Ripon soccer stopped by Amador on Spanos Stadium’s fast surface

STOCKTON – Ripon High School’s girls soccer team trains and plays on a fast, natural surface at Stouffer Field.

So there was hope the artificial turf at Spanos Stadium wouldn’t be much of a factor. That hope evaporated quickly Saturday afternoon, taking with it the Sac-Joaquin Section title.

For 80 minutes, the top-seeded Indians were left spinning their wheels, unnerved by the speed of the fake field and eventually vanquished by Amador in the Division V final.

Camille Strazzo and Alyssa Holmes found the back of the net for the Buffaloes in a 2-0 win. The section title is the Mother Lode program’s second in three years.

The championship experience showed, Ripon coach Jamie DeBruyn said. His program was appearing in the final for the first time in five years.

“They were nervous,” DeBruyn said of his team, comprised mostly of freshmen, sophomores and juniors. “Amador has been playing in the finals the last couple of years, so this is nothing new to them. Their team has been here. This is new to my team.

“I think it’s great for my seniors to experience it, but also for my underclassmen, I’m hoping this sets a fire in them.”

Shocking was the Indians’ punchless attack on the spacious pitch at Spanos Stadium, long the home of many section championship matches.

Ripon (18-2-1) won the battle of shots on goal 8-7 but didn’t seriously threaten the Buffaloes’ goal.

Courtney Slamon did well to keep Ripon in the contest. She had three saves, including a sliding stop on a one-on-one with an Amador forward in the 71st minute to keep hope alive.

But the offense was out of sorts all afternoon, most noticeably in the final few minutes.

The Indians’ Kaydee Cruz-Sampson lifted a close-range shot over the goal in the 76th minute, and then a corner kick in the last minute of stoppage time rolled across the face of the goal untouched.

“I think the field affected us up front with the pace of the ball,” DeBruyn said. “We play on a fast field, but the bounce was different than our field and it affected us.”

Strazzo struck early for Amador (20-4-1), kissing the crossbar with her 20-yard blast in the ninth minute.

Holmes created the final separation after a fortuitous bounce in the second half. An exchange on the far sideline produced a goofy carom that landed on the foot of Holmes. She dribbled into space, away from Ripon defender Zaire Davis, and slotted her shot inside the far post.

“I think we made two mistakes and they put those two mistakes in,” DeBruyn said. “(Amador) didn’t make any today. We had a few opportunities we should have put in the back of the net, but ...”

There’s always next year? DeBruyn sure hopes so.

The Indians will return 16 players, including Slamon and their top scorers: freshman Cindy Alvarez and junior Cruz-Sampson, each of whom scored 12 goals.

“Hopefully, they have a little burn in them to come back next year. The group I have, we’ll re-tool,” DeBruyn said. “This is my goal for next year: Same time, same place, hopefully with Amador again. Maybe get a little rematch.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Ripon soccer stopped by Amador on Spanos Stadium’s fast surface."