Hilmar girls soccer falls in 1-0 Divsion V title game to Liberty Ranch
The Hilmar girls soccer team entered Saturday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship hoping to repeat.
The Yellowjackets all season had been one of the Stanislaus District’s best-scoring teams and entered the title game on a four-game win streak, with three shutouts in that span.
But their opponent was just as good. Liberty Ranch of Galt recorded three straight shutouts in its last three wins, including a pair of playoff shutouts.
It had all the makings of a championship match. Physical play, technically skilled passes and spirited cheering sections. The Yellowjackets and Hawks were the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the division, respectively.
“We’re both so close, that’s why we’re both the finalists. It was gonna come down to the team that made the least amount of mistakes,” Hilmar coach Guy Bettencourt said.
Unfortunately for the Yellowjackets, they made the costly mistake in the first half, allowing a goal to Liberty Ranch senior Serena Tarifa with 13 minutes, 20 seconds left in the opening period. Hilmar could not recover as it was held scoreless for just the third time this season in the 1-0 loss.
“My message was it’s not the end of the world,” he said. “ The sun will come up … it’s gonna hurt for a while, but sometimes you learn more from losing than winning. Take this throughout your life, you’re going to have the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory. That’s what you experienced here. And that’s OK.”
Hilmar had its chances. It maintained possession for most of the game, but could not find the back of the net. Its best chance came in the second half when junior Brisa Gonzales fired a right-footed shot across the face of the goal that banged off the right post.
“We created the chances, but that’s why you play the game,” Bettencourt said. “The ball would not go in. And we made one mistake and they capitalized on that.”
The Yellowjackets fought until the final whistle, but Liberty Ranch seemed to just get stronger as the title game went on. For the last 20 minutes of the second half, the possession shifted heavily in the Hawks’ favor as they clung to their one-goal lead, happy to waste time and fend off any Hilmar last-ditch effort at an equalizer.
“They were a little faster to the ball and they didn’t miss,” Bettencourt said of Liberty Ranch. “Sometimes in high school, they’ll take a shot and will maybe roll the wrong way. They were solid. Their best athletes were their defenders, so it was hard to crack.”
Bettencourt said multiple times that he feels for the seniors: Teygan Horstmeier, Mariel Lopez, Finley Rosa, Kayden Elston and his granddaughter, Lilly Brewer. All of them felt the thrills of victory during last season’s magically historic run that ended in a Division V section championship and a NorCal Division V runner-up finish.
Many of them play other sports, including volleyball, track and flag football. Some will go on to play sports in college, some will not, but they bonded over soccer each winter for the past four years.
Emotions were high after the match, nearly every player was in tears as they all hugged and comforted one another.
“I just feel bad for these seniors,” Bettencourt said. “They’re so used to winning, so this is not normal for them. These seniors are so close, that’s why you see these emotions.”
Hilmar could very well be back in the same position next season. This year’s roster will lose those key seniors, but all seven players who scored for the Yellowjackets will be back next season, including leading scorer Raylynn Mendoza (28 goals), who’s a sophomore, and juniors Brisa Gonzales (16) and Alyssa Colston (14).
“A lot of those players were here (last season) on the other side with the thrill of victory,” Bettencourt said. “They’re coming back and they’ll come back hungrier because they know what this feels like.”
