Underdog Reedley knocks off rival Sanger to capture section crown before packed crowd

The Reedley High boys soccer team completed its underdog postseason run by beating its rival school for a Central Section championship.

Reedley, the eighth seed in the Division I playoffs, edged No. 2 Sanger with a 1-0 victory Friday before a packed crowd at Tom Flores Stadium and held the Apaches scoreless for the first time all season.

It marked the Pirates’ fourth section title, according to section historian Bob Barnett.

In a game filled with strong defensive plays, the Pirates scored the game’s lone goal on a penalty kick with 12 minutes remaining.

Though failing to score was new to Sanger this season, Reedley (19-6-3) actually has become quite used to locking down opponents.

Friday’s championship outing marked the Pirates’ ninth shutout victory on the season.

Among those shutouts was Reedley’s 3-0 victory against top-seeded Central to kick off the Pirates’ underdog run in the playoffs.

In addition, the Pirates knocked off No. 4 Clovis North 2-1 in overtime in a heated semifinal matchup.

Reedley finished off its championship run by getting payback against a Sanger team that had defeated the Pirates 1-0 during the teams’ lone meeting in the regular season.

Reedley’s other boys soccer section titles came in 2003, 2011 and 2018.

Sanger had won section titles in each of the past two seasons.

Other boys soccer results

Division II: No. 5 Redwood put an end to No. 11 Golden Valley’s underdog run as the Rangers prevailed 2-0 in the D-II championship for their third section title..

Redwood (22-5-1) beat No. 12 Liberty, No. 4 Golden West and No. 1 Stockdale en route to playing Golden Valley for the title.

Division III: Top-seeded Garces down No. 2 Lindsay for the section title, scoring one goal in the first half and another in the second half.

Division IV: No. 3 Fowler rallied to force extra time against No. 9 McLane then prevailed in penalty kicks en route to a 4-3 win. The Redcats have now won four section titles.

Division V: No. 1 Granite Hills outlasted No. 2 Sierra Pacific 2-1 to win its first section title in school history.

Division VI: No. 1 Mammoth and No. 7 Parlier will meet on Saturday.

Girls soccer results

Division II: No. 1 Sanger will host No. 2 San Luis Obispo at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Division III: No. 5 Bakersfield Christian upset No. 2 Nipomo 2-1.

Division IV: No. 1 Kerman needed penalty kicks to win its first section title in school history, beating Santa Maria. The Lions won the penalty kicks 5-3.

Division VI: No. 11 North pushed No. 1 Granite Hills into extra time then won via penalty kicks en route to a 3-2 victory.

This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 10:36 PM.