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CV defeats Atwater in soccer
Fernando Cano CV
Fernando Cano and Central Valley’s boys soccer team will return to the field this week following winter break. The Hawks will play at Buhach Colony today and host Merced on Friday. - photo by Dale Butler

Central Valley High School’s girls soccer team managed to top Atwater despite competing shorthanded.

Down six starters due to injury and vacation, the Hawks escaped with a 3-2 road win while battling the Falcons on Dec. 17.

Central Valley played without Jacquelin Aguilar, Isabella Barajas, Viviana Flores, Maddie Mendonsa, Daniela Rodriguez and Michelle Soto. Substitute Magnolia Tavison also missed the contest.

“I was very concerned,” head coach Miguel Larranaga said. “I only had 11 girls for the game. Not having some of my starting players made it very difficult.”

The Hawks improved to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the Central California Conference standings.

The Falcons dropped to 2-6-1 and 0-4-0.

“I’m a little shocked,” Larranaga said. “I thought we were going to do better. But we’re missing so many girls. I just want to be able to play with my whole team.”

Hawk sophomore Emaly Fernandez scored a team-high two goals versus the Falcons.

Freshman Gianna Silva had one goal.

Down 3-1, Atwater cut the deficit to one with 10 minutes to play.

“It got scary at the end,” Larranaga said. 

Central Valley snapped a two-game losing streak.

The Hawks also earned their first conference win of the season,

“Hopefully, we do better in the games coming up,” Larranaga said. “I still got hope we’re going to make playoffs. We still have time to recover. We just have to have our full roster.”

CHS nets pair of wins

Ceres High School’s girls soccer team collected a pair of victories prior to winter break.

The Bulldogs bounced back after dropping two of their first three league games.

“We’re back at full health and we have a bench now,” head coach Hannah Menk said.

Third-place Ceres High improved to 5-4-0 overall and 3-2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference standings following its 3-2 win over Johansen on Dec. 15 at CUSD Stadium.

Bulldog goalkeeper Llian Blevins totaled 11 saves.

Ariana Diaz led Ceres High in scoring with one goal and two assists.

Kaylee Rodriguez added one goal and one assist.

Paris Moreno tallied one goal.

The Bulldogs could have scored more goals against the Vikings. 

“We need to work on finishing our shots,” Menk said. “We’ve been practicing every day.”

Blevins, Diaz, Kristina Corbin, Yaresli Lopez, Abi Prado and Ayleen Bustos-Yepez helped lead Ceres High to a 5-1 victory against host Mountain House on Dec. 13.

Blevins had eight saves.

Diaz collected one goal and three assists.

Corbin totaled two goals.

Lopez and Prado finished with one goal apiece.

Bustos-Yepez, who earned a promotion from JV, solidified Ceres High’s midfield.


BOYS RESULTS

Ceres High School’s boys soccer program has won its last three league games.

“We have a really good team this year,” head coach Gilbert Zamora Jr. said. “It’s showing up in the results. It’s my responsibility to keep them focused. Hopefully, we reach our goal. That’s what we train for.”

The second-place Bulldogs improved to 6-5-0 on the season and 3-1-0 in the Western Athletic Conference standings after posting a 4-1 victory over visiting Pacheco on Dec. 17 at CUSD Stadium.

“Pacheco will come back stronger next time,” Zamora said. “When you play them on the road, it’s together. They have a turf field.”

Isaac Arana led Ceres High with two goals.

Antonio Media netted one goal and dished out three assists.

Enrique Murillo had one goal.

Sergio Gonzalez collected one assist.

Bulldog goalkeeper Jesse Villalobos made two saves.

Ceres High shut out Johansen 5-0 on Dec. 15 in Modesto.

“Everybody did their job on the field,” Zamora said.

Medina led the Bulldogs with three goals and one assist.

Arana added two goals and one assist.

Gilbert Zamora III and Noah Zamora each had one assist.

Villalobos had one save.

Ceres High cruised to an 11-1 win against host Beyer on Dec. 10.

“In baseball, you can win by mercy rule,” Zamora said. “They don’t have that in soccer.”

The Bulldogs had a host of contributors on offense.

Arana led Ceres High with two goals and three assists.

Murillo collected two goals and two assists.

Medina and Julio Larranaga both tallied one goal and two assists.

Gilbert Zamora III, Noah Zamora, Eduardo Savala, Chuy Vega and Mario Valadez all had one goal.

Alfredo Toledo made one save while logging playing time at goalkeeper.

“We’re really focused on the season,” Zamora said. “Our goal is to get better every day. At practice, every position is open. You have to compete against each other like if it’s a game.”

Split for Hawks

Central Valley High School’s boys soccer team accumulated one win and one loss during the week of Dec. 13-17.

The Hawks improved to 9-4-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the Central California Conference standings with a 4-1 victory against the Atwater Falcons on Dec. 17.

“The expectations are really high because I know how much talent there is at Central Valley,” head coach Horatio Garcia said.  “The four losses we have were against very competitive teams.”

Fernando Cano, Abel Calvo, Adan Mercado and Carlos Ochoa all tallied one goal for the Hawks.

Heriberto Paz, Karmjot Singh and Isaiah Urrutia chipped in with one assist each.

Central Valley goalkeeper Gael Navarro had three saves.

The Hawks mustered just one goal during their previous two league matches.

“Everything came together this game,” Garcia said. “We worked on finishing the previous practices before the game. That was the focus and it actually paid off.”

Central Valley lost 2-0 to Pitman in non-conference play on Dec. 14 in Turlock.

Navarro had one save.

“Honestly, it was a bad game for us,” Garcia said. “We had 13 shots. We just couldn’t finish.”