Figueroa, Bears pass first postseason hurdle

With two passes, Eric Figueroa punched Merced High’s ticket to the second round of the playoffs.

The Bears senior left midfielder set up goals for Ivan Leon and Emilio Sanchez early in the second half to propel the sixth-seeded Merced boys soccer team to a 3-1 victory over No. 11 Tracy in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs on Tuesday afternoon at Merced High.

“Awesome passes,” said Bears coach Bart McAfee, whose team improved to 19-4-3. “He’s just a really good player. He knows what to do with the ball. He keeps going. He plays with a lot of energy.”

The Bears came out more energized in the second half after they were unable to score despite dominating possession of the ball in the first 40 minutes. The few times Merced was able to get a shot on goal, it was straight at Tracy goalie Jake Pranke.

“Coach talked to us at halftime and asked us if we wanted this to be our last 40 minutes of the season,” Figueroa said. “We decided to pick it up. We finished and played as a team.”

The Bears picked up the tempo early in the second half and were on the attack.

Three minutes into the half, Figueroa sent a ball down the sideline for Leon, who beat Tracy defender Ralph Archbold to the ball. Leon fired a shot from the left wing that found the right corner of the net with just his second goal of the season to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.

“I picked up my head and I (saw) Ivan, so I sent him,” Figueroa said. “I didn’t think the ball would get through because there (were) two players there. He made a great play to score the goal.”

Six minutes later, Figueroa again delivered a perfect pass. This time he sent a cross pass from the left side to the far post to a waiting Sanchez, who sent a header into the net to put the Bears up 2-0.

“I saw Eric on the other side and I knew he saw the opportunity,” Sanchez said. “I saw the opening and Eric made a great pass. As the ball was in the air, all I was thinking was, ‘Get this in.’”

A rare call by the referee led to Merced’s third goal. After a Bear was fouled in the penalty box, they were awarded an indirect kick inside the box.

After two shots rattled around the mass of bodies in front of the net, the ball landed in front of Merced’s Jose Alvarado, who scored to give the Bears a 3-0 lead in the 49th minute.

Tracy caught the Merced defense relaxing midway through the second half as Jose Romo and Moises Gonzalez had a two-on-one opportunity with Bears goalie Saad Sohail. Romo passed to Gonzalez, who scored to pull the Bulldogs (10-4-6) within 3-1 in the 56th minute.

It was the only scare Tracy gave Merced the rest of the way.

The Bears will be back at home on Thursday after No. 14 Napa upset No. 3 Del Oro 2-1 in overtime. Merced will host the Indians at 3 p.m.

▪ Cosumnes Oaks 4, Golden Valley 1 in Elk Grove – The Cougars season came to an end against the defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division II champs. The Wolfpack scored three goals to in the first half to take a 3-0 lead.

Golden Valley’s Edgar Vega scored on a pass from Gus Gutierrez to pull the Cougars (9-15-2) within 3-1 in the second half. Golden Valley goalie Toby Osborne stopped seven shots.

Tennis

▪ St. Mary’s 9, Merced 0 in Stockton – The Bears season came to an end in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs.

▪ Los Banos 6, Oakdale 3 in Los Banos – The Tigers won five of the six singles matches to advance to the Division III semifinals against River City on Monday.

This story was originally published November 4, 2014 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Figueroa, Bears pass first postseason hurdle."