Local Digest: Beyer girls season continues with quarterfinal victory over East Union
The Beyer High girls soccer team has made headlines for its gift of goal.
But for the fourth straight game including two in the playoffs, it’s the defense that has saved the day.
The Patriots shut down East Union in the second half and goalkeeper Ragnhild Eidissen made two great saves in the final 40 minutes to help lift Beyer to a 2-1 victory Friday in the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III tournament.
The Patriots (20-1) will face Sierra, a winner over Pioneer, on Tuesday in Manteca in the semifinals.
“Offense wins games, and defense wins championships,” recited Beyer coach Ryan Leonetti in an often-heard comment.
This season, the Patriots have outscored their opponents 119-14. However, in their final two regular-season games, they beat Pacheco and Johansen 2-0 and 1-0, respectively,.
In the opening round of the playoffs, they were tied with Oakdale 1-1 after regulation, but scored three goals in overtime to put the game away.
Leonetti said those games, especially the one against Oakdale, has helped the team.
“Playing tough teams will help you,” he said. “(Oakdale) set us up for this game.”
With the score tied at 1 in the 64th minute, Leah O’Brien put the game winner away from close range thanks to a solid corner kick from Kayla Duenas for the go-ahead score.
In the 10th minute, Kelsey Birdsong took a cross from Emma Albino to give Beyer a 1-0 lead before the Lancers scored with about 90 second left in the first half.
In Sierra, the Patriots will face a team that has outscored its foes 134-21 and has a 25-2-2 record.
One of its ties came earlier this month against East Union, Sierra’s last non-victory since mid-December.
Ripon 5, Colfax 1: Junior Aubree Pelon had a hat-trick in the Indians’ (17-3-1) win on Thursday. Ripon advanced to the Div. V title game where they will face the winner of Hilmar/Amador, who play on Tuesday.
Ponderosa 5, Central Valley 1: The Hawks (17-7-2) fell in the Div. II second round. Senior Jocelyn Lopez had 33 goals this year.
Vista del Lago 4, Ceres 2: The Bulldogs (15-8-2) scored both of their goals in the second half in the loss.
Pleasant Grove 1, Turlock 0: Senior Abby McCann had the lone goal for the Eagles. Turlock’s season ended with a 21-2-2 record.
Davis 8, Pitman 0: The Pride (15-5-2) fell in the Div. I quarterfinals.
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 9:24 PM.
