After being pushed and pulled for two halves and half of an overtime period, Manteca’s Sialei Manuleleua made her mark. Manuleleua took a quick pass back from Sammie Morris and then beat the Livingston keeper, ushering the Buffaloes to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV semifinals with a 1-0 win Tuesday.
Manteca reaped the benefits of Manuleleua’s non-stop effort, playing through constant tussling and grabbing only to finally get off her best shot at Manteca’s most valuable moment.
“They were double teaming her every time she had the ball,” Manteca head coach Justin Coenenberg said. “We talked about making an adjustment at halftime; we needed to get girls open because when she touches the ball she immediately has to release it and relocate.
“And after that she can get it back.”
Manuleleua didn’t miss when she got it back five minutes into the first overtime half. Livingston definitely sensed the urgency, putting together a pair of offensive attacks before the end of the first overtime period.
The Buffaloes were 10 minutes away from advancing and they were successful, getting a valiant effort in the defensive end from Avigail Mayen, Jasmine Odell, Samanthan Grieman and of course goal keeper Jimi Guibor.
“I was pretty excited for the girls, but we had two weeks without playing a game,” Coenenberg said. “We had a great week of practice last week and the girls were fired up. I thought we came out and we controlled the tempo and pretty much controlled possession throughout the game.
“Our defense is what carried us all season long and they did a great job playing together.”
The Buffaloes find themselves as the last club standing with both No. 1 seed East Union and Sierra High falling in their playoff openers. Manteca will make a trip north to take on Sierra Valley Conference No. 1 seed Vista del Lago.
The Buffaloes will try to ride the wave of Manuleleua’s goal, and the program’s first playoff victory during Coenenberg’s four-year tenure into a road win and a spot in the section championship.
“I was never going to give up,” Manuleleua said. “We can’t give up ever, but you really can’t with just five, ten minutes left in overtime. I knew I had to finish that shot; I knew that was an important play.”
