The East Union Lancers got a late goal from freshman forward Carlos Heredia to beat a game Manteca side 1-0 in the wind and rain at Dino Cunial Stadium on Thursday night.
“To be honest, it was a very lucky play,” Heredia said. “The wind carried the ball ,and after the goalie missed it, it fell to my feet.”
The wind had an impact on the entire game, but perhaps no play was affected more than the first career game-winner for Heredia. With 25 minutes left, East Union (7-1-3, 13,4-7) earned a free kick in the attacking half. Going with the wind, senior Alexis Machuca put a ball towards the box that sailed over the head and through the arms of Manteca goalkeeper Leo Garcia, dropping directly in front of Heredia, where he tapped it home for the only goal in the game.
The goal represented the lone blemish for Garcia, who was huge in goal for the Buffaloes all night long, finishing with 12 saves.
“The weather really made this an ugly game for both teams,” East Union coach Ronnie Green said. “We got a fortunate goal and both teams created opportunities, but to be honest, I am not real happy with how we played tonight.”
For the Buffaloes (1-8-2, 2-18-3), the game could be seen as a microcosm of what has been a tough season.
“I think we let them off the hook on their senior night,” Manteca coach James Burns said. “I don’t think they did anything that really caught us off guard, and by the time we really started playing with 10 minutes left in the game, they already had the lead and were playing with the wind.”
In a game with only one total goal scored, Thursday night’s contest had plenty of chances.
The Buffaloes created the majority of the scoring opportunities in the first half. With 23 minutes left in the first half, sophomore midfielder Andres Gomez Sanchez found himself in space and fired a right-footed shot over goalkeeper Daniel Diaz’s head ringing, off the crossbar. The rebound bounced around in the box and ultimately fell to Julian Oregel, who himself beat Diaz but was turned away by the post.
“We knew going into the game that whatever team was going the direction we were going in the first half was going to have the advantage,” Burns said. “That’s where you saw us hit the crossbar, hit the post in what was a wild sequence that we should have gotten a goal out of.”
Fourteen minutes after the frenzy in front of their own net, East Union had a bit of post misfortune themselves after an excellent pass by junior midfielder Ben Diaz sprung teammate Yandel Gutierrez free, beating Garcia but glancing off the right post to keep the score 0-0 where it would remain until Heredia’s winner.
Diaz was huge in keeping the Buffaloes off of the scoreboard, finishing with seven saves himself.
“Danny is, in my opinion, the best goalie in the Valley Oak League,” Green said. “He has great instincts, can kick the ball a mile, but more than that, he’s just a great kid.”
The win for East Union goes a long way towards helping it secure an automatic bid into the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. A win at The Corral next Tuesday in Oakdale could go a step further and earn the Lancers a top-four seed, which would guarantee them two home playoff games.
“Our focus now shifts to Oakdale and getting out of there with no injuries and no cards. We’d love to lock up that four seed but it will take a great team effort to make that happen,” Green said.
For Manteca, a Tuesday night home tilt on their own senior night against winless Central Catholic will wrap up their season.
“We have 11 seniors that we are going to celebrate,” Burns said. “A great group of kids that were critical in getting to the postseason for the first time in 10 years last season.”
Junior Varsity
East Union 2, Manteca 1
Brandon Escamilla recorded a brace to help lead the Lancers. Mateo Rios scored the lone goal for Manteca.
