Oakdale girls beat Del Oro to claim third consecutive section banner

Not only did third-seeded Oakdale have to defeat two teams in the playoffs that had handed them losses earlier in the season, but they also had other issues to overcome.

The Mustangs persevered and outlasted No. 4 Del Oro (Loomis) 5-4 to win their third consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship on Saturday afternoon at the Roseville Aquatics Center.

“I have said it has been the year of the struggle,” said Oakdale coach Diane Kline, whose team finished with an 19-9 record. “Between some girls not getting along all the time to our high school pool breaking down to our backup pool also breaking down, our girls have had to overcome a lot.

“The one thing we asked is for our girls to be flexible, and that’s what they did. Every day, no matter where we practiced or played games, they adjusted.”

The Mustangs took advantage of a power play as Kate Allan scored on an assist from Emily Bennett to tie the game at 2-2 with 3:44 left in the second quarter.

Allan scored again in transition off a pass from goalie Caitlin Golding to give Oakdale a 3-2 lead at the half.

“Kate Allan had a great game; that was the game of her life,” Bennett said. “Those two goals she scored kept us fighting for the win. That hyped us up.”

Oakdale held Del Oro, which defeated the Mustangs 4-3 earlier this season, scoreless in the second and third quarters. Bennett’s third-quarter goal gave Oakdale a 4-2 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Bennett finished with three goals.

The Eagles twice cut the Mustangs’ lead to one goal in the fourth quarter, but Oakdale’s defense held strong for the win.

“This was huge for us,” Golding said. “This is what we’ve been working for the last three months. This one is special because we had to power through so many things. It was so much tougher this year.”

The Mustangs had to move their practices and games to a community pool after the motor broke down at the high school pool. The heater at the community pool then broke down, forcing Oakdale to play games at Johansen High in Modesto.

The Mustangs then had to beat Vintage in the semifinals after losing to the Crushers earlier this season and then match up again against Del Oro in the finals.

“One thing this team doesn’t lack is competitive fire,” Kline said. “When the playoff seeds came out and we saw we would match up against Vintage and possibly Del Oro, we talked about how we had a new opportunity.

“I think it feels different winning this year because we went through as the fourth seed. We weren’t the team to beat, but we pulled together at the end of the season.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Oakdale girls beat Del Oro to claim third consecutive section banner."