RIPON — Ripon Christian looked forward to the rematch.
Ripon wanted to prove it was no fluke the first time around.
In reality, Friday’s nonleague match was meaningless, but to these neighboring rivals it was anything but. Ripon rallied for three goals in the second half and a 5-2 win. Alaina Cornilsen, Hailey Monroe, Cindy Alvarez, Megan Johnson and Megan Harlan each scored for the Indians (11-5). Cornilsen also dished out two assists.
The two teams previously met March 12 in the third-place match of Ripon Christian’s own tournament, with Ripon prevailing, 2-0.
“These girls played recreation ball together, some of them have gone to school together at some point, they go to the same churches, so yeah, there’s a little bit of bragging rights (at stake),” Ripon coach Jamie DeBruyn said. “Both teams are up for a game like this.”
The Knights (8-6), again the host on Friday, did not have decorated striker Abby Buitrago in the first go-around, as she was out with an injury. She has scored eight goals in her first four games of the season, all in Southern League play.
Buitrago tied the game at 1-1 in the 17th minute, breaking through the Ripon defense after a goal kick. Just moments prior, Harlan narrowly missed a shot that would have doubled the Indians’ early lead.
“Abby’s a game changer,” Ripon Christian coach Kevin Tameling said. “She’s a special player that can make something out of nothing, but we as a team need to learn how not to rely on her so much. We have to score in different ways and not just feed it to her.”
Ripon Christian did find another way later in the opening half. In the 33rd minute, Sam Carvalho lofted a 40-yard blast that sailed over the fingertips of 6-foot Ripon keeper Courtney Slamon (six saves). That made it 2-2 at halftime.
Ripon Christian controlled the pace of play over the final 10 minutes of the first half, but the Indians were able to limit the Knights’ chances in the second.
The key for Ripon in the second half, DeBruyn said, was to use offense as its best defense against Buitrago and the Knights.
“When we were putting pressure up in their front line, they were holding the ball back there more and (Buitrago) wasn’t getting her opportunities,” DeBruyn said. “Really, I thought it was our midfield and forwards’ aggressive play in the second half that kept them from asserting themselves offensively more.”
Alvarez put the Indians up for good in the 48th minute, as her slow-rolling attempt from the left side managed to settle inside the opposite post. Then in the 55th, Johnson delivered the staggering blow with crack from about 30 yards out. Harlan iced the win with a goal from the top of the penalty box, and she was set up by a negative pass from Cornilsen.
“In the second half they got a couple of fluke goals and we did not respond well to that,” Tameling said.
“We shadowed her a little bit, talked about double teaming, stuff that we can work on now in a nonleague game that we normally wouldn’t in league because we don’t normally see forwards like her in our league.”
Both coaches agreed that Friday’s rivalry tilt was a good workout for their teams regardless of the outcome. Ripon is in first place in the Trans-Valley League, while Ripon Christian is undefeated in its quest for a fourth consecutive Southern League crown. The matchup was also a showdown of two of top small-school programs in the Sac-Joaquin Section; Ripon Christian has won two straight section titles in Division VII, while Ripon was the 2015 runner-up in Division V.
“We’ve had some lopsided games recently, and we got to play a team that is strong and challenges us in different ways that we haven’t seen in the past couple of weeks,” Tameling said. “In some ways tonight had a playoff atmosphere with the cross-town rivalry coming into play. Even though the game does not matter in the league standings, it matters to the players and the community.”

Valley Oak League
Sierra 2, Oakdale 0
With the rest of the league idle, Sierra (4-0-2 VOL, 15-0-4 overall) was able to make up some ground on first-place Manteca with a big win at Oakdale (3-3, 10-5-2).
Both goals were scored in the second half. Briana Oseguera struck first off a corner kick by Kyndra Kiser. Yasmin Ballew provided the insurance goal set up by a nice through ball by Daisy Valencia. McKenna Doyle started the scoring play with a run down the right sideline.
Goalie Emma Broderick had five saves in her 11th shutout of the season.