Napa Valley Romps Over Stompers
Conference leaders Napa Valley 1839 FC grabbed the lead in less than 90 seconds and overwhelmed the visiting Oakland Stompers by a score of 6-0.
Stomper goalkeeper Javier Valdez previously played between the pipes for Napa and faced a barrage of shots from his former teammates.
Dario Pavon set up the first goal, sending a pass to Paris Martins as he made his run down the right side. Martins crossed the ball to Joseph Restani who scored from point blank range as a Stomper defender pleaded for an offside call.
Pavon added the second goal in the 18th minute. Oscar Ortiz made a long overlapping run along the left sideline into the penalty area and flicked the ball to Pavon for the finish.
Ortiz also set up the third goal 6 minutes later, sending a long pass into a group of Napa attackers who beat Oakland’s offside trap. Valdez came out beyond the penalty area, but Daniel Castro won the ball and tapped it into the empty net.
To make matters worse for Oakland, Luis Alberto Castillo Guzman being ejected in the 34th minute for tackling Restani from behind to prevent him from scoring on a breakaway. But Napa also lost was reduced to 10 men when Pavon was ejected after receiving his second yellow card in the 43rd minute.
Oakland had a rare scoring chance in the 59th minute, but Napa goalkeeper Carlos Ayala fully extended his leg to kick the ball away. Immediately after the subsequent corner kick, Napa launched a counterattack, as a Napa attacker made a run down the left side and crossed to Pol Monells for the easy finish.
Five minutes later, Marco Manzo was wide open at the edge of the penalty area and gave up the ball to Restani to complete the brace.
Napa scored their final goal thanks to an Oakland defensive mixup in the 78th minute. On a goal kick, Valdez passed the ball to an Oakland defender who had his back turned; Paris Martins stole the ball and added his name to the scoresheet.
Farolito Outscores Contra Costa
El Farolito jumped into second place in the conference by beating host Contra Costa FC on Sunday afternoon by a score of 4-2. Both Napa and El Farolito both have collected 12 points, but Farolito has played 6 matches and Napa only 5.
There were plenty of goals in this matchup between the two highest scoring teams in the conference.
Farolito grabbed the lead in the 16th minute on Sergio Martinez’s first goal of the season and never looked back. The visitors from San Francisco added another on a goal by Pedro Ferreira in the 35th minute.
Contra Costa got back in the match 8 minutes into the second half on a goal by Adrian Guzman.
But Farolio quickly regained control when Ferreira scored a brace in the 61st minute. Erik Arias put the match away with his seventh goal of the season in the 78th minute.
Jonathan Estrada pulled one back for Contra Costa just before the final whistle.
Sacramento Beats Davis in See Saw Match
Sacramento Gold FC moved into third place as Gabriel Padilla’s first half brace helped them to a 4-2 win over FC Davis.
Padilla’s second minute goal was answered by Davis’s Nicholas Gosal in the 19th minute. But Padilla responded 3 minutes later.
Pablo Ros evened the match again in the 63rd minute, but veteran Steven Wright gave Sacramento the lead for good 3 minutes later.
Manolo Pina helped Sacramento put the match out of reach in the 76th minute.
Oakland SC Routs Sonoma
Julio Cervantes’ hat trick powered host Oakland SC to a 6-0 win over Sonoma County SOL FC. With the win, Oakland moves up to 4th place in the conference standings.
Cervantes put Oakland ahead in the 16th minute, when he chest trapped a cross to the far post and blasted a shot from close range over the head of Sonoma goalkeeper Sebastian Herrera. Matt Fondy scored a similar goal 7 minutes later to give the home side a comfortable lead.
Oakland added a third on the counterattack just before halftime. Two Oakland strikers beat Sonoma’s offside trap. Oakland’s winger drew the defenders to him and passed the ball to Cervantes for the tap-in.
Cervantes completed the hat trick in the 75th minute after he was taken down by a Sonoma defender just outside the penalty area. His free kick curled over the wall and tucked inside the far post.
Nebiu Kinfu added a final exclamation point 5 minutes later, on a shot from 20 yards out.
Next Week
Next week, Napa Valley faces a tough road challenge at Sacramento, FC Davis hosts Oakland SC, Contra Costa hosts Sonoma, and Academica travels to West Oakland to take on the Stompers.
