The game ended. Members of the Ceres High and Oakdale varsity girls soccer teams shook hands. Then Ceres coach Randy Cerny spoke to his players for several minutes.
"Now you know what you're capable of doing," he said.
The Bulldogs beat the Mustangs 4-2 on Wednesday at the T.L. Davis Youth Sports Park in Oakdale.
"To come and win like they did, I was very proud of the girls," Cerny said. "They could have easily had a letdown coming off a loss last night under the lights at Modesto Christian."
Lucero Villasenor had three goals and an assist, Myrna Cadenas scored once, and Janneli Arreygue and Cynthia Gonzalez each added an assist for Ceres, which improved to 1-1 overall.
"Lucero is amazing," Cerny said.
"This year, she's really picked it up as a team player. She's one of our captains."
Heida Costa and Nikkole Scruggs scored for Oakdale, which fell to 3-2-1 overall.
"Oakdale's no slouch," Cerny said. "Oakdale's one of the best teams in the VOL."
The Bulldogs outscored the Mustangs 3-0 in the second half.
Ceres scored twice in the span of two minutes and nine seconds after intermission to take a 3-1 lead.
Villasenor crossed a pass into the box from the left side and Cadenas finished from one yard out with her left foot in the 49th minute.
In the 51st minute, Villasenor beat an offsides trap, stopped at the 20-yard line near the top of the penalty box and lofted a shot over Oakdale goalie Christina Fowler's head. Arreygue assisted.
Ceres took a commanding 4-1 lead on Villasenor's third goal. She dribbled past a defender in the penalty box and scored from a yard out. Gonzalez assisted.
Scruggs scored a meaningless goal for the Mustangs with one minute remaining. Her sliding shot from the 12-yard line got past Ceres goalie Yessenia Medina. Medina blocked nine shots in the game.
"We played a lot stronger defense in the second half," Cerny said.
Ceres managed to succeed without Brittany Randle and Natali Martinez, two of its top defenders.
Randle was diagnosed with leukemia on Feb. 17 and will be sidelined the entire season.
Martinez couldn't attend the game because of a conflicting schedule.
"Natalie has ROP cosmetology school," Cerny said.
"Cynthia filled in for her at sweeper. She did a hell of a job."
Each team scored one goal in the first half.
Acosta got behind Ceres' defense and scored from 20 yards out in the 20th minute.
Villasenor evened the score in the 22nd minute. She beat an offsides trap and dribbled the ball into the net.
Crusaders beat Dawgs
Ceres lost 4-1 to Modesto Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 21 in Salida.
"The game was a lot closer than the score indicated," Cerny said. "The first 20 minutes of the game we dominated. They didn't even get the ball on our side of the field."
Shannon Reimer scored two goals, Erika Brown and Markie Mackenzie had a goal and an assist, and Carrie Halloran stopped five shots for the Crusaders.
Modesto Christian claimed the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship last season.
"They're a very good team, like Johansen and Beyer," Cerny said.
Lucero Villasenor accounted for the Bulldogs' lone goal. Cynthia Gonzalez assisted. Goalie Yessenia Medina made five saves.
The Bulldogs trailed 1-0 at the break.
Reimer scored in the 35th minute.
"We gave up a cheap goal just before halftime," Cerny said. "We let down after that."
The Bulldogs evened the score at 1-all less than four minutes into the second half. Villasenor scored off a pass from Gonzalez in the 43rd minute.
Modesto Christian responded with three unanswered goals. Brown, Reimer and Mackenzie all scored.
"It was a very close game, a very hard-fought game, a very physical game," Cerny said.
Ceres will play at the Beyer Tournament this Friday and Saturday. - By DALE BUTLER / Staff Reporter of The Ceres (Calif.) Courier
"Now you know what you're capable of doing," he said.
The Bulldogs beat the Mustangs 4-2 on Wednesday at the T.L. Davis Youth Sports Park in Oakdale.
"To come and win like they did, I was very proud of the girls," Cerny said. "They could have easily had a letdown coming off a loss last night under the lights at Modesto Christian."
Lucero Villasenor had three goals and an assist, Myrna Cadenas scored once, and Janneli Arreygue and Cynthia Gonzalez each added an assist for Ceres, which improved to 1-1 overall.
"Lucero is amazing," Cerny said.
"This year, she's really picked it up as a team player. She's one of our captains."
Heida Costa and Nikkole Scruggs scored for Oakdale, which fell to 3-2-1 overall.
"Oakdale's no slouch," Cerny said. "Oakdale's one of the best teams in the VOL."
The Bulldogs outscored the Mustangs 3-0 in the second half.
Ceres scored twice in the span of two minutes and nine seconds after intermission to take a 3-1 lead.
Villasenor crossed a pass into the box from the left side and Cadenas finished from one yard out with her left foot in the 49th minute.
In the 51st minute, Villasenor beat an offsides trap, stopped at the 20-yard line near the top of the penalty box and lofted a shot over Oakdale goalie Christina Fowler's head. Arreygue assisted.
Ceres took a commanding 4-1 lead on Villasenor's third goal. She dribbled past a defender in the penalty box and scored from a yard out. Gonzalez assisted.
Scruggs scored a meaningless goal for the Mustangs with one minute remaining. Her sliding shot from the 12-yard line got past Ceres goalie Yessenia Medina. Medina blocked nine shots in the game.
"We played a lot stronger defense in the second half," Cerny said.
Ceres managed to succeed without Brittany Randle and Natali Martinez, two of its top defenders.
Randle was diagnosed with leukemia on Feb. 17 and will be sidelined the entire season.
Martinez couldn't attend the game because of a conflicting schedule.
"Natalie has ROP cosmetology school," Cerny said.
"Cynthia filled in for her at sweeper. She did a hell of a job."
Each team scored one goal in the first half.
Acosta got behind Ceres' defense and scored from 20 yards out in the 20th minute.
Villasenor evened the score in the 22nd minute. She beat an offsides trap and dribbled the ball into the net.
Crusaders beat Dawgs
Ceres lost 4-1 to Modesto Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 21 in Salida.
"The game was a lot closer than the score indicated," Cerny said. "The first 20 minutes of the game we dominated. They didn't even get the ball on our side of the field."
Shannon Reimer scored two goals, Erika Brown and Markie Mackenzie had a goal and an assist, and Carrie Halloran stopped five shots for the Crusaders.
Modesto Christian claimed the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship last season.
"They're a very good team, like Johansen and Beyer," Cerny said.
Lucero Villasenor accounted for the Bulldogs' lone goal. Cynthia Gonzalez assisted. Goalie Yessenia Medina made five saves.
The Bulldogs trailed 1-0 at the break.
Reimer scored in the 35th minute.
"We gave up a cheap goal just before halftime," Cerny said. "We let down after that."
The Bulldogs evened the score at 1-all less than four minutes into the second half. Villasenor scored off a pass from Gonzalez in the 43rd minute.
Modesto Christian responded with three unanswered goals. Brown, Reimer and Mackenzie all scored.
"It was a very close game, a very hard-fought game, a very physical game," Cerny said.
Ceres will play at the Beyer Tournament this Friday and Saturday. - By DALE BUTLER / Staff Reporter of The Ceres (Calif.) Courier
