Ripon’s roster swelled to 25 players after coach Bryce Perkins pulled up a handful of underclassmen from his stacked lower-level squads, and he got to play every single one of them Saturday when the sixth-seeded Indians conquered Southern Athletic League champion Orestimba 3-0 in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs.
Three different players scored for Ripon (15-8-1), while the defense handcuffed one of the top scorers in the Section.
“Orestimba only had 14 players, so I subbed like crazy,” Perkins said. “Late in the (first) half, we just wore them out and scored (twice).
“We won convincingly and were able to get everybody off the bench to gain some playoff experience. The freshmen got the feel for the competition. It was a great game for us.”
Ripon travels to No. 3 Lincoln of Placer County for the quarterfinals next Wednesday. The Fighting Zebras (10-3-1) routed No. 14 Natomas, 6-1.
The Indians first got aquatinted with 11th-seeded Orestimba (18-4-2), which will soon join them in the Trans-Valley League in the next realignment cycle. The Warriors from Newman hoped to neutralize Ripon’s speed with a sweeper, but that did little to slow down the Indians.
Katie Martin broke the tie in the 30th minute after Kaya Whitaker booted a high-arching long ball from midfield to the top of the 18-yard box. An Orestimba defender misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing Martin to collect it off the bounce for an uncontested shot on goal.
Ripon doubled the lead six minutes later when two freshmen linked up for a well-executed give-and-go between Taylan Dayak and Madelyn McKiernan.
Dayak started the sequence with a counterattack from the right wing and centered it to McKiernan, who drove inside the 18 before dishing it back and dashing toward the goal. Dayak completed the 1-2 combination with another interior pass, teeing up a point-blank look for McKiernan.
Rylee Agbayani capped the score on a breakaway in the 65th minute, deking a defender on the right flank before blasting it past the keeper from about 25 yards out.
“I’ve got so much speed up front,” Perkins said. “If our wing mids are effective, they’ll eventually overwhelm them.”
Ripon finished with 20 shot attempts against just four for Orestimba. Warriors forward Maya Barajas came into the postseason as the second-leading scorer in the SJS with 40 goals and 13 assists for 93 points.
Goalie Ellena Paerenti was hardly tested, finishing with two saves before getting replaced by Kylie Wiggins in the 70th minute. The back-line quartet of Kyla Agbayani, Alyson Harvey, Katie Rhodes and Starla Skiles were instrumental in the shutout, along with Whittaker at holding midfielder.
“Our whole backfield is fast,” Perkins said. “It’s so hard to get by them, and we have a solid rock in the middle in Katie Rhodes.”
