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Dawgs soccer team suffers third loss in league
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The Ceres High varsity boys soccer team's playoff hopes took a serious hit on Friday when the Bulldogs fell 4-1 to Grace Davis at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.

”My guys weren't trying hard enough and Davis took advantage of that,“ said Ceres coach Ryan Cerny.

Ceres suffered its third consecutive loss and dropped to fourth-place in the Modesto Metro Conference (4-5). The Spartans took over sole possession of third place (4-4-1). The top two teams in league advance to the playoffs in November. Downey and Johansen are currently in first and second place, respectively.

”We need to win all of our matches and we need Johansen to lose,“ Cerny said.

The Bulldogs' leading scorer didn't play against the Spartans. Striker Ricardo Castellanos had to sit out one game after picking up a red card during Ceres' 3-1 loss to Johansen on Wednesday. He watched from the sidelines.

”If we had him it would have totally been a different outcome,“ Cerny said. ”He was definitely missed. He's our emotional leader.“

The Bulldogs outshot the Spartans, 15-12.

Davis goalies Quinn Harter and Raul Gutierrez had six and four saves, respectively.

”We failed to capitalize on our opportunities in the match,“ Cerny said. ”It just seemed like all of our shots were going right to them.“

Ceres trailed 2-0 at the break.

Nathan Patterson fired a shot past Bulldog goalie Edgardo Yepez in the 17th minute. Edgar Hernandez added a goal in the 37th minute.

The Spartans outscored the Bulldogs 2-1 in the second half.

Salvador Vergara and Elias Zamudio scored in the 59th and 67th minutes, respectively.

”We played a horrible game, defensively,“ Cerny said. ”A lot of mental mistakes.“

Daniel Miranda accounted for Ceres' lone goal. He scored from 30 yards out off a pass from Marques Castrejon. - By DALE BUTLER / Staff reporter of the Ceres (Calif.) Courier