Giving up a goal in the opening minute of their first game, that was nearly all their opponents would get for the entire weekend, as the Oakdale Insanity Under 16 competitive soccer girls took three wins in the State Association Cup opening weekend.
The girls won their bracket in preliminary round play at the Morgan Hill Sports Complex, advancing to this weekend’s Sweet 16 at Ripon.
Facing off with the Alameda Islanders on Saturday morning, the Islanders scored in the first minute on a broken defensive play, but the quick tally woke the Insanity up and they didn’t allow another goal all day.
They topped Alameda by a 4-1 final, getting the tying goal 25 minutes in to the first half on a goal by Markie Arnold, off the assist from Danae Rose.
Five minutes later, Arnold fed the ball to Izzy Arellano, who put the Insanity up 2-1.
It was Rose and Arnold linking up again with just a couple of minutes to go in the first half, Arnold sending the goal into the net off the Rose assist to make it 3-1. Second half action saw Alyssa Perigen chip the ball to Rose for the final tally with 10 minutes to go in the game.
Afternoon play on Saturday pitted the Insanity against the Placer Roseville Shock and it was a 3-0 shutout by the Oakdale girls, with several nice saves in net by sure handed keeper Leah Martinez and solid work by the defensive corps of Emily Bennett, Katelyn Jackson, Kori Altmann, Ally Jackson and Montana Nunes. Jessica Estrada was effective at a pair of positions, spending time both at midfield and on the front line.
Forward Christina Bradshaw netted the first of her two weekend goals to put Oakdale in the lead midway through the first half, beating the goalie off an assist from Arnold, and getting past a pair of defenders to send off the shot.
Arnold made it 2-0 midway through the second half off a throw in assist from Brittany Carpenter, and midfielder Katie Homer boomed a shot home off the chip back pass from Bradshaw to make it 3-0.
Sunday afternoon saw the Insanity go against the Mission JT Cougars out of San Francisco and the physical battle saw plenty of whistles and warnings but no yellow cards for either side.
Arnold’s corner kick five minutes in to the game deflected off a defender and found the net, giving Oakdale the early lead. Bradshaw, who had a breakout weekend, got her foot on a shot from Arnold late in the first half, redirecting it past the goalie to make it 2-0.
Early in the second half, Homer, who also came up big with clutch scoring, took a picture perfect pass from Rose and sent it to the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.
The Cougars got a goal midway through the second half to avoid the shutout and kept the pressure on, but couldn’t get any more through.
Oakdale took some injuries, primarily the loss of tri-captain Jordyn Cooley early in the weekend with a knee injury, but got extra effort from all team members to win the bracket and keep playing.
“A lot of people had to step up and they did,” said assistant coach Sean Cooley. “That’s what it takes to be a team.”
Insanity head coach Brian Orr was with his Under 16 Oakdale Boys team at Cherry Island in Sacramento for their Association Cup play this weekend, with Cooley serving as coach for the girls.
The boys went 1-2, also taking major injuries including the loss of goalie Andrew Orr to a concussion in the first game. The boys lost 3-2 to Rohnert Park, defeated Milpitas 3-2 and closed out with a 3-0 loss to Folsom, ending their season. Goal scorers included Harry Harris, Danny Arambula, Sergio Gutierrez and Omar Miramontes, with Orr doing some solid work in goal with a couple diving stops before being knocked out in game one.
For the girls, their season continues on Saturday, March 19 at 1 p.m. at the Mistlin Sports Complex in Ripon, facing off with Walnut Creek, also advancing out of bracket play in Morgan Hill.
