Weston Ranch tops Livingston with late goals in title game

As the final whistle sounded, Livingston High goalie David Solorio buried his face into the back of the net. A couple teammates collapsed to the turf.

The Wolves players couldn’t hide their disappointment.

Weston Ranch scored two goals in the final 12 minutes to defeat Livingston 2-0 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship on Saturday afternoon at Stagg High.

“Right now at this moment, it feels bittersweet,” said Solorio, who made some brilliant saves to keep the Wolves in the game. “We got so far and it’s something we haven’t done in a while. This is a great team and we had a great chance. But as reality sets in, it feels bad.”

The Cougars (24-2-3) dominated play from start to finish as they controlled the ball throughout. The Wolves struggled to build an attack without their top scoring threat Cesar Balderas, who received a red card in the semifinal win over Galt.

“He’s our leading goal scorer, he’s our leader in assists,” Livingston coach Art Pulido said. “It’s tough. We are a very good team still without him, but a player like that...he might not be having a good game, but he gets one opportunity and does something. We could have used that.”

Still Solorio’s play that gave Livingston (14-5-5) a shot.

Weston Ranch’s Joseph Mayorca had a break away early in the first half and fired a shot that Solorio tipped right of the post with a dive. A few minutes later me made another diving stop on a shot from Angel Portillo.

“We pride ourselves in our defense and I thought we held them off well,” said Livingston coach Art Pulido. “I think nerves set in for us. I would have liked to see us be more aggressive. Our guys stayed back behind the ball. The plan wasn’t to let them have the ball so much.”

After getting turned back by the Wolves defense and Solorio in the first 60 minutes, the Cougars finally broke through with a bit of luck.

Omar Centeno found himself in the right place as Hector Maldonado’s shot hit off the left post and Centeno deposited the rebound for a goal to give Weston Ranch a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute.

“They were luckier than us on that,” Solorio said. “The ball hit the post and I dove for it. I just couldn’t get it. I looked back and I saw their guy had already kicked the ball. I saw the ball go into the net and I felt bad.”

Jose Espinoza added the final dagger with a goal nine minutes later to extend the lead to 2-0.

The section title was the first blue banner in any sport for Weston Ranch. Livingston fell short of its second soccer title. The Wolves won in 2007.

“We had chances before they scored,” Pulido said. “Sometimes that happens. Things just don’t go your way.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Weston Ranch tops Livingston with late goals in title game."