FC Davis clinched the top spot in the upcoming Golden Gate Competition with a 4-2 home victory over Academica SC on Saturday night.
Academica opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Jahrie Gray made a run along the wing and set up Andres Velasquez for a soft shot that trickled past Davis goalkeeper Gerardo Perez-Plata. Davis’s Justin Wright responded in the 30th minute, tapping home a cross at the far post. Wright completed the brace in the 41st minute, grabbing a loose ball in the penalty area and taking a quick shot that Academica goalkeeper Alonso Lara couldn’t handle. Jaime Robles added another goal for the Lions three minutes later, sending home a corner kick with an emphatic header. Less than a minute later, Academica’s Bobby Ceja slammed home a loose ball in the box, cutting Davis’s lead to 3-2 at halftime.
The second half was a much quieter affair, with Davis clinging to its one goal lead until the 86th minute, when Nick Hyde was taken down by Lara in the penalty area; Hyde converted the subsequent penalty kick to put the game out of reach and assure Davis home field advantage throughout the three-week playoffs.
The win was FC Davis’s second of the week; last Wednesday evening they defeated Sonoma County Sol FC 4-2 in a makeup game for a match that was postponed during the Northern California heatwave. Davis’s Justin Wright opened the scoring with a 9th minute goal off of the counterattack, and Ty Shikashio added a second in the 39th minute, tapping in a short cross on a two-on-one break to give Davis a two-goal cushion at halftime.
Davis went up 3-0 when Caua Soares scored on a rebound in the 52nd minute, but Sonoma climbed back into the match in the 57th minute when Marco Silveira got behind the Davis defense and blasted a shot at the near post that Perez-Plata couldn’t handle. Sonoma edged even closer in the 77th minute when Edward Silverbush tapped the ball into the net on a rebound, but Davis’s Nicholas Gosal broke free of the defense and put the match out of reach less than one minute later.
El Farolito began last Saturday with the chance to finish second in the division standings, but fell to fourth place thanks to a 2-1 loss at Napa Valley 1839 FC, which was wearing burgundy-colored kits instead of their usual green and white, as a benefit for cancer research. Napa got on the board first in the 21st minute, set up by four consecutive passes as began their counterattack, then a long ball from midfield that found Francisco Mendoza open along the wing. He took on the Farolito defender, then sent in a left-footed cross to Marco Manzo who one-timed it into the net.
Farolito’s Julio Herrera equalized less than two minutes into the second half, after Farolito strung together seven consecutive passes that eventually found Herrera with room to run along the wing. Herrera’s lethal strike from a difficult angle beat Napa goalkeeper Federico Cortes at the far post. But the turning point in the match came in the 58th minute, when a Farolito defender charged at Emmanuel Johnson and knocked him down in the penalty area. Mendoza converted the subsequent penalty kick, enabling Napa to host an NPSL playoff match this weekend for the first time in club history.
Contra Costa FC picked up its first road victory of the season with a 5-2 win over Sacramento Gold FC. Sacramento got on the board first, with a goal by David Villegas (38th minute), but Paris Ruiz evened the match for Contra Costa in the 41st minute. Contra Costa took control of the match in the second half. Luca Argast kicked off the offensive explosion with a goal in the 54th minute and Ruiz completed his brace eight minutes later. Matt Wiesenfarth got Sacramento back into the match with a goal in the 67th minute, but Eliezer Paul Gindiri put the match away with a brace of his own, thanks to goals in the 70th and 85th minute.
The Oakland Stompers earned their first points of the NPSL season with a 3-2 win over the Sonoma County Sol at Burrell Field in San Leandro. The Stompers jumped out to a quick lead in the 3rd minute thanks to a goal by Khalid Arramdani, assisted by Miles Montgomery. Nine minutes later, the roles were reversed, with Montgomery scoring off of an assist by Arramdani. But Sonoma quickly equalized thanks to goals by Christopher Barrios (21st minute) and Sebastian Santos (30th minute). Nissa Hatifie won the match for Oakland with his decisive strike in the 55th minute, set up by a PJ Garcia corner kick.
Three of the Golden Gate Competition’s first round playoff matches will be played on Saturday night:
#1 Davis hosts the eighth seeded Sonoma County Sol.
#2 Academica hosts the seventh-seeded Oakland Stompers.
#3 Napa Valley hosts sixth-seeded Contra Costa FC.
And on Sunday afternoon, #4 El Farolito hosts fifth-seeded Sacramento Gold FC at Boxer Stadium.
