Young Oakdale rips Rio 5-1 to advance to D-3 soccer semifinals

This was going to be a season to remember for Oakdale High soccer.

Had coach Alfredo Quiroga been so inclined, he could have started an entire side of seniors, nearly all of whom would have been in the Mustangs’ program for four years.

But that was before eight of those seniors left the program. Two decided to play football, a few moved to other states, and others just decided not to play, or to play only for their club teams.

And the result of all that roster upheaval? This is really a season to remember for Oakdale soccer.

The young Mustangs continued their growth as a unit Thursday night by pasting a quality Rio Americano side 5-1 in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 quarterfinalme.

“It has been a season with a lot of tribulations, a lot of mistakes and a lot of learning from failing, trying, falling and getting up,” Quiroga said. “We weren’t supposed to get this far, but the boys have grown in 12 weeks by leaps and bounds.”

Four Oakdale goals came from juniors, including two by Michael Arauza, while junior Derek Martinez was steady in goal as the Mustangs improved to 18-5-3 entering Wednesday’s section semifinal at Patterson.

Three of the four teams left in Division 3 are from the Stanislaus District, with Central Valley set to visit top-seeded Christian Brothers in the other semifinal.

The Mustangs dominated the first half, getting goals from Arauza and senior Gabriel Ramirez to take a 2-0 lead into the break. Oakdale outshot Rio 7-1 in the opening 40 minutes.

But the Raiders (12-7-2) came out firing to open the second half, getting a goal three minutes in and coming within two feet of the equalizer two minutes later when a point-blank header toward an open net went awry.

“We kept our composure there,” said Arauza. “We came out in the second half, and I think we were a little cocky. We fixed our act and got our passes going and developed from there.”

Oakdale created some breathing room in the 58th minute when Jose Becerra’s cross caught enough of the foot of David Serrano for a shot that rolled into the left side for a 3-1 lead, then the rout was on when Arauza dropped into a crouch to head home a low cross from Juan Rangel in the 63rd minute.

Sophomore Wesley Allen got the assist on the final goal in the 78th minute on a shot toward the left post deflected in by Zach Barnum.

And just like that, a young team not expected to do much had advanced to the semifinals, having defeated two playoff opponents by a combined 9-1.

“Look at my hair,” Quiroga said. “It’s getting very gray, and I think I’ve aged 10 years in the last few months.

“Everything from here on is profit, and we’ll have 17 players coming back next year ... I hope, if they don’t go play football. I thought we were going to be awesome with the group we were supposed to have, but look at what this group is doing. I’m very proud of them.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2014 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Young Oakdale rips Rio 5-1 to advance to D-3 soccer semifinals."