The race for a Sac-Joaquin Section girls soccer playoff berth is heating up in the Western Athletic Conference, and Lathrop will take any positive result as they come.
On Monday, the Spartans could not take advantage of late opportunities in a scoreless tie with visiting Johansen at Bennie Gatto Field, but coach Diana Nevarez gladly took the point.
Lathrop (4-2-3 WAC, 7-6-3 overall) trails Mountain House and Ceres in the standings with two games in hand, is locked with Beyer for third place and remains a point ahead of Johansen (3-2-5, 6-5-4). Only the top three teams qualify for the postseason, and the Spartans have five regular-season games left to play — including a make-up match with Beyer — in the next week.
“We’re trying to make that playoff push,” Nevarez said “We have a lot of games left but running out of time. We gotta get it done.”
After an uneventful first half, Lathrop opened up its attack and created several scoring chances with combination plays involving speedy left winger Janessa Ward and dangerous cross from Morgan Penko. Lathrop had three corner kicks, two in the final 30 seconds of the match.
The Spartans’ best looks came in the last 25 minutes, perhaps none as good as Ward’s after a mishandled direct kick. Janeese Romo drilled a direct kick to Johansen goalkeeper Nevaeh Perez, who dropped the ball in a dangerous spot near the 6-yard box. Ward was there to attack the loose ball near the far post, but her half-volley attempt was chipped over the goal.
Nevarez was pleased to Ward aggressively hunt goals. She had two other great chances on give-and-goes with sophomore striker Elyanna Fernandez and Alexis Tapia.
Lathrop recently lost one of its top players, putting the onus on Ward provide more punch on the attack.
“She’s definitely a key figure for us,” Nevarez said of the junior forward. “It’s putting a lot on Janessa and she knows what she has to do. She does a lot to get others (scoring opportunities), but we tell her, girl, you need to take your shots and put them in there, too. She’s a big team player, but we need her to be more of the scorer now.”
While Lathrop continues its work on improving the attack, the defense produced its first shutout since
Lathrop outshot the Vikings, 8-5. Most of Johansen’s shots were from long distances but had a great look inside the penalty box in the 15th minute. Following a free kick from Neidelyn Ruiz, Yuliana Verduzco emerged with the ball and had an open shot but sent it directly to Lathrop goalie Destiny Vega (three saves).
“Our defense is definitely coming together,” Nevarez said. “We made some adjustments and are learning from our mistakes. It was great to watch when they didn’t panic under pressure. The simple mistakes we can fix, but they’re a lot calmer and that back line is getting solid for us.”
Lathrop’s tough five-games-in-seven-days closing stretch begins Wednesday at Grace Davis. The Spartans are in contention for their second-ever postseason appearance.
