SALINAS VALLEY — Despite starting the season with five straight losses, the King City Mustang boys’ soccer team is in first place with two games to be played in the Mission Division of the Pacific Coast Athletic League.
King City, 7-1-3 in the Mission and 8-6-3 overall, went undefeated for seven games to right the ship and control its own destiny as the division schedule comes to a close.
The Mustangs will finish up the division with a game against the Monterey Toreadores on the Peninsula on Monday and will be out to avenge their only loss to Pajaro Valley at home Wednesday.
Last week King City played to a 0-0 tie with the Rancho San Juan Trailblazers in Salinas, beat the Salinas High Cowboys at home 4-1 and finished the week with a 3-1 win in Soledad.
In the win over Salinas, Victor Medina led the Mustangs with two goals, while Deon Rodriguez and Gerardo Quintana scored solo goals. Estevan Acosta, Angel Romero and Gabriel Clemente had assists for the Mustangs.
Soledad Aztecs began the week with a 0-0 tie at home against Palma and a 2-2 tie at Pajaro Valley. Osbaldo Puentes and Marco Guillen scored goals for the Aztecs against Pajaro Valley, and Diego Guillen scored a goal in the King City contest.
The Aztecs played Rancho San Juan on Monday and will play on Friday against Salinas High.
Soledad is in seventh place in the Mission at 1-5-3 and has a 3-5-4 overall mark.
Greenfield Bruins are currently in fourth place in the Gabilan Division with a 4-5-1 league record (7-8-2 overall). In recent games, the Bruins lost to Hollister, 3-2, and then beat North Salinas, 4-3.
Greenfield played at Seaside on Tuesday, after press deadlines, and will end league play next Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Watsonville.
The Gonzales High boys are in third place in the Cypress Division as they played to a 6-1 win over Ceiba, a 1-0 win against Carmel and a 6-1 away game to Robert Louis Stevenson.
Scoring goals in the Ceiba game were: Edgar Santiago (three goals), Jorge Uribe (two goals) and Ulisses Mancillas (one goal and one assist). Matthew Arreola and Emmanuel Mauro were credited with assists.
Jose Camacho scored the winning goal against Carmel, and Mauro scored the only goal against RLS.
This week Gonzales played Monte Vista Christian on Monday, and will complete the week with a game in Castroville against North Monterey County.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
The Soledad Lady Aztecs are in third place in the Mission Division with a 6-2-1 record (12-3-2 overall) with three games to go.
Soledad trails Monte Vista Christian (7-2) and Pajaro Valley (6-1-3) but must keep winning, as they will not play either the Mustangs or the Grizzlies the rest of the divisional games.
The Lady Aztecs lost 3-2 to the Mustangs last Tuesday and finished in a 1-1 tie with Pajaro Valley last Thursday.
Myrin Amilpa and Giselle Zepeda scored goals against Monte Vista, and Zepeda scored against Pajaro Valley. Zepeda, Amilpa and Belen Diaz were standouts in last week’s contests.
Soledad has a busy end of the season as they played at North Salinas on Monday, will play on the road Wednesday at Carmel and then host the Seaside Spartans on Friday for Senior Night.
Gonzales trails Santa Lucia leading RLS, and lost 3-2 to the Pirates last Thursday afternoon in the final minutes of the game.
Valerie Oliva and Alitzel Mauro-Perez scored in the Stevenson game, and Areli Calderon-Mancera was credited with five goal saves.
“The girls played their hearts out,” said Gonzales head coach Jose Tejeda. “After the 40-minute mark, Stevenson’s goal came on a corner kick.”
Last Tuesday the Lady Spartans claimed a 6-0 home victory against the Anzar Hawks. Oliva scored three goals to lead Gonzales, while Katherine Toledo, Grecia Valdez-Cisneros and Jennifer Fajardo scored single goals. Oliva and Valdez-Cisneros had assists.
Gonzales played an important game at home on Monday against third place Greenfield, plays Wednesday at the York School against Trinity Christian, and will host Marina on Friday night at home.
The Spartans are 6-1-2 (11-2-2 overall) in the Santa Lucia Division.
Greenfield trails the Spartans by a game at 5-2-1 and is 7-5-2 overall.
The Lady Bruins defeated Marina last Tuesday, 3-1, with goals by Aundrea Sanchez, Briana Martinez and Aaliyah Ortiz. Ortiz and Destiny Hernandez had assists in the game.
After the Gonzales contest, the Bruins will complete the season on the road with Ceiba on Friday.
King City Lady Mustangs are in fourth place in the Cypress Division with a 4-5 divisional record and 6-11 overall record.
Last Wednesday King City beat North County, 2-1, with goals by Destiny Mosqueda and Samantha Paramo. Goalie Lesley Arreola had eight saves against the Condors.
King City then played at York last Friday and were shutout 5-0.
The Lady Mustangs have a busy week with a game Tuesday at home against Notre Dame, followed by a game Thursday in Watsonville with St. Francis, and will conclude the divisional games on Saturday in Monterey against Santa Catalina.
