RIPON — Despite a disproportionate advantage in shots, Manteca only managed to escape Stouffer Field on Monday with a 4-3 win over host Ripon in girls non-league soccer action.
The Buffaloes (1-0) outshot the Indians (0-1) 17-2 in the first half with 12 of those 15 on goal and two more caroming off of the post.
“At this point in the season we have not worked on a lot of finishing,” said Manteca coach Justin Coenenberg, who also coaches the boys. “We have worked on a lot of defensive stuff, possessions and moving the ball around. We created opportunities and made some good runs up top, so I was pretty happy about that.
“We kind of need to shore some things up on both ends – the offensive side with some finishing and even though we limited their shots, they still scored three goals. We made some mistakes back there that we will work on and fix.”
Out of those 17 first-half shots the Buffaloes got two goals – one on an own goal off of a corner kick by Alexa Mayen and the other when Kaley Miller took a pass from Madison Burch and dribbled to the right wing and fired across the net for a 2-0 lead.
Leading 2-1 at halftime, Manteca was in the right place on its next two goals with Carolyn Morrish tapping in a deflection in the 48th minute, and in the 75th minute Burch fielded a rebound and got it back in the net for a 4-2 lead.
“I just happened to be in the right place,” Burch said of her put-back. “I laid it off to Josie (Reyes) and it deflected off her so I shot it with my left.”
Late in the first half Aubree Pelon got the ball to Tianna Sidtikun, who powered the ball in right up the middle for Ripon to cut Buffaloes lead in half, 2-1.
“We know that Manteca High is aggressive throughout the game and they are going to play hard and not stop for 80 minutes,” Ripon coach Nichole Meyer said. “I think our girls took that to heart and rose to the challenge.
“This was the perfect game to prepare us for the season. I think being able to hold our own against Manteca for that long in that strong of a game shows that we will be able to hold our own in the TVL.”
Pelon took a pair of assists from Amanda Evans in the second half for the other two Indians goals.
“We never give up and we never stop,” Pelon said. “We are Indians so we continue to play and keep taking shots.
“We were all a little nervous but I think we did very well putting those nerves behind us. We worked really well together for our first game.”
Boys
Manteca 4, Ripon 1
Aron Navarrete had two goals for the Buffaloes in the non-league win.
“This feels good,” Navarrete said. “A 4-1 win is pretty good.
“It is a new season and it is going to be a lot of fun.”
Elvis Jiminez added a goal for Manteca (1-0), Edgar Oropeza an assist and Everardo Velasquez had a goal and an assist.
The Buffaloes led 2-1 at halftime before blanking the Indians in the second half.
“We are excited,” Coenenberg said. “The guys have been working hard.
“We are pretty deep this year and at this point everyone is kind of getting an equal opportunity to be on the field. So a lot of people played, we worked hard and I was happy with the win.”
Thomas Sidtikun had the lone goal for Ripon on an assist from Patrick Maragos.
“It was tough,” Indians coach Bryant Macias said. “This was our first organized game and the guys were a little nervous to get out here and then there was the weather, too. It is kind of hard to play in this type of weather, they have to adjust to it.
“We are going to learn from this game and we will get better from here.”
