Diana Reyes notched a brace in the first half Friday night, and that held up for the duration, as visiting Sierra blanked East Union 2-0 in girls Valley Oak League soccer action at Dino Cunial Stadium.
At the midway point in the first half, the Lancers (3-5 VOL, 10-11-1 overall) were whistled for a handball in the box, and Reyes snuck the ball past the East Union goalie on the ensuing penalty kick. She doubled the Timberwolves (5-3-1, 17-5-1) lead in stoppage time when she took a long cross from Leslie Reyes and poked it in the net.
“On the PK I kicked the ball and her hand touched it but it was in the box,” Diana Reyes said. “I wasn’t going to take it, because I missed one against EU in a tournament and I wasn’t confident, but I stepped up and scored.
“My sister crossed me on the other goal, and I just shot it with my left, and I got lucky enough and made it.”
Center-attacking mid Zoe Sutton is glad the win improves playoff seeding for Sierra.
“After a loss, we wanted to come in here and represent the school well and help get a good spot for playoffs,” Sutton said. “We were ready to work hard.”
This was the first win for the Timberwolves in their last three outings, coming off a 1-1 draw against Manteca and a 3-0 loss to league-leading Oakdale.
“We needed this to get back on the winning track,” Sierra coach Manuel Pires said. “It was a good game. We created the most chances, and we played very offensively. We hit the post, and we created a couple of good chances, and their goalie did a good job, especially at the beginning.
“There’s just a few games left in league. We want to get more prepared as we get closer to playoffs, and this was an important win for us.”
Lancers goalie Kadence Rossi notched nine saves, and Ava Bonilla kept a clean sheet for the Timberwolves with three saves.
“Sierra is a good team,” East Union coach Jason Silva said. “So, we knew coming in we would have our hands full, because they can score from anywhere. If you mark one player, they have three or four other players that can challenge and attack you.
“I thought we came out really well and hung with them for a while. We had some opportunities, but we gave up the PK, and that kind of shifted momentum. It’s tough giving up one or two goals when we usually struggle to score. It’s done, and now we have to shift our focus to Monday and Central Catholic. That is a bigger game, because they are right behind us in the rankings.”
The Lancers travel to Central Catholic on Monday and on Wednesday Sierra travels to Patterson with both games at 6:15 p.m.
Junior varsity
Sierra 0, East Union 0
Emma Patillo kept the sheet clean for the Timberwolves, and her counterpart Samantha Serio did the same for the Lancers.
