Escalon’s varsity Lady Cougars notched their first Trans-Valley League soccer victory of the season, dominating on the home pitch on Thursday, Jan. 19.
Though there was no rain, there was plenty of wind and cold temperatures, with both the fans on the sidelines and the bench players bundled up in winter jackets and blankets.
“We beat Livingston 9-1 and it was 4-0 at halftime,” said head coach Jeremy Titsworth of the chilly win.
Livingston did get one goal in the second half but never really threatened the host Lady Cougars, as Escalon scored five more goals in the second half.
“They were just able to close on a lot of their opportunities,” Titsworth said of what made the difference in the contest. “They played great.”
Leading the charge was Cali Granis, who scored four goals in the first half to stake the home team to the big lead.
Second half scoring came from Rayah McNulty (2), Alyssa Ball, Jasmine Barron and Rylie Lattig.
One of McNulty’s goals came on a header, off a corner kick from Ball.
“She’s been very close to that all year, there were a few times that she just missed and she finally got it,” Titsworth said of McNulty eager to score on the header.
Ball, along with serving up the assist on that play, scored on a free kick.
Karisa McNeil had two saves in goal; Andrea Fuentes had three.
The girls headed into this week at 1-3 in league. They lost a road game to Ripon on Jan. 17, falling 4-0.
They were to play Riverbank at home on Jan. 24 and travel to Hilmar on Thursday, Jan. 26.
JV Girls
With nearly identical scores, the JV Lady Cougars had a win and a loss this past week.
They were on the road to face Ripon in a Tuesday, Jan. 17 game and were shut out, 7-0.
But they bounced back with a strong home effort on Thursday, Jan. 19 and defeated visiting Livingston, 7-1.
“It was a really good game and I got to play all 26 girls,” said coach Lindsay Plascencia. “It was an overall fun game.”
A pair of players scored hat tricks, Mia Arteaga and Soraya Aguayo each notching three goals. Adriana Romero added a goal and providing assists on the afternoon were Aileen Aguirre, Sarai Correa, Rylee Bray and Peyton Merrill.
Varsity Boys
Starting the week out at home, the varsity soccer Cougars defeated Ripon, 5-1, on Jan. 17. Having a tremendous contest was Jacen Peoples, scoring two goals and contributing three assists. Beaden Inglis had a goal, with additional scores coming from Luis Zurita and Andy Alpizar. Aldo Yepiz had an assist as well.
Thursday’s road game at Livingston had a tougher outcome, as the varsity boys were shut out by the Wolves, 4-0. That left the squad at 2-2-1 in league play.
They face off with Riverbank and Hilmar in TVL contests this week.
JV Boys
It was a home win on Jan. 17 for the JV boys, shutting out Ripon 3-0. Dylan Pena had the hat trick, putting in all three goals for Escalon. Angel Romero had an assist.
“Thursday, we lost a close game against Livingston, 1-0,” said head coach Polo Rodriguez.
The young Cougars will square off against Riverbank on the road and Hilmar at home this week as well.
