By DAVE CAMPBELL

The Bulletin

What a difference a half can make.

 With Sierra High getting off just one shot in the first half Monday and trailing host East Union by a goal after 40 minutes, things looked bleak for the Timberwolves to start the second half. But they did not stay that way for long.

 Less than three minutes into the second half, Pedro Maciel tied the game for the Timberwolves off of an assist from Athen Gonsalves and in the next seven minutes Eddie Aguilar added two more Sierra goals to give the Timberwolves a 3-1 Valley Oak League win at Dino Cunial Field. 

 “It felt so good to get that first goal,” Maciel said. “Coach told us to step it up in the second half and fight for the game and that is what we did. 

 “The first goal is how it begins and then we scored two more.”

 In the 47th minute Aguilar got a rebound back into the net and in the 50th minute he took a cross from David Lopez and powered it in to give Sierra (4-0-1 VOL, 10-5-1 overall) a 3-1 lead. 

 “We tried to motivate the kids at halftime,” Timberwolves coach Joe Pires said. “We had been behind in quite a few other games and we knew that sometimes EU does not come in the second half like they did in the first half. So we told the boys this was our game and asked them how bad did they want it?

 “We knew that if we got out there and got it a goal it would be our game and we were lucky to get that goal in a hurry. We got a couple of others after that and then things rolled our way.

 With 12 minutes left in the game the Lancers (2-2-1, 4-2-1) had three hard shots on goal in a matter of seconds, but Sierra goalie Saul Anguiniga knocked down two of the shots and defender Jesse Semenza deflected the third.

 “They had a counter attack and I came out and stopped it,” Aguiniga said. “Then my defender Jesse Semenza came back and he saved it.

 “The defense did a good job today. Everybody played well and so did EU.”

 After getting off five shots to none for the Timberwolves to start the game, East Union took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute when Gerardo Romero headed in an assist from Alex Velasquez. The Lancers outshot Sierra 8-1 in the first half but the Timberwolves had an 8-7 shot advantage in the second half.

 “We stopped passing the ball in the second half,” Lancers coach Edgar Zelaya said. “We tried to play kickball and that is not how we play.”

Weston Ranch 5,

Manteca 0

Joseph Mayorca had three goals and Jose Espinoza three assists for the visiting Cougars (5-0, 14-2-1) at Guss Schmiedt Field.

 Mariano Perez scored the lone goal of the first half with an assist from Kevin Medina.  

 Mayorca and Espinoza got their respective hat tricks in the second half. Bryant Ortiz had the other Weston Ranch goal and Alex Gonzalez the other Cougars assist. 

Manteca falls to 0-4-1, 3-7-1.

Central Catholic 2,

Lathrop 1

 The visiting Spartans (0-5, 0-11) had another tough-luck loss. 

 Just moved up from the frosh-soph team, Miguel Chavez gave Lathrop a 1-0 lead late in the first half but the Raiders (2-3, 3-3) managed a pair of second-half goals for the win.

 “We didn’t play the way we are capable of playing,” Spartans coach Alfredo Reynaga said. “There was a lot of negative energy on the field and it spread pretty quickly.

 “We just couldn’t get it going.”

Frosh-soph

East Union 3, Sierra 1

Giovanni Padilla had three goals for the Lancers and Jacob Garcia an assist.

 Miguel Villasenor had the lone goal for the Timberwolves. 

Weston Ranch 3,

Manteca 1

 Ariel Silva, Robert Gonzalez and Mario Martinez scored for the Cougars.