SALINAS VALLEY — Almost midway through the Pacific Coast Athletic League soccer season, a few South Monterey County boys’ and girls’ teams are staying competitive in their respective divisions.
The King City boys are in first place in the Mission Division and the Gonzales girls are tied for first in the Santa Lucia Division, while the Soledad girls are second in the Mission Division.
BOYS’ SOCCER
King City Mustang boys improved to 4-1-1 in their division and are now 6-6-1 overall.
Last Tuesday the Mustangs defeated the Monterey Toreadores 5-2 at home, and battled Pajaro Valley last Thursday in a 1-0 setback.
Damian Aguirre scored two goals to lead King City in the Monterey game and Victor Medina, Israel Saldana and Gabriel Clemente added solo goals. Aguirre, Saldana, Clemente and Deon Rodriguez were credited with assists.
Greenfield Bruins had just one game last week, finishing in a 1-1 tie at home last Wednesday with the Seaside Spartans. Hector Garcia scored the Bruins’ goal.
Greenfield is in third place in the Gabilan Division, with tough games coming up against Watsonville and Alisal.
Soledad had just one game last week, as the Aztecs fell to 1-3-1 in the Mission Division and 3-3-2 overall after a 2-1 loss to Rancho San Juan in Salinas.
“Rancho gained momentum in the last 10-15 minutes of the game,” said Soledad head coach Genaro Espinosa. “They scored two quick goals to win the game.”
Soledad’s goal was scored by Rafael Garcia, with an assist from Jesse Argueta.
Gonzales had a tough week with a 1-1 tie at Monte Vista Christian in Watsonville last Wednesday, and a 3-1 loss on Friday against the North Monterey County Condors.
“We had competitive games, but they were games we should have won,” said Gonzales head coach Miguel Vidauri. “Edgar Santiago scored on an assist by Jose Camacho, and Luis Benevidez scored the goal that gave us a lead in the North County game.”
In games to be contested this week: Gonzales plays this Friday against Pacific Collegiate at Rabobank; Greenfield hosted Watsonville yesterday and will host Alisal tomorrow; and King City hosted Morro Bay on Monday, plays at Soledad tonight and will host Palma on Friday.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
The Gonzales girls had two games last week, finishing 1-1 on the road in Greenfield, and beat Trinity Christian by a 9-0 score last Friday at Rabobank Stadium.
In the stalemate with the Greenfield Lady Bruins, Katherine Toledo scored the Spartans’ goal on an assist by Jennifer Fajardo, and Aundrea Sanchez scored the Greenfield goal with an assist by Aideliz Moreno.
At Rabobank last Friday night, Valerie Oliva finished with a hat trick with a trio of goals for Gonzales.
Adding individual goals were Toledo, Fajardo, Ximena Uribe, Alessandra Tejeda-Ochoa and Grecia Valdez-Camargo. Tejeda-Ochoa and Toledo had a pair of assists, and Isabella Camargo was credited with an assist.
“The bench and the JV players played most of the game with Trinity Christian,” said Gonzales head coach Jose Tejeda. “We got the game in before the heavy rains came in.”
Soledad remained close to division leader Monte Vista Christian, as they are 4-1-0 in the Mission Division behind the 5-0 MVC Mustangs.
The Lady Aztecs are also 10-2-1 overall with a 2-1 win over North Salinas and a 3-2 win against the Carmel Padres.
“On Tuesday, we were expecting a little break, but it seemed like North Salinas came with everything and gave us a fight,” said Soledad head coach Victor Garcia. “We managed to pull off the win in the last 10 minutes. In the Carmel game, we came out playing a little better but still struggled to score more goals. Atiana Landeros stopped up and gave us the winning goal. Overall the girls are playing great as a team.”
King City Lady Mustangs fell to 0-4 in the Cypress Division and 2-10 overall, with a 2-1 loss to Santa Catalina and a 2-0 setback to the Notre Dame Spirits last week.
In games this week: Gonzales played on Monday at Marina and plays an away game with Ceiba on Friday; Soledad played Monday at Seaside and will host Pacific Collegiate on Friday; King City will not play again until Jan. 29 at Pacific Grove; and Greenfield played at Ceiba on Monday and will host Anzar on Friday.
