The 1-1 result between East Union and Manteca was interpreted differently by the two rivals Tuesday at Guss Schmiedt Field.
For the host Buffaloes (0-4-1, 1-14-2 overall), battling one of the Valley Oak League contenders to a draw is a big highlight in what has been a trying season. On the other side, East Union (3-0-2, 9-3-6) leaves dissatisfied knowing it slipped behind Patterson for the top spot in the standings.
Center back Mateo Esparza gave Manteca early life with the opening goal, and Hugo Reyes provided the equalizer minutes later.
“I knew we could always do it,” Esparza said. “In practice, and in little clips of the games, I see that we’re right there. This is a rival — it’s always a good game. I think we all wanted it a little more for this game and were able to put it together.”
Esparza and the rest of Manteca’s defense — center-back mate Adrian Anaya and outside backs Christian Ambriz and Steven Garcia — were the tone setters at the outset, as they matched East Union’s speed of play and physicality.
Esparza than took his ball-winning abilities on the attacking end in the 16th minute when Kevin Mundo set up for a free kick from just inside the midfield stripe. Mundo drove it perfectly toward the left post, and Esparza rose above the crowd inside the box to direct it toward the net with a strong head shot.
“That was a beautiful ball by Kevin,” Esparza said. “They have a tall defensive back, but I saw it coming in and Kevin put it on the perfect spot. All I had to do was put my head on it.”
Jolted by the goal, East Union responded by ramping up the intensity of its high press. It eventually led to the tying goal, as the shifty Reyes collected the loose ball in the box after his initial shot deflected off of a defender and guided it past Manteca goalkeeper Leo Garcia (four saves).
Reyes nearly struck again on two breakaways later in the half but sent both shots wide left. He has scored three goals in his first three games for East Union after serving a sit-out period for his transfer from Sierra.
“I don’t think the boys played bad,” East Union coach Ronnie Green said. “I think Manteca stepped up and played smart — they were defensive and looked for the counterattack. We just couldn’t finish. We had plenty of shots, just not on frame.”
Though the Lancers had a favorable 22-5 margin on shots, the large majority of their attempts were half chances from long distances and narrow angles. They fired four close-range shots following a corner kick in the 77th minute but could not squeeze it through the wall of Manteca defenders.
Manteca may have had fewer opportunities but still had some quality looks. Esparza had a chance to repeat his first goal late in the second half, heading it just wide on Prospect Afanyu’s set-piece delivery. Midway through the second half, Adriel Vega delivered a well-timed through ball on a counterattack, but Jesus Ayala deflected it wide, as Lancers goalie Daniel Diaz (one save) came off his line to challenge the play.
All in all, it was an encouraging game for the young Buffaloes, who have endured injuries, illnesses and unlucky breaks all season. Leading scorer Kai Masudi, for example, is likely out for the remainder of his sophomore campaign with a broken collarbone.
“This was our most consistent fight,” Manteca coach James Burns said. “We’ve had some games where we’d make a mistake and that will be the end of it for us; we go into a tailspin. Today, we gave up the tying goal, and the boys found a way to continue to dig in and battle. I really couldn’t be more proud of them.
“We wanted to get back to what we talked about last year when I came in, which is to be disruptive. Can we just rock apple cart a little bit and maybe put a little fear into East Union? We knew we could play like that, because we had a game like that with Sierra (1-0 loss). Can you be in the battle for 80 minutes? Tonight, we did that.”
The Buffaloes will look to build on this effort Thursday when they head to Central Catholic, while East Union plays host to Oakdale.
