El Farolito Survives Contentious Battle With Oakland SC
Second-seeded El Farolito fell behind early, but came roaring back to earn a 5-2 victory over Oakland SC at Boxer Stadium in San Francisco.
Saturday afternoon’s match was only the third meeting between the two clubs, but they’ve already developed an intense rivalry. Even though Farolito was the home team, a large group of Oakland SC fans made the transbay trip.
The match was filled with end to end action, and both clubs committed their share of hard fouls. Both ended up with 5 players yellow carded in the match, though 3 of Farolito’s cautions were for delay of game as they nursed their lead in the second half.
The tone was set in the 3rd minute, when Farolito’s Sergio Martinez was yellow carded for his first foul of the match. Oakland’s Gabriel Borges was yellow carded for a similar foul 3 minutes later.
And there was a flurry of yellow cards as the half went on: Oakland’s Nikolai Littleton in the 29th minute, Farolito’s Ramon Cordoba in the 31st, and Oakland’s Arman Mogharei in the 36th minute.
An Early Goal Gives the Visitors the Lead
Farolito fans were in shock when Oakland got on the board first in the 25th minute. The Farolito backline paused for a moment as Borges made his run into the box, expecting an offside call. Borges dribbled around them and converted from close range.
But the home side recovered quickly. They equalized in the 35th minute, taking advantage of a quick restart after a foul. Herlbert Soto’s cross found Hurick Balieiro for an emphatic header.
Farolito kept up the pressure, blasting a free kick over the bar in the 37th minute and forcing Oakland goalkeeper Kevin Esquivel to make a kick save in the 38th.
Their efforts were rewarded in the 40th minute, when Soto made a run along the left side and blasted a shot into the roof of the net, his fourth of the season.
And then the halftime whistle blew, and that’s when things got serious.
Oakland’s Dylan Autran received a yellow and Bryan Canchola received a straight red card for spitting in the face of a Farolito player and disparaging his manhood. He said he was responding to similar violent insults from the other side. Oakland SC players and the coaching staff followed the referees to the sideline to argue. Oakland Head Coach Michael Muniz was also red carded.
Other Oakland players and coaches continued to argue for several more minutes, but eventually the club regrouped to play the second half with 10 men. Oakland supporters continued to voice their displeasure with the referees throughout the second half.
At first, Oakland was able to keep Farolito from scoring again, and even created a few chances of their own. Borges had shots from close range in the 50th and 60th minute, but goalkeeper Jonathan Barona made the easy save. And captain Julio Cervantes had a free kick in the 56th minute, but it sailed over the bar.
But Balieiro made the visitors’ task even more difficult when he earned a brace in the 63rd minute to give the home side a 3-1 lead. The Brazilian now has five goals in only two matches with the club.
And that goal opened the floodgates. Two minutes later, Farolito’s Erik Arias and Dembor Benson made simultaneous runs as a cross came in. The ball skipped past Arias and Benson slid to redirect it into the net.
Oakland was able to regain a glimmer of hope when Nigus Solomon converted a penalty kick on a handball in the 85th minute.
But Arias restored the hosts’ three-goal advantage in stoppage time when his shot skipped off the underside of the crossbar and into the net. The goal was Arias’s 15th of the season, the most of any player in the 92-team NPSL.
Oakland SC finished a competitive first season that included wins over Contra Costa, the Stompers, and Sonoma, as well as lopsided losses to the top three teams in the conference. Captain Julio Cervantes tallied 9 goals in 10 matches, good for 9th place on the NPSL national leader board.
Napa Outlasts Davis
FC Davis battled third-seeded Napa Valley 1839 FC on equal terms for more than 100 minutes, but eventually the home side moved on with a 2-1 victory after extra time.
Davis’s squad included a large contingent of UC Davis players, while Napa relied on an experienced core of players who have been with the club for several years.
After a scoreless first half, Davis got on the board first in the 54th minute, set up by a throw-in deep in Napa’s end of the field. After a brief pause to retrieve the ball, the throw-in went to the near post. A Davis attacker flicked the ball with his head over to Robert Mejia, who was unmarked as he made his run into the penalty area. Mejia’s header was perfectly placed just inside the far post.
Guilherme Martins evened the score for Napa in the 70th minute. Oscar (Sherriff) Ortiz picked up a loose ball right before it went over the end line and delivered a cross to an unmarked Martins perched at the far post. Martins chest trapped the ball and fired a volley that sneaked past goalkeeper Charles Janssen at the near post.
Neither club scored in the final 20 minutes of regulation time, setting up a 30-minute extra session.
Paris Martins scored the eventual game-winner in the 104th minute. Martins made his run along the right side of the penalty area and fired a hard shot as he was falling to the turf, as Janssen rushed out to the edge of the 6-yard box to try and stop it. The goal was set up by a series of short passes from Ortiz to Dario Pavon to Miguel Lara to Martins.
There were few clear chances in the final 15 minutes, though Napa nearly scored another goal right before the final whistle. Dario Pavon was open at the top of the penalty area, but his shot went wide.
The loss marked the end of a challenging season for Davis, with a frequently changing roster, but their valiant playoff performance was a hopeful sign for next season.
Sacramento Overcomes Upset-Minded Sonoma
The 8th seeded Sonoma County Sol FC gave them a scare, but three second-half goals enabled top-seeded Sacramento Gold to advance with a 3-1 victory on Saturday night.
After a scoreless first half, Sonoma got on the board first, thanks to a goal by Maurilio Lopez in the 53rd minute. Lopez led the team with 6 goals this season.
But the host side evened the match 9 minutes later, thanks to its leading scorer, Manolo Pina.
And Pina gave his team the lead for good with another goal 5 minutes later, bringing his season total to 14, good for 3rd place on the NPSL leaderboard.
Sacramento closed out the scoring in the 80th minute on a goal by Dominic Vegaalban, who recently completed his freshman season at Santa Clara University.
The loss closed out a difficult season for Sonoma, which won its first two matches of the season before losing the final nine in a row, including this one.
Academica Upsets Contra Costa
Two goals in the final 10 minutes enabled fifth seeded Academica SC to become the only road team to win last weekend, notching a 3-1 victory over Contra Costa FC in Pleasant Hill on Sunday afternoon.
The two clubs exchanged goals early in the match, with Academica’s Felipe Lopez scoring in the 12th minute and Contra Costa’s Braulio Maravilla answering 12 minutes later.
The match remained knotted until the 80th minute, when second half substitute Bobby Ceja scored the eventual game winner.
David Mejia put the match away with another goal 3 minutes later.
Contra Costa made progress in its second year in the NPSL, despite an up and down season. They lost their first 3 matches of the season while also preparing for the U.S. Open Cup. But they rebounded in the middle of the season, including a 5-1 win over Sacramento on April 10, the Gold’s only loss of the season.
Coming Up
The NPSL is taking a one-week break for the 4th of July weekend. The semifinal matches will be played on July 9, with Sacramento hosting Academica and El Farolito hosting Napa.
