Sacramento Takes Over Top Spot with Blowout Win Over Napa
Sacramento Gold FC established themselves as strong title contenders with a 5-0 shellacking of visiting Napa Valley 1839 FC on Saturday night. With the win, Sacramento leapfrogged both Napa and idle El Farolito and is now in first place in the conference standings.
Going in to the match, Napa had lost only once this season, by a single goal at El Farolito. They were missing one of their team leaders, Dario Pavon, who was suspended after being red carded last Saturday.
Gabriel Padilla opened the scoring for the host side in the 16th minute, and Nicolaus Medina doubled the margin 9 minutes before halftime.
Sacramento didn’t let up in the second half. Manolo Pina scored a brace with goals in the 50th and 70th minute. Kody Duff closed out the scoring 7 minutes later.
Napa’s coach Mark Corbett praised Sacramento’s performance on Twitter. “Extremely frustrating night for us,” he said. “We played excellent in the first half, created plenty of opportunities, but a mix of poor finishing and heroic defending prevented us from scoring any.”
Oakland SC’s Second Half Surge Earns Draw at Davis
Oakland SC overcame a two-goal deficit in the final 6 minutes to earn a 3-3 draw at FC Davis. The NPSL newcomers have now scored 16 times in their first 6 league matches.
Pablo Ros scored the only goal of the first half in the 40th minute to put Davis out in front at halftime. And the host side padded its lead in the 56th minute on a goal by Adewumi Aladetimi.
Oakland’s comeback was led by the three veterans who have scored the bulk of the club’s goals this season. Matt Fondy halved the deficit with his third goal of the season in the 68th minute, but Davis’s Nicholas Gosal responded 4 minutes later.
The visitors came roaring back again in the final few minutes of the match, with Julio Cervantes scoring his seventh of the season in the 84th minute and Dylan Autran scoring his third of the season in stoppage time to enable the visitors to go home with a point.
Contra Costa Swamps Sonoma
Five players got on the scoresheet in Contra Costa FC’s 5-0 win over visiting Sonoma County Sol FC on a blustery Sunday afternoon in Concord.
Both sides had chances early in the first half, with Contra Costa dominating possession, while Sonoma looked most dangerous on the counterattack.
Sonoma forced Contra Costa goalkeeper Roberto Llamas to make two key saves early in the match. The hosts also had two near misses, when Alex Cuellar’s shot hit the post in the 5th minute and Braulio Maravilla’s shot hit the crossbar in the 20th.
Contra Costa put the match away with 4 goals in a 12-minute span. Andrew Alvarado opened the scoring in the 38th minute, banging home a cross that went over the head of Sonoma goalkeeper Arturo Ornelas.
Four minutes later, Maravilla scored on a strong overlapping run down the left side.
Cuellar added the third just before halftime, pouncing on a loose ball in the box and putting it home.
The fourth came five minutes into the second half, when Adrian Guzman found an opening on the right side and converted a short pass for an easy finish.
Contra Costa played keepaway for most of the remainder of the match, but Roberto Gonzalez added a fifth in stoppage time after dribbling past several Sonoma defenders.
Academica Schools Stompers
Felipe Lopez’s hat trick provided all the goals Academica SC needed in its 4-1 romp over the host Oakland Stompers.
The first 20 minutes of the match were relatively even, but the pressure on Oakland goalkeeper Juan Villalpando mounted as the first half went on.
Lopez got Academica on the board two minutes before halftime, when a cross found him perched in front of goal for the easy tap-in. He had another shot attempt just before the halftime whistle, but Villalpando was able to redirect it over the endline.
Academica continued its offensive barrage in the second half, with Villalpando making a diving stop on a shot by Adrian Yepez in the 52nd minute. Mejia put the ball in the net in the 59th minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Lopez scored his second goal of the match on a two-on-one break in the 65th minute. Jorge Lara made the run into the penalty area and laid the ball off to Lopez for the finish.
After the second goal, Academica was off to the races. Villalpando made the save on a breakaway by Kevin Capetillo and another shot by Roberto Mejia-Alberto two minutes later. But Lopez completed his hat trick in the 70th minute to end any hopes of an Oakland comeback.
Hoshang Hatifie scored a consolation goal for Oakland in the 79th minute, as several Academica defenders pleaded for offside. Agustin Guerrero was yellow carded for his vehement dissent.
Roberto Mejia-Alberto added a final tally for Academica in the final seconds of stoppage time.
Next Week
The slate includes the second installment of The Town derby between the Oakland Stompers and host Oakland SC. El Farolito returns to action after the bye week to host FC Davis, Sonoma hosts league leading Sacramento, and Academica hosts Contra Costa.
