In the final week of the regular season, El Farolito and Napa clinched the top two seeds and Oakland SC routed the Stompers in this season’s second installment of the Town Derby.
El Farolito Clinches Regular Season Crowd in Win Over Stompers
Carlos Rodriguez and Herlbert Soto both scored a pair of goals in El Farolito’s 8-0 win over the Oakland Stompers at historic Kezar Stadium on Tuesday night. El Farolito will host Sacramento Gold FC in the first round of the Golden Gate Conference playoffs on June 29.
The match with the Stompers was originally scheduled for May 4, but was postponed due to heavy rains at El Farolito’s usual home, Boxer Stadium.
The match was relatively even in the first few minutes. Oakland’s first chance at a goal came in the 10th minute, when Luke Andrews had a shot from close range that went wide.
El Farolito got on the board in the 26th minute on a goal by Judas Higuera, who timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap. Goalkeeper Joseph Rivera came out to cut down the angle, but Higuera’s finish was clinical.
The second goal came from Ivoirian striker Daouda Sidibe in the 34th minute, after Rivera saved a shot from distance, but couldn’t hold onto the rebound. Sidibe was on the spot for the easy finish.
The third came five minutes later from Jorge Murillo from close range, after sustained pressure by his teammates.
The goals kept coming in the second half, beginning with Rodriguez’s first goal in the 47th minute.
Aly Arriola added a fifth on a header in the 60th minute, after a corner kick to the far post from Felipe Ponce.
Rodriguez’s second came in the 68th minute, grabbing the rebound after the Oakland defense poked away a cross from Edgard Kreye.
Soto wrapped up the scoring with a pair of goals in the 76th and 89th minutes. The first came on a shot from 30 yards out that caught Rivera out of position. The second came as on a shot from the right side of the penalty area.
El Farolito goalkeeper Julian Escobar kept a clean sheet. Escobar previously played at De Anza College and will play for San Jose State University this season.
San Ramon Earns Another Draw with El Farolito
The match between El Farolito and San Ramon FC at Dougherty Valley High School on Saturday ended in a 2-2 draw.
San Ramon took the lead in each half, with goals from Braulio Maravilla in the 16th minute and Edgar Castaneda in the 72nd minute. The Arias Brothers took care of the scoring for El Farolito, with goals from Jehimy in the 32nd minute and Erik in the 86th.
Both clubs were tuning up for the playoffs, with El Farolito having clinched the top seed on Tuesday and San Ramon already locked into a first-round playoff matchup with Napa.
For the second consecutive season, El Farolito finished undefeated in regular season play. This year, they earned 9 wins and 3 draws: two of them against San Ramon and the other against their first round playoff opponent, Sacramento Gold FC.
Napa Valley Tops Odyssey Thanks to Second Half Surge
With its playoff position safely secured, Napa Valley 1839 FC ended the regular season on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 home win over California Odyssey SC.
The clubs traded goals midway through the first half, with Jose Maravilla scoring for Napa in the 25th minute and Silvestre Quintero equalizing for Odyssey three minutes later.
Both clubs changed goalkeepers at halftime. For Napa, Carlos Ayala was replaced by Thomas Grimes, while the visitors replaced Julian Vicente-Lau with Angel Joaquin-Guzman. Odyssey made only one other substitution in the match, taking out Christian Velarde and replacing him with Julian Nevarez in the 50th minute.
Napa grabbed the three points in the second half, taking the lead for good on a 52nd minute goal from Ryan Kane. Justin Sotelo put the match away with his goal in the 73rd.
While Napa moves on to host San Ramon in the first round of the playoffs, Odyssey ended its first season in the Golden Gate Conference in sixth place, with 3 wins and 2 draws in 12 matches. Last season, they finished in second place as a member of the Southwest Conference.
Oakland SC Scores Early and Often to Win Town Derby
Oakland SC wrapped up its 2024 schedule with an 8-0 win over the Oakland Stompers on Saturday night. It was the first time Oakland SC has hosted the Stompers at Oakland Technical High School since the visitors emerged with a 2-1 victory in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
This match also featured a double brace, with Gamal Compaore and Duncan Keker both scoring a pair of goals. Compaore scored his first, in the 10th and 31st minute. Former Oakland Roots midfielder Yohannes Harish added another in the 36th minute to give his club a comfortable three goal lead at halftime.
Several other players got onto the scoresheet in the second half, including Mahmoud Musa (61st minute), Keker (76th and 78 minutes), Jvon Cunningham (81st minute), and Oscar Cervantes (83rd minute).
Oakland SC finishes the season in fifth place, with 4 wins and a draw and a goal difference of 0. The Stompers finished in seventh, losing all 12 matches with a goal difference of minus 58.
