Home turf friendly for Sanger High girls, the new CIF Central Section Division II champion

The Sanger High girls soccer team learned how important home games are during the playoffs last season when it lost in the CIF Central Section Division II championship match, 3-2, on the road to Hanford High.

This time, the Apache girls earned the No. 1 seed in the same division and used goals from seniors Diana García and Karina González on Saturday night (Feb. 26) to defeat San Luis Obispo at a boisterous Tom Flores Stadium.

San Luis Obispo came in as the second seed, and finishes the season 13-7-4.

“Last year we got the second seed and our section (championship) didn’t go our way,” said García, who scored off a corner kick from Remu Yasumoto five minutes into the second half of a scoreless match.

“So, just being at home has a big advantage. This crowd is just amazing, and having everyone here support you is just the best feeling ever.”

García and her teammates, however, will have to travel for their first-round of the CIF NorCal Division II soccer championships.

Sanger will take its 24-5-1 season record as the No. 8 seed against top-seeded Granite Bay of Placer County (10-2-4) on Tuesday (March 1).

Ángel Cabral, in his first season as head coach, hopes the tough game against San Luis Obispo prepares Sanger for the NorCal playoffs.

“San Luis Obispo is strong, and they blocked our goal attempts,” said Cabral, who said his team is in the NorCal regionals to win.

“We play to win every single game,” he said. “But, we take it one match at a time. Tomorrow, we are back to business.”

García said her goal “took a lot of weight off our shoulders.”

“Going 0-0 into the second half was very nerve-wracking,” she said.

The section championship came less than 24 hours after the Sanger High boys dropped a 1-0 Division I title match to visiting Reedley High.

“Having seen the guys unfortunately lose yesterday just motivated us,” said García, who live-streamed the boys’ match. “We did this for them, but we want to show them that it’s our town too.”

González, who has scored 37 goals this season, noticed the momentum switch to Sanger following García’s goal.

“We started to find openings within the defense,” said González, who took a pass from García and approached SLO goalkeeper Riley Wilkerson on the left side of the goal. González then slipped her shot to the far right to seal the win.

“That was an awesome moment,” said González, who admitted some concern about a scoreless first half.

“We usually score in the first half, but they were getting tired and were substituting a lot,” she said. “We knew in the second half that if we kept passing, a goal was going to come.”

Cabral hopes to build on the section title, the first for the Sanger girls soccer team.

“The girls’ program is growing every single year. We’re getting better and better,” said Cabral. “Hopefully, we keep going as strong every single year.”