Cisneros, Hawks upset third-seeded Lindhurst
MARYSVILLE — Liberty Ranch High boys soccer coach Andrew Fisher had a simple game plan for Thursday night’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoff game, the same strategy that many teams attempted this season but few could execute — stop Lindhurst standout Omar Oseguera.
Having a strong defensive back line is always a good way to start to get the job done, and when you throw in the stellar goalkeeping of junior Edwin Cisneros, it makes for a lethal combination.
That was the difference on a cold night at Yuba College, as Cisneros made several highlight-reel saves and even stopped a clutch penalty kick to propel the No. 6-seeded Hawks to a 3-0 victory over the No. 3 Blazers in the section quarterfinals.
“I thought we played extremely well from top to bottom. We started a little slow for the first 10 minutes because it was a long bus ride and we were a little bit nervous, but after that, we started to settle down,” Fisher said. “We’ve played some really good teams this season, and we’ve had some good results. It feels good to play such a high-quality team and get a victory.”
Lindhurst controlled the action for the first 10 minutes before Liberty Ranch finally got going and nearly scored if it wasn’t for a diving save by Lindhurst goalkeeper Abraham Juarez.
The Hawks broke threw a few minutes later, when Mark Vazquez received a pass from Alex Gamez and booted it into the left corner of the net to stake Liberty Ranch to a 1-0 lead 14 minutes into the match.
The score stayed the same at halftime, and the Hawks struck for more in the 49th minute when Armando Figueroa took a corner kick and snuck the ball around the near post and in front of Juarez to up the lead to 2-0.
Down two goals and looking to answer back,
the Blazers started to pepper Cisneros with shots, but each time he made the play — including a one-on-one stop on a breakaway — to keep Lindhurst off the board.
The Hawks were eventually whistled for a hand-ball in the box in the 54th minute, setting up a penalty kick opportunity that could have changed the momentum of the match. But once again, Cisneros came up clutch, diving far to his right to block Oseguera’s shot to all but end the Blazers’ chance of a comeback.
“I think their goalkeeper was the man of the night,” Lindhurst coach Salvador Tinoco said. “Once he stopped that PK, that bumped them up pretty good and took the wind out of our sails big time.”
Steven Richter put the finishing touches on the win by netting a goal off an assist from Rafael Lua with about three minutes remaining.
“We have a strong defense, and (Cisneros) is a dominant keeper. He’s a superstar,” Fisher said. “I was waiting for them to come out in the second half and throw everything but the kitchen sink for us, but we met their intensity. We focused on marking Oseguera and ended up getting the shutout. It feels good.”
With the win, Liberty Ranch (14-3-6) will advance to the semifinals to play No. 2seeded Pacheco on Tuesday in Los Banos. Last year, the Hawks reached the section title game, where they lost to crosstown rival Galt on penalty kicks.