209 Kings of the pitch: Weston Ranch boys soccer snags win over Lincoln
When two of the top boys' soccer teams in the 209 face off you can expect a dogfight and that’s exactly what took place Friday night at Weston Ranch High School.
The Cougars hosted a familiar foe in Lincoln for their annual non-league matchup to determine who is the king of the pitch in Stockton. After a chippy 80 minutes, Weston Ranch can claim the title for this season beating the Trojans 3-2.
“It feels good to get this win and that makes us the kings and we’re coming after Edison next,” said Ricardo Velasquez, Weston Ranch’s senior striker. “Lincoln has been after us for a while and it’s like a rivalry between our schools.”
Here are the key takeaways from the Cougars clutch victory over their non-league rival.
Back and forth first half
From the start of the match Weston Ranch’s hurry-up playstyle put it in the driver's seat. They attempted double the amount of goals as the Trojans by halftime but that didn’t stop the game from being evenly matched.
Lincoln’s junior midfielder Caleb Cliburn kicked the game off with a goal five minutes into the first half and from there both teams took turns trading goals. Velasquez and junior midfielder Ector Ramos finished with two goals for the Cougars while junior Gio Leal scored the Trojan's second goal of the half.
By halftime, it was tied 2-2 but soon enough the Cougars' fast-paced movement became too much for the Trojans who typically like to control the pace.
“Honestly we kind of got caught up in their tempo,” said Lincoln boys’ soccer head coach Jason Gonzalez. “We don’t play this tempo. We play a possession game, we play a little bit smarter game and tonight we kind of got caught up in the hype so we weren’t happy with the field play tonight.”
The header that changed the game
With the Cougars' pressure at an all-time high in the second half, things started to get chippy causing two Weston Ranch players and a Lincoln player to receive a yellow card. These defensive mistakes put the Trojans goalkeeper, Kevin Romero, in the hotseat.
The sophomore goalie made 11 saves but a free kick would undo his clean sheet in the second half. Weston Ranch senior defender Abraham Palacios took the kick and somehow got the ball to the tip of Velasquez's head. That soft touch header was enough to get the ball past Romero and give the Cougars a one-goal lead to hold on to.
“Lincoln is a great program, so anytime we can tie or beat them it's a good game,” said Francisco Cisneros, Weston Ranch boys’ soccer head coach. “I’m just proud of our guys. They responded well tonight and I thought we played a pretty good game for the most part. All facets of the game — defense was great, our middle played great, and then our guys finished up top nicely.”
Weston Ranch’s victory puts it at an 8-2-1 overall record with a couple more games before league play starts. Before that, the Cougars will have yet another 209 showdown between its biggest competition for the San Joaquin Athletic Association championship, Edison.
“We got Edison on Tuesday so it doesn’t get any easier,” Cisneros said. “But these guys have been responding well all season and I think if we come in with good momentum hopefully this year we can beat Edison. We played them three times last year and they beat us all three so hopefully we can get one this time.”
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: 209 Kings of the pitch: Weston Ranch boys soccer top Lincoln
