Settling for a tie and also notching one win, the Oakdale High School varsity boys soccer team went 1-0-1 in their two games this week. They tied with East Union 1-1 on Dec. 17 and on Thursday night the boys earned a hard fought 2-1 victory over Sierra. Both matches were against Valley Oak League opponents.

In the tie against the Lancers, Oakdale’s Kaleb McDonald scored a first half goal on an assist from Marcos Hercules to give his team a 1-0 advantage. Late in the second half the team’s lead vanished when East Union tied the game on a penalty kick. It would be the only goal that keeper Riley Blount gave up; he had six saves for Oakdale.

Shaking off that draw, the Mustangs regrouped against Sierra. With the score 0-0 at the half, Oakdale fired off two goals against Sierra for the win in the second half. Fernando Blanco scored the first goal unassisted. Minutes later Nicolas Cazares scored thanks to an assist from Isaac Valero.

“We were very sloppy against East Union and we knew we could not perform that way against Sierra,” said Oakdale head coach Alfredo Quiroga. “Against Sierra we were focused, more organized and made the necessary adjustments. The boys were very disciplined, everyone contributed, they were very efficient.”

The Mustangs return to action after the start of the new year, when they travel to Stockton to take on Weston Ranch on Thursday, Jan. 9. The league contest is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

As for the junior varsity, it was a tough week. On Tuesday, Dec. 17 the boys were blanked by East Union 3-0. Two days later the boys fell to Sierra 4-2. In a game where Oakdale scored first to take the lead, it was Sierra that eventually came away with the win. Carter Sturtevant and Ryan Krause scored the goals for Oakdale. In the nets was Vincent Peterson, who had three saves for Oakdale.