The Rebels are off and running after their dominant debut in the United Premier Soccer League on Saturday.

Memo Ramirez’s goal in the 19th minute was all that was necessary for the Manteca Futbol Club’s semiprofessional squad, which downed Eclipse Soccer Academy of Santa Cruz in front of a festive crowd at Ripon Christian.

“I thought we looked like a team that was prepared,” MFC coach James Burns said. “I think

“The excitement led to a pretty fast start for us, and we were able to find our rhythm offensively, move the ball really well, create chances out the gate and put Eclipse on their heels. From there, we pretty much controlled the game from the outset.”

The deciding moment started from the defense, as center back Hayden Beier, of Ripon, switched the play from right to left with a perfect diagonal pass to overlapping wingback Abraham Tejeda.

Tejeda ended his sprint toward the end line and dropped a negative ball to Ramirez, who opened himself up for the shot with a feint and a quick lateral touch along the 18-yard line before drilling past the diving keeper and inside the left post.

Niklas Bissig and Mantecan Paul Barrios joined Beier and Tejeda on the back line, while goalies Chino Lira (two saves) and Cam Duff (save) combined for the shutout.

Burns called the season opener “surreal” after spending the last five months preparing for this moment.

“It felt like a team effort,” Burns said, lauding the DJ, the announcer and Manteca FC’s youth clubs for helping to inject energy in the stadium. “I had a few people tell me they’ve been with the club 20-plus years, and they never experienced something like that, which was kind of cool to hear because that’s what we wanted. We want to bring something different.”

MFC Rebels continue NorCal South Conference action this Saturday in Merced, where they’ll meet Azteca FC. Their next home game is on April 12 starting at 6 p.m. against Suisun City Rush back at RC.