Mendota High keeps knocking Riverdale out of section playoffs

The road to the the CIF Central Section Division IV boys soccer title still goes through Mendota High, as No. 2-seeded Riverdale High discovered Friday night in a quarterfinal match.

The visiting Aztecs welcomed a header from junior Amilcar Pineda on a corner kick with 15 minutes left in the game and another goal from Wilberto Amador to crash Riverdale’s title hopes for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

The 2-0 victory at Jack King Field to a semifinal match Tuesday (Feb. 22) against Fowler (18-5-1) in a Division IV draw that was rocked Thursday by top-seeded Farmersville High’s 2-0 loss to McLane High.

McLane travels to Selma on Tuesday.

First-year Mendota head coach Luis Del Río, following a scoreless opening half, added an extra forward to put the pressure on Riverdale, whose only loss coming into the match was 1-0 to a strong Kerman High squad.

“We saw their formations. That’s why we put more attackers in the second half, and that gave us the victory,” said Del Río.

Mendota’s 20-6-1 record is misleading because a couple of the losses were given when the team couldn’t get to a tournament because of fog.

“We’ve had a great season,” said Del Río, whose team was seeded 10th.

He called Riverdale a team that plays “with heart and passion.”

“They are tough. We don’t know why, but we always win.”

Riverdale coach Gabriel Arámbula is trying to figure out how to get past Mendota.

“I felt pretty confident that we were going to score, so their first goal came like cold water,” said Arámbula. “They executed that corner kick and left us down 1-0 with 15 minutes to go.”

Riverdale, which has been led all season by senior forward Ismael González and his team-leading 25 goals, couldn’t get shots past Mendota goalkeeper Ángel Torres.

The Cowboys, who end the season with a 22-2-1 record, had to push the offense to search for the equalizing goal.

Arámbula said Mendota deserved to be seeded as high as fourth in Division IV.

“They are really good,” said Arámbula. “This division is pretty tough. It’s up the air for anybody.”

Pineda was in the right spot on the corner kick by Adrián Álvaro.

“I knew he was going to send it to the middle, so I just went there and put my head on it,” said Pineda.