous challenge from a trailing position just outside the penalty box.
Gutierrez confidently stood over the ball in the 48th minute and kept his approach simple — kick it to where the goalkeeper is not.
“I saw the goalie on one side, so I just tried my best to place it on the opposite post,” Gutierrez said. “It worked out and went in, and we kept fighting to the end to keep that score.
“We knew this game was going to be a tough battle and we have a pretty young team, but overall we’re good, and it feels pretty good to make it to the final.”
East Union will go after its second SJS title on Saturday night against defending champion Liberty Ranch (18-5-1) at Sacramento City College. First kick is scheduled for 7 o’clock. The fourth-seeded Hawks topped No. 1 Lathrop 3-0 in the other semifinal.
Coach Ronnie Green guided the Lancers to section and NorCal championships in 2020 and didn’t envision his current group to achieve anything close to that, considering its youth.
“We started five sophomores tonight, and seven total sophomores played in the game,” Green said. “It’s a rebuilding year that, at least so far, has the highest winning percentage of any team I’ve had here. We may not have the best players, but they have the best attitude and they are all coachable.”
It helps having the most prolific scorer in the country on that youthful roster.
Gutierrez is now tied for the national lead with 52 goals, but he tops the points list outright with 118, thanks to his 14 assists. And that’s with him missing East Union’s first four games of the season.
Although he did not score in the first half, Gutierrez played a part in the Lancers’ other goal.
His initial shot deflected off a defender in the box during the 20th minute, and Curiel sneaked behind the back line to gather the ball off the carom and converted on his clean look at goal.
“It wasn’t on my left, so it wasn’t very strong, but luckily, it landed behind them and my teammate, Manny, was there,” Gutierrez said.
Sebastian Cordova knotted it for Venture Academy (23-2-1) just moments before the halftime whistle.
It was a lopsided game until that point, with East Union holding an 11-2 shot advantage.
Cordova made the Mustangs’ third attempt count, though it wasn’t by design. Set up near midfield, he lofted a dangerous free kick into the box.
Yosgar Hernandez, Venture’s top scorer this season, rose above the crowd in an attempt to get a head on it, and although he did not get the touch, the traffic he caused did not allow East Union goalie Nickolas Zavala (four saves) a clear path to the ball, which bounced behind him and past the goal line.
The Mustangs’ best chances in the run of play came on their first and last opportunities.
In the third minute, Ismael Trujillo drilled a perfect centered pass directly to Zavala.
Then in the 77th, Alijah Ruiz placed a well struck header on goal that was blocked by defender Elias Salgado in the goal box.
East Union’s defense was otherwise on its game, limiting Hernandez to just a single shot — a speculative blast from the right wing that whizzed above the cross bar.
“It takes a lot of talking, a lot of communication,” senior captain Cristiano Barajas said. “I think in my four years here, this is our best team when it comes to communication. All of us in the defense are working really hard to keep track of their main man, whoever it is. We’re always following that man, and if it comes down to a 1v1, we have to win it.”
East Union is rolling into the section final with 15 straight games without a loss, tying just once in that stretch.
Liberty Ranch’s last blemish came against cross-town rival Galt in its regular-season finale, a 2-0 defeat. The Hawks have since dominated three opponents by a combined 13-1 score.
“It’ll b ea good one,” Green said. “They’re a turf team, unfortunately, and we have to play on turf. We’ll see. We have two more games, for sure. Our goal is to have five more games after tonight.”
As a section finalist, East Union will get to compete in the California Interscholastic Federation Northern Regional Championships starting March 3. The inaugural state finals are on March 13-14 at Natomas High in Sacramento.
