Oakdale High School’s varsity boys soccer team fell short in their one game of the week. On Tuesday, Jan. 22 the Mustangs (4-7-1, 4-4-1) traveled to Manteca to take on the second place Sierra Timberwolves (9-6-0, 6-2-0) in Valley Oak League action.

For the second time this season, the Timberwolves took down the Mustangs as Sierra won by a 3-1 final. In December the Mustangs fell to Sierra 1-0.

In the road loss senior Eric Anaya scored the team’s lone goal in the second half unassisted. Oakdale trailed 1-0 at the end of the first half.

Goalkeeper Daniel Dubiel had five saves for the Mustangs.

“It was a tough loss; it is always difficult but the competition in the Valley Oak League is very competitive,” said head coach Alfredo Quiroga.

Oakdale returned to action on Tuesday, Jan. 29 for a road game against first place Weston Ranch (12-6-0) with the game after press time for The Leader. The Cougars defeated the Mustangs 2-0 on Jan. 8 in their first meeting of the season. On Thursday, Jan. 31 Oakdale will host Kimball (4-10-3, 0-7-0) and on Tuesday, Feb. 5 the Mustangs regular season finale and Senior Day 2019 takes place before their showdown with Central Catholic (3-10-0). Currently Oakdale is in fourth place in the Valley Oak League standings.

“We are going to use this time to heal up, rest and practice,” Quiroga said following the Jan. 22 game. “We were shorthanded against Sierra, due to injury; so with a few days off this will be a good time for the boys to take a break.”

JUNIOR VARSITY

A 3-0 road win over Sierra got the Oakdale JV boys on the right track following their meltdown loss to East Union the game before. Oakdale shook off the loss and blanked the Timberwolves on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Unassisted goals by Ernesto Gonzalez and Juan Martinez set up the win. The team’s other goal came in the second half as Luis Soto scored on an assist from Ryan Kraus. Currently the JV Mustangs are in second place behind East Union with two games left to play.