Central Valley’s boys soccer team kept its Central California Conference title hopes alive and boosted its Sac-Joaquin Section playoff chances this past week.
Ceres High’s boys soccer squad won one of two games to remain in the hunt for the Western Athletic Conference’s final postseason berth.
“It keeps us motivated to keep fighting for the first goal we have, which is to win league,” Hawks’ head coach Horatio Garcia said.
“The team has improved up to this point,” Bulldogs’ leader Gilbert Zamora said. “We’re pushing to make playoffs. We’re fighting for the third spot. I think we have a chance.”
Central Valley improved to 15-6-1 overall and 5-1 in the CCC on Jan. 16 after edging previously-unbeaten Golden Valley 4-3 on a rain-soaked field in Ceres.
Winners of their last three games, the Hawks avenged a 5-1 loss.
Central Valley moved into a first-place tie atop the league standings with the Cougars.
The Hawks had four different goal scorers versus Golden Valley, including Alexis Cervantes, Alejandro Garcia, Julio Larranaga said Diego Ochoa.
Victor Macias chipped in with two assists.
Yahir Perez had one assist.
Hawk goalkeeper Jesus Silva totaled five saves.
The two teams battled to a 2-2 tie in the opening half.
The Cougars erased one-goal deficits twice.
Central Valley was forced to battle back in the second half. Down 3-2, the Hawks tallied pair of unanswered goals to secure the victory.
Ochoa scored the winning goal off a pass from Macias.
The sophomore’s left-footed shot deflected off a Cougar defender and into the back of the net.
Ochoa helped Central Valley end a three-game losing streak versus Golden Valley.
Ceres High moved to 5-7-2 on the season and 3-4-1 in the WAC standings after securing a split.
The fourth-place Bulldogs lost 3-2 to the second-place Lathrop Spartans on Friday at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
“We could have put the game away in the first half,” said Zamora. “We have a lot of young players. We do make mistakes because of our inexperience.”
William Duran and Enrique Murrillo both scored one goal for Ceres High.
Luis Flores collected one assist.
The Bulldogs led 2-0 at intermission.
Lathrop outscored Ceres High the rest of the game.
Ceres High defeated fifth-place Grace Davis 3-1 on Jan. 17 in Modesto.
Murrillo accounted for all three of the Bulldogs’ goals.
Daniel Cardenas, Fabian Montanez and Samuel Vargas all dished out one assist.
BOYS HOOPS
Ceres High’s boys basketball team dropped to second place in the Western Athletic Conference last week.
Central Valley remained in fourth place in the Central California Conference.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good position,” said Bulldogs’ Coach T.J. Walker Jr. “But we have a lot of work to do.”
“Obviously, we’d like to have a better record,” Hawks’ leader Mike Rodriguez said. “We’re playing at a high level in spurts. We’re just not putting full games together.”
Ceres High fell to 13-7 on the season and 6-1 in the WAC following Friday’s 62-45 loss to visiting Mountain House at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.
The Mustangs (14-6, 7-0) took over sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
The two teams were unbeaten in league prior to facing off.
Reserve Myles Vath led the Bulldogs with 11 points.
Manny Ortega added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Freshman Carey Mastin had seven points and six assists.
“They were bigger than us,” Walker said. “That was the difference in the game.”
Ceres High held on for a 67-63 victory against Grace Davis on Wednesday in Modesto.
Mastin poured in 22 points and dished out seven assists versus the last-place Spartans (5-12, 0-7).
Ortega had 15 points, two rebounds and one steal.
Vath had 11 points, two steals, one rebound and one assist.
Host Central Valley lost 54-42 to El Capitan on Homecoming last Friday.
The Gauchos scored 21 points off 18 Hawk turnovers.
“You can’t give the ball to the other team so many times and expect to win,” Rodriguez said.
Central Valley dropped to 5-18 overall and 1-5 in league.
Second-place El Capitan improved to 13-9 and 4-2.
Jellmar Mata led the Hawks with 11 points, three steals, two rebounds and one assist.
Bryan Rodriguez had eight points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Emmanuel Carranza had seven points, five rebounds, and two steals.
