Teams from Oakdale made plenty of noise at the weekend Cassy Rowe benefit soccer tournament hosted at Cherry Island Soccer Complex near Sacramento.
The Oakdale United Under 11 boys were tournament champions in their division, going 4-0, while the Oakdale United Insanity Under 19 girls took second place honors.
The U11 boys were dominant throughout the weekend, winning a 3-2 game on Saturday morning against the Gold Country Miners and then taking an 8-2 victory over the RCU FC Barca Boys on Saturday afternoon. Continuing bracket play on Sunday, it was a 5-2 win over the Elk Grove Lightning that advanced the team, with 27 out of a possible 30 points in bracket play, to the Sunday afternoon championship game. There, they blew out the Elk Grove Force in an 8-0 decision to take the first place trophy. Every player on the team that took the field for the weekend scored, including goalie Kevin Camelin, who notched a goal-to-goal scoring shot, said head coach Jose Hernandez. Players making the trip to the tournament were Angel Garcia, Jaime Mercado, Kevin Camelin, Xavier Vigil, Ceasar Garza, Luis Soto, Fabian Zamora, Carlos Garcia, Jonathan Arias, Jonathan ‘Mooch’ Hernandez and Joel Gonzalez. Coaches are Jose Hernandez, Juan Garcia and Tino Garza.
The Insanity girls won their opening game on Saturday, 5-1 against Sierra United, with four goals from Danae Rose and one from Kennedy Codromac, with assists provided by Jackie Valeriano (3), Katelyn Jackson, Jassmine Vigil and Jaylyne Serpa. The second game on Saturday was a tough battle against Sierra Galaxy, going down as a 1-0 loss for the Insanity. They were in third place after the opening round and faced off with Natomas in a playoff game Sunday morning to advance to the finals, with Natomas in second place after Saturday’s games. A single goal, sent in by Denise Thompson off a double assist from Ally Jackson and Bianka Ibarra, determined that game as well, Oakdale advancing to the championship game with the 1-0 win. They faced off again with the Sierra Galaxy in the finals, this time falling 2-0. In three years at the Cassy Rowe tourney, the Insanity girls have fashioned two second place finishes and one championship run.
Oakdale’s U13 boys had a stellar weekend, playing up an age division at U14 and winning one, losing one and tying one. In their first game, the boys lost 1-0 to Chico but put in a great performance against a tough U14 team. In their second game Saturday, they took a 2-0 win over Folsom with both goals from Alexis Miranda, assists by Alfie Harris and Jonaton Gonzalez. A Sunday morning game was a battle all the way through, ending in a 1-1 draw with a much larger Davis Alliance team. Gonzalez had the goal for Oakdale, assisted by Harris.
Coach Matt Harris praised the effort of his team, noting that they had “great performances by every player, passing the ball, every player gave 100 percent.”
The Oakdale U11 girls fell in two close games on Saturday, 1-0 to NU Chelsea Warriors and 2-1 to the Davis Alliance Strikers before coming back to win by a 2-0 final against the Elk Grove Storm to finish in third place in their division on Sunday. This was only the second tournament appearance for the U11 girls, just getting started on their season and as a competitive travel squad.
The tournament is a benefit for Cassy Rowe, who was paralyzed in 2008 at the age of 16 while playing for the Sierra Soccer Extreme competitive team. She attends the tournament and also takes time to pose with all teams following the conclusion of the competition, along with presenting the trophies to the top two teams in each age division.
