Taking some inspiration from the Olympic Games, a pair of Oakdale United competitive soccer teams came home with gold this weekend.
The Under 19 Oakdale Insanity girls and the Under 15 Oakdale Red Bulls boys were both champions at the Dublin Shamrock Tournament.
For the Insanity girls, the weekend saw them win three games and tie one, not taking a loss over the two days of competition.
First up was the Impact Black out of Brentwood and though an early goal put the Insanity girls down 1-0, they charged back to tie it up two minutes later on a pass from Jessica Estrada to Danae Rose, who then sent a perfect cross to the foot of Sierra Lyman for the tip in past the goalie. Oakdale took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Rose with an assist from Montana Nunes and it was Nunes and Rose assisting on a Lyman goal in the second half for the 3-1 victory. A late afternoon game Saturday as the temperature topped out at more than 100 saw the Insanity battle River City, trailing at halftime on a corner kick converted by the Sacramento squad. The ‘never quit’ attitude of the weekend for the girls saw an indirect kick by Lyman with five minutes to play bounce around in front of the goal and then get sent in by Alyssa Perigen while she was being taken down. The tie put Oakdale into the points lead at the end of Day 1.
On Sunday, a pair of victories cemented the championship for the squad and all players contributed, with tough defense from returning backfielders Katelyn and Ally Jackson, Taylor Thatcher and keeper Leah Martinez leading the way, with the stingy ‘D’ allowing just three goals in four games. A 5-0 thrashing of Dublin saw goals in the Sunday morning game from Rose (3), Christina Bradshaw and Katie Homer. Notching assists were Lyman (4) and Nunes. Facing off with MDSA of Mt. Diablo in their final game, Oakdale came away with a 5-1 win and took first place in the 5-team bracket with 32 points to the 30 for second place River City. Goals in the finale came from Rose (3), Perigen and Lyman, with assists from Ally Jackson, Perigen (2), Bradshaw and Lyman.
The offense exploded during the tournament, torching opposing defenses for 14 goals over the four games.
Like their older Insanity girls counterparts, the Oakdale Red Bulls played in some brutal heat in Dublin on Saturday, with temperatures well over 100 degrees on the turf fields. The heat did not bother the Red Bulls for their first game against FC Elk Grove. The Red Bulls started off slow and were tied at halftime 0-0, but finished strong scoring three times in the second half to win 3-0. Two goals by Abe Jauregui and one from Bryce Hobbs provided the margin of victory, with two assists from Lane Trapp and one from Wes Allen. In the second game Oakdale had control for most of the game, but had disappointing results with Oakdale falling 1-0 to the San Francisco Seals.
Going into Sunday’s match against Pleasanton Ballistic, the Red Bulls could still win their bracket and advance to the championship. Oakdale controlled the game, getting two goals from Trapp and an assist from Derrick Pennington to beat Elk Grove 2-0, advancing to the championship match. There, the Red Bulls would get a rematch against Patterson, who beat Oakdale two weeks ago in a prior championship match. Oakdale played strong, but found themselves behind at halftime 1-0. The Red Bulls never panicked and Trapp scored on a 25 yard direct kick to get the score tied 1-1 in the second half. Gaining momentum, the Red Bulls took the lead with a goal from Chuy Garcia, with the assist from Jauregui.
The goalkeeping from Derek Martinez and strong support from Caleb Goodrum, Roman Dias, Josh Barrera, Jesus Garcia, Danny Villa, Jacob Pierson, Michael Arauza, Austin Burke, and Jake Burchell held off Patterson’s attack to give Oakdale’s Red Bulls the satisfying 2-1 victory, championship trophy and medals for each player.
