In this week’s NPSL action, El Farolito was successful in its first road test of the season, as Fabrizio Díaz’s goal in the 87th minute gave them a 3-2 win over Sacramento Gold FC. Díaz previously played for Atlas’s U-20 squad as well as Cafetaleros de Chiapas in Ascenso MX, the second tier of Mexican soccer.
The clubs traded goals in the first half, with Fernando Ferreyra scoring in the 35th minute for Farolito and Dominic Vegaalban answering for Sacramento two minutes later. The Gold took the lead in the 59th minute on a goal by David Villegas. Gabriel Arias evened up the match for Farolito with a goal in the 79th minute, setting the stage for Díaz’s game-winner eight minutes later.
Farolito returns home on Saturday to face FC Davis, which also remained undefeated by handing the Oakland Stompers their second consecutive 6-1 loss. The Lions put the match out of reach in the first half, with goals by Jaime Robles (19th minute), Caua Soares (31st minute), Evan Barrett (37th minute), and Titus Washington (42nd minute).
The lone bright spot for the Stompers was 18-year-old Edgar Castaneda from Humboldt State University who scored his first career NPSL goal in his second league appearance. Castaneda dribbled the ball from the left touchline, faked the defender, shifted the ball to his left foot, and fired a curving shot from the edge of the box that split two defenders and nestled into the far corner of the net. But Davis responded quickly, as Soares earned a brace with his second goal of the match in the 81st minute and Pablo Ros closed out the scoring seven minutes later.
Contra Costa FC earned its first-ever NPSL victory in its home opener with a convincing 4-0 win over Sonoma County Sol FC. Contra Costa jumped out to an early lead with goals from Ross Middlemiss in the 13th minute and John Quintanilla two minutes later. Middlemiss spent the first six seasons of his NPSL career with Sonoma County and was named the NPSL Player of the Year for the Sol in 2013. Contra Costa’s Jose Navarro added another goal six minutes from halftime.
Sonoma’s best chance to score came late in the first half, when a shot glanced off of the bottom of the crossbar and headed straight down toward the goal line, then hit the crossbar and goal line again, before being cleared out of danger. The second half was much quieter, with Contra Costa’s Ramon Jr Gutierrez scoring the only goal in the 61st minute.
Academica SC also remained undefeated with a 2-1 win over visiting Napa Valley 1839 FC. After a scoreless first half, Napa grabbed the lead in the 57th minute, when Billy Biondini scored on a quick counter-attack, after a steal by Paul Ramsey. But Academica would not be denied. Shortly after Napa Valley took the lead, Jahrie Gray entered the match as a substitute and headed home a cross from Ricky Rosas in the 72nd minute, setting the stage for Marcus Decouto’s game-winning header with five minutes left to go in the match, on a feed by Andy Velasquez.
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