In his first action as a varsity player, Orestimba High sophomore Noel Madrigal scored a game-winning goal to snap the winning streak of newly-minted Trans-Valley League rival Hilmar High on Wednesday afternoon.
Madrigal, who was called up by head coach Jose Serrato that morning, found himself alone on the right side of the goal box and fired a strike into the back of the net to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead in the 54th minute of play, a score that stood until the final whistle.
The Warriors improved to 2-1 in the TVL (5-7-2 overall) and jumped to third-place through their first week and a half in their new conference. Meanwhile, the Yellowjackets, who entered Wednesday’s match undefeated through their first three league games and a 6-3-2 overall record, dropped to second place with the loss. They are both looking up at Ripon, currently sporting a 2-0-1 league record (8-7-1 overall) after posting an 0-8-2 regular season a year ago.
“It felt really good when I hit the ball, I actually already knew it was going to go in because of how hard I hit it,” Madrigal said with a confident shrug.
Madrigal scored four goals four days prior in junior varsity’s 8-0 win over Ripon, which prompted Serrato to call him up for Wednesday’s varsity action.
The game began with a defensive struggle between the two teams through the first half-hour of play. In the 37th minute, Hilmar sophomore Blake Vitorino received a perfect cross strike from fellow second-year forward Marlo Coplyn-Torres. Vitorino proceeded to blast a shot past goalie Joel Corona that had them poised to carry a lead into halftime.
Amid the Yellowjackets’ celebratory mood, the Warriors remained composed and on the attack, catching Hilmar with their guard slightly down. Less than two minutes later, in the first minute of stoppage time, senior striker Bryan Carmona dribbled past defenders to set up a one-on-one with goalkeeper Salvador Rodriguez, which he won by sending the ball to the back left corner of the net.
The Warriors then controlled possession for a majority of the second half, which in part led to Madrigal’s go-ahead goal.
“The TVL, every game is competitive. Every game is like a playoff game,” Serrato said. “Hilmar brought it, but we played as a team, everybody did their best and nobody gave up after that (first) goal. Nobody started talking bad to each other or bickering, we just handled it well and pulled out the win.”
The Warriors played Hughson on Friday, improving to 3-1in league and 6-7-2 with a 5-3 win. They were backed by a hat trick from senior Alfredo Figueroa and goals from Madrigal and Carmona.
They opened league on Dec.12 with a 4-3 win over Sonora. They then lost 3-1 to Ripon on Jan. 3.
The Warriors will be back in action Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. when they host Ripon Christian.
