KING FOR A NIGHT
Former all-Valley Oak League forward Marissa King made her first and only appearance of the season on Monday evening, logging about 10 minutes at the start of the second half against Oakdale.
King suffered an ACL tear in her right knee earlier in the school year, according to head coach Victor Polanco.
A senior, King wrapped her knee in a heavy duty brace before running out onto the field. She handled the kickoff and immediately dribbled through two defenders before losing the handle. She didn’t attempt a shot.
Polanco said he won’t play King in Wednesday’s regular season finale at Manteca High or in the playoffs, but saw an opportunity to honor her on Senior Night during the Lancers’ 5-1 victory over Oakdale.
“She’s a good player, but I don’t want to risk it. I don’t want her to re-injure it,” Polanco said. “I want her to recuperate 100 percent.”
King has 16 career goals in four seasons at the varsity level; she was a starter at forward and defense the first three seasons.
— James Burns
At times, Ilena Rivera and the East Union girls soccer team make the goals, the sliding saves and the overwhelming victories look, well ...
Far too easy.
The truth is: Few teams work harder in between those painted lines.
Rivera set the tone with her hustle and tenacity, freshman Clarissa Lecce was rewarded with a pair of goals for keeping her runs alive, and Mariah Jeffrey and Bella Cardenas boxed in Oakdale’s potent two-prong attack as East Union rolled to a 5-1 victory on Monday.
History suggested this late-season tilt between Sac-Joaquin Section playoff-bound teams would be tense and tight, perhaps into the final minutes.
Instead, the determined Lancers broke their opponents’ spirits with two first-half goals inside nine minutes of each other.
East Union (13-0, 16-0) has now won 21 straight games, including 35 of their last 36. Its only blemish during this two-year-old streak is a tie, 1-1, with the Mustangs almost a year ago to the day.
Oakdale (8-3-2, 14-7-3) played East Union close in their first meeting on April 1, losing 3-2 on Jenna Zuniga’s goal in the 72nd minute.
“It was very important for us to win this game,” head coach Victor Polanco said. “If you remember last time, last season, they tied us right here. ... We were ready for this game. We were waiting for this game. We practiced hard because we didn’t want to tie again.”
Lecce got the scoring going in the 10th minute, pouncing on a rebound at the back post.
The chance was created by Rivera, who pressured Oakdale’s center back into a poor clearance. She corralled the rebound and fired a shot on frame that was punched toward Lecce, who buried it into an open net for her 10th goal.
Rivera would make it 2-0 nine minutes later, snaking her way through the box.
The 4-foot-8 dynamo pulled the Oakdale defense with her toward the right post, dragging them out of position before firing a right-footed rocket back across the goal into the left panel.
“That’s our thing. We need to win these games in the first 20 minutes,” Polanco said. “If we put pressure, if we win the ball, we know we can score in those first 20 minutes.”
Rivera finished with two goals, including a strike in the 43rd minute to push her team-best total to 32 with one VOL game left on the docket.
And it’s another biggie.
The Lancers will look to put the finishing touches on a perfect run through league play at rival Manteca High. The Buffaloes are a distant second in the standings, but are as dangerous as any team in the southern half of the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Rivera said she’ll worry about the high-scoring Buffaloes today. On Monday, she was too busy celebrating her teammates and another impressive victory on a growing ledger full of them.
East Union honored its seniors before the game and then pieced together a runaway victory over an opponent bound for the postseason.
One of those seniors was midfielder Maddie Yslava, who volleyed home a cross to start the second half.
The other was goalie Anna Wood, who had three saves and controlled the airways above her penalty box.
“It was important (for us to play well) because it was our Senior Night,” said Rivera, not yet an upperclassmen. “We wanted to win on Senior Night. This was the toughest team we’ve played, so it was nice to win 5-1.”
Ashley Arnett prevented the shutout on a counterattack in the 46th minute. The senior notched her 34th goal of the season with a well-driven ball by Wood, whose deflection couldn’t knock it off course.
Lecce and Zuniga closed the scoring in the 71st minute. Zuniga slid a cross onto the foot of Lecce, who ripped a one-timer past Oakdale’s MacKenzie Weiglein (seven saves).
“This win will help us,” Wood said, “especially in the playoffs with tougher teams. It’s better when we play hard like this, instead of just knowing we have the VOL.”
Frosh-Soph
East Union 3, Oakdale 0
Kayla Montoya, Skylar Treacy and Julia Vigallon scored for the Lancers, now 12-1 in the VOL. Paige Gines and Alexis Smith were credited with assists.
