Following wins over Manteca and East Union, the Oakdale High School varsity boys soccer team has extended their winning streak to three games. Oakdale (4-6-1, 4-3-1) earned a 5-1 road win over Manteca (2-8-3, 1-5-2) and picked up a home win over East Union (13-5-2, 5-2-0) this past week. With the wins, Oakdale has jumped into the fourth spot in the Valley Oak League standings with four games left to play in the regular season.
“We are starting to play well as a team; earlier in the season we struggled but now we are starting to play focused and united,” said midfielder Miguel Casillas.
On Tuesday, Jan. 15 the boys traveled to Manteca High School to take on the Buffaloes. Earlier in the season, Oakdale tied Manteca 1-1 in the regular season opener and this past week, Oakdale made no doubt about who would be victorious in their second meeting. The Mustangs jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the first half and went on to win 5-1. Casillas, a senior, led the team with two goals. Joel Gonzalez, Juan Mata and Dylan French had one goal each for the Mustangs. Mata, Alexis Aguilar, Eric Anaya and Jose Torres each had an assist. Senior Daniel Dubiel had four saves in the win.
On Dec. 13, 2018 Oakdale was shut out by the Lancers 3-0 on the road but on Thursday night, Oakdale flipped the script on East Union and pulled off the 3-1 home win. Oakdale was up 2-1 at the break and played a physical game in the mud.
“The soft surface, in which both teams played on, made for difficult conditions and added an element to the game,” said head coach Alfredo Quiroga.
French led the team with two goals and Anaya added the third. Gonzalez had two assists and Aguilar had an assist as well.
“I was very pleased with the way the boys played. They are now believing in themselves and are playing with confidence,” said Quiroga.
On Tuesday, Jan. 22 Oakdale took on Sierra (8-6-0, 5-2-0) following The Leader’s press time. Sierra blanked Oakdale 1-0 on Dec. 20, 2018 and currently the Timberwolves are in second place in the Valley Oak League. Oakdale does not return to the playing field until Tuesday, Jan. 29 when they take on first place Weston Ranch (12-6-0, 7-0-0) in Stockton. Weston Ranch shut out Oakdale 2-0 on Jan. 8 in their last meeting.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Kevin Camelin had two goals and two assists in Oakdale’s 5-1 road win over Manteca. Peter Crossman added a goal and two assists. Ernesto Gonzalez and Luis Soto also had a goal each in the win. On Thursday, Jan. 17 the JV boys had a lead over East Union 2-0, but went on to suffer a 3-2 loss. In the opening minutes of the contest Logan Lourenco scored the team’s first goal unassisted. Later in the first Luis Soto scored from an assist from Miguel Lopez.
