Sierra matched Oakdale’s level of play between the 18-yard lines in their Valley Oak League duel Monday at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.
One team was far more efficient in the box, however, and that was the difference for the visiting Mustangs. Shelby Mitchell netted two impressive volleys, and Dakota Burford punctuated Oakdale’s 3-0 win with a sliding strike.
The Mustangs (7-0 VOL, 13-2-2 overall) distanced themselves from the rest of the pack with their latest two wins, while Sierra (4-3-1, 16-5-1) drops farther behind second-place Manteca.
“In the first 10 minutes, we created a couple really good opportunities, but that’s the thing — we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net,” Sierra coach Manuel Pires said. “You have to give it to them; they’re a very high-pressing team, and they attack very good together. They play a lot of long balls, but they prepare themselves for that. They have players who show up at the right spot.
“It’s not like they created more opportunities than we did. The ones they did create, they were able to put it in the net.”
The Timberwolves did have some early chances through combination plays between Diana Reyes and Kaylee Rodriguez, but none of them resulted in shots.
Oakdale capitalized on its second and third attempts.
In the 14th minute, Oakdale’s Layla Garcia-Gonzalez stole the ball off a Sierra goal kick and sent it wide to left winger Kaia Cox, who then chipped a perfect opposite-post cross to Mitchell for the leaping deflection.
Mitchell struck again nine minutes later on a similar sequence, this time with Burford delivering the left-to-right cross after receiving a throw-in.
Burford then erased any hope of a Sierra comeback with her late goal on a counterattack. Garcia-Gonzalez spotted her with a diagonal through ball, and Burford was able to poke it past the incoming Sierra goalkeeper with a sliding first touch.
Freshman Ava Bonilla finished with three saves in front of the Sierra goal, while Cassidy Mitchell had five for Oakdale. Mitchell had a diving deflection on a shot from Reyes in the middle of the second half. Leslie Reyes, Diana’s sister, also had a look just five minutes prior after Maitland Kohoutek delivered a dangerous diagonal through ball into a space, but the first-time shot was sliced wide.
“Our team got a little more frustrated as the game went on,” Pires said. “In the second half, it looked like we were going to have that chance at least to get a goal and get back and make this more of a tight game, but, again, in these types of games where you’re going to have few chances, you have to find a way to put it in.”
The Timberwolves will look to bounce back Friday at rival East Union.
