Merced rides Garcia goal, stellar defense to top of CCC

As the final whistle blew, the Merced High School girls soccer team converged at midfield for a celebratory group hug.

A good portion of the team collapsed to the turf shortly after, having spent the last of their energy on the moment of elation. Goalkeeper Emma Lopez needed assistance back to the celebration, just able to put pressure on her leg.

On a muggy Tuesday afternoon, the Bears endured a physical and draining 80 minutes to move back to the top of the Central California Conference standings with a 1-0 victory over Pitman. Merced now holds a two-point edge with rivalry games to play Thursday.

The only question that remains is how much is left in the tank to try and secure the first league title in school history. Merced will win the title outright with a win or Pitman loss. A draw and Pride win would have the two teams share the title.

“I was glad to give up my body for this team,” said Lopez, who made five saves in the victory and endured a number of collisions in the final 20 minutes. “I’m a little sore, but it doesn’t compare to the feeling of getting this win.

“The toughest part is knowing we don’t really get to enjoy that much. We have a tough opponent in Golden Valley on Thursday. I’m just going to have to hop in an ice bath and come back ready to play.”

Bears coach Megan Atoigue hoped to have defensive midfielder Jovanna Salazar back from injury but was forced to improvise her defense on Pitman star Rayana Plancarte when Salazar wasn’t cleared. Atoigue went to man marker by committee, including throwing back sophomore striker Carris Burges to body her.

Plancarte took advantage of the defensive midfield novices for the opening 10 minutes, sending through a handful of dangerous balls to the Pitman strikers. The Bear defense stayed organized, however, and the Pride (14-6-5, 9-1-4 CCC) failed to produce any shots to trouble Lopez in net.

Burges and company figured things out, and Plancarte wasn’t much of a factor the rest of the way. That allowed the Merced counter attack to begin wreaking havoc, and Evelyn Garcia cashed in a chance in the 15th minute.

The left midfielder applied pressure on a ball played out to her wing that was mishandled by the Pitman defense. Garcia won position and fired a left-footed shot from just inside the 18-yard box that sneaked in under Pride keeper Priscilla Estrada (six saves).

“We’re all exhausted right now,” Garcia said. “We knew how much this game meant and how much we were going to have to give to win it.

“That early goal was such a big boost. I didn’t hit the shot very cleanly. I even started to turn around and run back on defense when I realized it had gone in. It was probably my greatest moment of the season.”

Merced (10-10-3, 10-1-3) carried that lead into the half and then had two chances to expand the lead in the first 13 minutes of the second half. Anisa Saechao used a great first touch to shake two Pitman defenders and cut hard to her left into the box. She had a one-on-one with Estrada inside the 6-yard box but had her shot turned away with a dive.

The Bears looked to have doubled their lead in the 53rd minute when Alyssa Centero curled a corner kick into the far post side netting, but the goal was disallowed for an alleged push.

After failing to put the game out of reach, Merced had to endure a final 20-minute surge from the Pride. The defensive quartet of Elizabeth Mendoza, Elise Pellisier, Baylee Lawry and Amaya Valenzuela were up to the task, preventing Lopez from having to make any tough saves.

“We’ve put things in our own fate,” Atoigue said. “The girls were in this position last year. This time, even a tie at least gets us a share of the title. I know they’re tired. We’ll have a light practice tomorrow and then need to dig deep Thursday.

“They want it, and I think we’ll see this kind of effort again.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Merced rides Garcia goal, stellar defense to top of CCC."