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Road Win, Home Loss For Varsity Soccer
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Battling back from an early deficit, Escalon's varsity soccer team took a 3-2 win off the field from Ripon on Tuesday before falling to a tough Riverbank team at home on Thursday.

"We were behind 1-0 at Ripon, then 2-1," said coach Chris Oliveira of the road game. "Then we caught them and passed them, which was nice."

Taking the contest by a 3-2 final, the Cougars got goals from Saul Plascencia, Ricardo Paez and Brian Beeman, with Sergio Torres and Beeman notching assists. Esteban Collazo got the start in goal and had five saves.

"That's a game we wouldn't have won a couple of weeks ago," Oliveira said. "It was a pretty exciting game, but we always seem to be behind."

The same storyline played out Thursday, with the Cougars falling behind Riverbank in the early going. This time, however, they couldn't make up the deficit and lost to the visiting Bruins, 2-0.

"I felt like they came and took us out of our game in the first half," said Oliveira. "In the second half, we played them even."

It looked as though Escalon cut the deficit to 2-1 but the goal was called back on a delayed offsides call and Riverbank held on for the win.

"If they had played the first half like they did the second, it would have been a different outcome," Oliveira said of his Cougars. "Riverbank is a talented team. We're coming together, slowly. I'm happy with the progress, but I wish it was faster."

Julio Farias was back in goal for the Cougars on Thursday, making a handful of routine saves and a couple of spectacular stops.

"I'm real happy with the way he's playing," said Oliveira. "He had a couple of real nice saves, one of them I was sure was a goal, I don't know how he stopped it."

This week, the Cougars host Hilmar on Thursday, Oct. 7 in a 4:30 p.m. contest and travel to Livingston on Tuesday, Oct. 12.