Golden Valley soccer team delivers in must-win game

The Golden Valley High School girls soccer team knows it has limited its options.

After dropping points in multiple games that it controlled through the first two rounds of Central California Conference play, the Cougars must win or run the risk of missing the playoffs.

So far, so good.

GV took the field on Thursday night with the kind of energy and desperation the situation warranted, comfortably beating Turlock 3-0 with one of its most complete efforts of the season.

The win moves the Cougars (12-3-6, 6-3-4 CCC) one point ahead of the Bulldogs (7-7-3, 6-4-3) for the league’s third and final playoff spot with two games to play. It’s the first time all season that Golden Valley earned a victory against one of the league’s top three teams, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It’s been tough. We’ve led a lot of games that we were in complete control of and let teams come back and tie us up,” senior midfielder Justyne Sanchez said. “Ties aren’t going to do it anymore. We came in knowing this was a do-or-die game and we got the three points we needed.

“There’s still work to be done, though. We’ve got Atwater, and then it’s probably going to come down to Merced in the last game of the season.”

If the Cougars can bottle up and reproduce Thursday’s effort, their playoff outlook seems pretty good.

GV crisply executed its patented quick-touch passing game, dictating the opening 40 minutes. Lance Eber’s squad outshot Turlock 13-4 in the opening half, but couldn’t get much on frame to trouble Bulldog goalkeeper Jayden Tubbs.

The Cougars’ best chance probably came in the 26th minute, when an unmarked Brandy Cervantes got a free header on a corner kick. The senior’s shot went just over the bar, however.

Turlock almost made GV pay for the miss two minutes later when a defensive miscommunication gave Bulldog striker Kishauna Mavis a path to goal from about 20 yards out. Mavis beat goalkeeper Kristina Manilay (four saves) with a right-footed blast, but drilled the crossbar to keep things level at the break.

If Golden Valley was frustrated from not cashing in on a dominant opening half, it didn’t show. If anything, the Cougars took the Veterans Stadium pitch with a little extra energy to open the second half and were rewarded with the opening goal just five minutes in.

Jaylin Meza stayed hot, scoring in her fourth straight game and six of seven, on a free kick from about 30 yards out. Meza’s form was perfect, clearing the wall and then having her shot dip down under the crossbar at the last second.

“We’ve been in plenty of games where it was 0-0 at halftime,” Sanchez said. “Yes, we wish we had a lead, but we knew we couldn’t turn on each other. We had to keep things positive and just focus on the second half.

“Jaylin has been huge for us. Her goal definitely eased a lot of pressure, but at the same time, we’ve given up second half leads before, so we had to keep pushing.”

The Cougars left no doubt, putting the game out of reach with goals four minutes apart.

Meza turned helper, setting up Megan Pust in the 65th minute and Sanchez in the 69th to make it 3-0.

“We came into this one treating it basically like a playoff game,” Eber said. “A loss and we were most likely done. I’m just so pleased with how we played.

“It’s one of those games where you sit back as a coach and really enjoy it, because the girls are executing everything we worked on in practice. Now we have to regroup and try to get two more wins next week.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 9:48 PM with the headline "Golden Valley soccer team delivers in must-win game."