Soccer playoffs: Duo hopes to lead Beyer girls soccer team deep into postseason
Ashlee Leonetti and Isabella Rodriguez have shared a field for years.
They started as teammates on a travel youth soccer team in middle school and formed a bond on the field that continued to their high school years at Beyer. Both made the varsity team as freshmen.
“It’s definitely easier knowing someone and how they play,” Leonetti said. “We can read each other and play off of it and also help the other players … score and understand the game a little bit better.”
Their chemistry is undeniable. Multiple times a game, Leonetti sends a long pass down the sideline to a sprinting Rodriguez, or they will connect on a pass across the face of the goal. They are the Patriots’ leaders in goals scored in assists as forward Rodriguez has scored 31 times and dished out 14 helpers and Leonetti, a midfielder who signed to play at Idaho State, leads the Patriots with 17 assists and has 24 goals.
“She lays out good balls and she knows where I like the ball,” Rodriguez said. “If I had another person, I don’t think they would know. “We’ve just been together for so many years.”
Now the two, along with their class of five other seniors, hope to lead the Patriots to a deep playoff run. After winning their second straight Western Athletic Conference title, they were awarded the No. 9 seed in Division III by the Sac-Joaquin Section and will travel to No. 8 Kimball for their first-round game Monday.
Chris Tuers came into a successful program. The coach in his first year admits the team ran efficiently. One area where he has seen the most improvement is leadership. The senior class has taken the younger players in, with a number of them adopting their own mentees.
“I don’t have to do a whole lot,” Tuers said with a smile. “The girls, especially Ash and Bella … and Paige (Amador), our defender who is a senior, the three of them just make it so easy for me.
“One of our sophomores this year … Paige has been working with her and making sure that next year she’s ready to step up and take that role as the captain of the defense. Same thing with Ashlee and Bella.”
The Patriots’ goal of earning a home playoff game fell just short, but they are used to this situation. Last year as a nine seed, they won their first round-game over Lincoln before facing No. 1 Vista del Lago.
In both of Leonetti and Rodriguez’s playoff appearances, the Patriots did not make it past the second round.
“I’m excited to see how we play together,” Leonetti said. “We’ve been moving along as a team. So I’m excited about what playoffs has in store for us … I’m hoping we make it a little bit farther.”
History-making teams in playoffs
Two league champions enter the playoffs fresh off making history. Davis High’s boys soccer team earned a share of the Western Athletic Conference title, tying Mountain House with a 9-3-2 record. The Spartans captured their first league championship since they were members of the Central California Conference. They were crowned CC champions in 1993. A dominant 6-0 win over Ceres in their final game of the season ended the 30-year drought. The Spartans were awarded the No. 10 seed in Division II and travel to seventh-seed Pitman for a 3:30 p.m. game Tuesday.
Oakdale’s girls soccer team won its second league title in school history. Kyndra Obermeyer, Trista French and Avery Alves led the Mustangs to a four-game win streak to finish Valley Oak League play with a 7-1-2 record. It is their first league championship since 2011. The Mustangs will have at least two home games, earning one of the highest seeds of any Stanislaus District soccer team this year. Seeded fourth, they host No. 13 El Capitan on Monday.
Local teams hosting games
No Stanislaus District teams earned No. 1 seeds when the section released playoff pairings Friday, but plenty host first-round games Monday and Tuesday. Ripon High’s girls team, which won two Division V section titles in three straight championship game appearances from 2018-2020, earned a bye as the third seed in Division IV. Games are at 6 p.m. unless stated otherwise. Here is a list of local first-round games:
Boys
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Division I: No. 4 Modesto vs. No. 13 Lincoln, No. 6 Central Valley vs. No. 11 Gregori
Division II: No. 7 Pitman vs. No. 10 Davis at 3:30 p.m.
Division III: No. 7 Patterson vs. No. 10 Sierra
Division V: No. 2 Riverbank vs. No. 7 Calaveras
Division VI: No. 1 Denair vs. No. 8 Millennium
Girls
Monday, Feb. 13
Division I: No. 6 Turlock vs. No. 11 Pleasant Grove
Division III: No. 4 Oakdale vs. No. 13 El Capitan, No. 6 Patterson vs. No. 11 Pioneer
Division V: No. 3 Hilmar vs. No. 6 Delhi at 3 p.m.
Division VI: No. 4 Ripon Christian vs. No. 5 Woodland Christian
2022 championship finalists back in postseason
Three 2022 section championship finalists return to the postseason this season. Modesto (D I), Patterson (D III) and Riverbank (D V) all fell in their respective section championships, but are back for another shot at a blue banner.
Modesto has the same seed in the same division as last year. The Panthers and electric goal scorer Alexis Luna Alvarez won the Central California Athletic League and parlayed a fourth seed into a spot in the Division I title game, but fell to Whitney. Nearly everything has gone the same for the Panthers thus far, but they are hoping for a different result in the final.
Patterson lost the Division III section championship last year after being awarded the first overall seed but won the Division III Northern California Regional Championship. After securing the Central California Conference’s top spot last season with a 12-0 record, the Tigers went 6-5-1 this year, finishing in fourth place. They still earned a home game in the first round, securing a seven seed.
Last year’s Division V runner up Riverbank dropped one playoff spot but is still dangerous. The Bruins were awarded the top seed in 2022 and are No. 2 entering the 2023 postseason. They finished with the same Trans-Valley League record in both seasons at 6-1-3.
This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 4:44 PM.
