For coach Bryce Perkins and the Indians, it’s a story they’ve seen before.
Ripon fell to the Lincoln Fighting Zebras 3-1 in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV semifinal Thursday night, marking the third consecutive season the team ends its season just two wins from a section championship.
“This one hurts, because of how the game went,” Perkins said. “I thought we outplayed them, out possessed them, spent more time in their attacking half, we just couldn’t find the frame.”
The 2-seeded Indians (18-5-1) did everything right on the night, except for stopping No. 3 Lincoln (17-2) senior standout Alicia Osegueda. The University of San Francisco commit scored a hat trick on a trio of outstanding individual performances to bring her goal tally on the season to 68.
“Alicia is non-stop,” Lincoln coach David Zinzun said. “Growing up, she never played with kids her own size, and that really forced her to never back down from a challenge, and she showed a lot of that heart tonight in a huge game for our program.”
Osegueda opened the scoring just seven minutes into the game when she found some space on the right side of the net and beat Ripon goalkeeper Ellena Parenti to the near post.
Moments in space were few and far between in the game for Osegueda, who battled against a swarming Indians defense led by Malia Locarnini, Starla Skiles, and Addison Naranjo, who held the Fighting Zebras to just four shots on goal in the game.
“The defense played great,” Perkins said. “Number 12 (Osegueda) just had a powerful shot, and anytime you can put the ball in the net from where she was taking those shots, it makes a big difference.”
The Indians found a well-deserved equalizer just seven minutes after falling behind midway through the first half. After earning a free kick in the attacking half, Locarnini put a ball over the Lincoln back line finding Danielle Rey, who fired a strike from just inside the 18-yard box to even the score at 1-1.
“Give them credit for the way they fought back,” Zinzun said. “They are a very physical, fast team, and we knew they were going to keep coming at us after we took the lead early.”
Keep coming they did. The Indians outshot Lincoln 10-4, creating more chances led by great combination play from senior leader Olivia Maragos and the freshman duo of Alena Mallari and Allie Grussing, but were just unable to find the back of the net.
“They did a good job of keying on Olivia,” Perkins said. “We had a little bit of a hard time getting started, but once we settled into the game, I thought we created a lot of chances that on another night maybe turn into goals.”
Osegueda and the Fighting Zebras capitalized on the missed opportunities from Ripon. Midway through the second half, the senior scored on a right-footed kick from 10 yards beyond the 18-yard box — a perfect shot that hit the crossbar before bouncing into the back of the net. Ten minutes later, she would seal the game this time with her left foot, beating defenders and slotting a shot home past Parenti to send Lincoln to the section final.
For Perkins and the Indians, the ending is all too familiar, but there is hope for the future.
“We’re going to miss these seniors, but we have a really great group of freshmen and two girls who were injured this season that will return next year,” Perkins said. “With them and another year of experience, I don’t think we will skip a beat next year.”
