Second-half surge lifts Buhach Colony past El Capitan to keep CCC title hopes alive.
Sofia Alcorn and Siana Ingram teamed up twice for goals in the second half as the Buhach Colony High girls soccer team came back to defeat El Capitan 2-1 to hand the Gauchos their first Central California Conference loss on Wednesday night at Thunder Stadium.
“This was a huge win for us,” said Buhach Colony High coach Richard Howard, whose team improved to 12-7 overall and 5-1 in the CCC. “We lost to El Cap in the first meeting, and we knew coming in that they were sitting in first place and undefeated. When you’re undefeated, the pressure is on you to protect that, and our girls understood that. They came out hungry, confident, and focused, and they were able to execute when it mattered most.”
The Gauchos came into Wednesday’s rematch rolling after winning nine of their last 10 matches and outscoring CCC teams 30 to 3 in their six conference wins. El Capitan then opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when freshman star Lia Garcia Del Castillo broke free from a defender to clear a shot from the edge of the right side penalty box and fired the ball perfectly into the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. Del Castillo has scored 23 goals in 10 matches this season.
Knowing the Thunder needed a win to keep their CCC championship hopes alive, Buhach Colony rallied in the second half. “The biggest difference was our persistence and belief,” Howard said. “At no point did this team think the game wasn’t ours. We’ve worked hard to develop a specific mindset: play to win, not play to not lose. There’s a big difference between those two approaches, and in the second half our girls played aggressively, confidently, and with the intention to win.”
In the 52nd minute, the Thunder’s Alcorn set up Ingram with a cross into the box where Ingram finished it off, sending the ball into the net to tie the score at 1-1. Shortly after with momentum on their side, Buhach Colony was awarded a free kick. Again it was Alcorn perfectly sending the ball into the box where Ingram was waiting to score again to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead.
“I’m incredibly proud of them,” Howard said. “There are a lot of moving pieces that go into getting a team to perform at the level we’re playing at right now. Last night came down to trusting the process and believing in all the training that prepared them for that moment.”
The Thunder still have a match to make up so they sit three points behind El Capitan (12-4, 6-1 CCC) in the CCC standings. That gives both teams a shot at the CCC title or a shared championship if they win out. “This season has really been about building a family culture,” Howard said. “Every player, regardless of role, contributes and has each other’s back. While the players on the field executed, they could not have done it without the teammates on the sideline. The energy, support, and belief coming from the bench fueled that win and helped carry the team through moments of exhaustion.”
Merced 1, Golden Valley 0 – Julianna Carbajal scored the Bears goal on an assist from Kiera Moua. The Bears improved to 4-8-2 overall and 1-4-1 in the CCC.
Los Banos 1, Atwater 0 – The Falcons dropped a match to the Tigers to fall to 4-7-1 overall and 3-4 in the CCC.
Boys Soccer
Atwater 1, Los Banos 1 – Mathias Cole scored on an assist from Omar Alayle as the Falcons finished with a draw against the Tigers. Atwater remains alone atop the CCC at 6-0-1 and 10-6-6 overall.
Merced 3, Golden Valley 1 – Raymond Gonzalez scored two goals and Nehemiah De La Cruz added another goal as the Bears improved to 8-6-3 overall and 4-3 in the CCC. Gonzalez has now scored 19 goals in 16 matches this season. Bears goalie Johan Montes finished with six saves. Jann Carlo Romero scored the Cougars’ lone goal. Golden Valley dropped to 6-6-2 overall and 3-4 in the CCC.
El Capitan 5, Buhach Colony 1 – Jaan Triano recorded the hat trick with three goals and an assist to lead the Gauchos to a win. Andrew Rusu added a goal and two assists as El Capitan improved to 3-6-4 overall and 2-4-1 in the CCC.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.