Just minutes into the second half Friday night, Lathrop’s Adriana Garcia-Lopez cut the Ceres lead in half, but the Spartans would come no closer in a 2-1 Western Athletic League loss at Woodward Park.

“Allana (Lewis) had a free kick,” Garcia-Lopez said. “It passed three girls, and I was going to kick it with my left foot, but it came to my right.

“I just shot it and it went in.”

Lathrop coach Diana Nevarez was pleased with the performance by the Spartans (1-1 WAC, 2-8 overall) in the second half.

“We woke up at halftime,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know if it was winter, or Christmas or New Year’s finally wearing off, but I told them ‘Hey, let’s play some soccer.’

“They played one heck of a game. They played together, they played hard and amazing, and I am very proud of it. A 2-1 loss didn’t go in our favor, but we will try and get them next time.”

Ava Montesdeoca got Ceres (2-0-1, 3-4-1) on the board seven minutes into the game. Four minutes later, Alyssa Santillanes made the score, 2-0. Lathrop kept the Bulldogs in check after that.

“Lathrop picked it up in the second half,” Ceres coach Rudy Jimenez said “And I think we may have got a little overconfident leading, 2-0.

“So, now we will go back and talk to them and let them know that no matter what, we play like the score is 0-0.”

Destiny Vega posted seven saves for the Spartans.

Lathrop continues the WAC campaign on Tuesday night when it hosts Johansen at 6:15 at Woodward Park.