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Oakdale Athletes Play Strong In Late September Contests
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Oakdales Oskar Nilsson, left, keeps a close watch on the East Union player eyeing the throw in as the two prepare to turn up the field in recent play. The Oakdale varsity boys lost a 4-1 decision and despite the apparent rainfall, it was just an ill-timed sprinkler adding to the havoc of the game. - photo by Marg Jackson/The Leader

The Oakdale High varsity soccer team struggled to tie and lose a game last week, but Oakdale football players, tennis stars, golfers and water polo players landed big conference wins in recent play.

Soccer
Oakdale tied Lathrop in a 2-2 battle on Sept. 19, but fell 4-1 to East Union on Wednesday to drop to 0-3-1 in the VOL.
Gustavo Ruiz and Javier Aguiniga scored on assists from Jose Rodriguez and Oskar Nilsson against Lathrop. Scotty McNeil made five saves. McNeil added six saves during the loss to East Union. Davis Harper had the lone score.

Freshman Football
It took less than a minute of game time for Oakdale’s freshman football team to take control of its Valley Oak League opener at Sierra on Thursday.
The Mustangs went on a staggering 21-point run in that span and staved off the previously undefeated Timberwolves to win, 42-21.
Sierra (3-1 overall) led 14-7 after L.J. Alofatuli’s 1-yard plunge, followed by Jared Silveira’s quarterback sneak on the 2-point try, late in the second quarter.
Oakdale (3-1) drove into Timberwolves territory on its next drive and was aided by a defensive-holding penalty in the process. The Mustangs ended up scoring to tie it up, and not long after that they had the ball back on the Sierra 5 after recovering a fumble on the kickoff return.
Oakdale QB Dylan Farquhar hit a wide-open Christian Domingo on the next play, and just like that Sierra trailed 21-14 going into the break.
That deficit was doubled at the start of the second half, as Oakdale broke a big play on its first play from scrimmage.
Sierra didn’t go down easily.
It had a shot at closing in but had a third-quarter drive stall on the Oakdale 7 on fourth-and-7. The Timberwolves cashed in on their next drive, scoring on Silveira’s 23-yard toss to Alex Barnett early in the fourth quarter.
Oakdale countered with 14 unanswered points to end the game, a spurt sparked by the third of Silveira’s three interceptions.
Dylan Farquar, Landen Ichord, Brock Whitting and Max Stevens (two scores) all sauntered into the end zone for Oakdale touchdowns in the win.

Tennis
Oakdale was likely a powder-puff injury away from staying undefeated during a narrow 5-4 loss to Kimball on Thursday.
After No. 2 singles player Lindsay Dunn dropped from the lineup after an injury she sustained during a football practice, Oakdale battled to only one singles victory and claimed all three doubles wins in a heartbreaker to tarnish a previously spotless league record.
Two Oakdale singles players claimed a set victory, but couldn’t take the tiebreaker in narrow decisions that ultimately decided Kimball’s win. Coach Judy Vejar said the match was Oakdale’s best of the season despite the narrow loss.
Corin Hernandez and Katie Odom topped Kimball after 6-4, 6-1 scores while Carly Rogers and Taylor Davis took 6-4, 6-3 wins. Francesca Orvis and Nicole Dickens landed 6-3, 7-6 wins as well.
Oakdale had topped East Union 5-4 on Sept. 20 after Hernandez and Odom won in 6-4 6-1 scores to kick off three straight doubles wins. Rogers and Davis won 6-4, 6-3 while Orvis and Dickens took a tight 6-3, 7-6 bout.
Nicole Armstrong came back strong to win in 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 scores for the Oakdale singles group. Laurie Baxter worked to a 6-3, 6-0 win as well.

Golf
Oakdale freshman Mabel Wong won her seventh consecutive medalist honors, but her Mustang teammates couldn’t match several low East Union scores in a 241-254 Lancer victory on Tuesday at the Manteca Parks Golf Course.
East Union (5-1) dropped a match to Sonora earlier in the year, but shares the league lead with an Oakdale team (6-1) that upended Sonora.
Wong shot a 40 on the par-37 front nine to nab the best score. Michelle Desrochers (50), Dylanie Donahue (53), Nicole Stastny (54), Kimberly Russell (57) and Rebecca Cone (61) added scores, but couldn’t stay even with four Lancer scores under 50.

Water Polo
The Oakdale varsity boys landed a 17-0 shutout of Pacheco after multiple scores from six different Mustang players.
Brandon Terwilliger scored four, while Ben Kirby, Jeremy Neathery and Neal Cadra added three apiece. Braden Lee and Casey Whitley each chipped in two.

Jonamar Jacinto of the Manteca Bulletin contributed to this report.