Oakland Stompers Defeat Vacaville Elite 2-0
By William Forte/Oakland Stompers
This was the first Golden Gate Conference matchup between the Oakland Stompers and Vacaville Elite. Though Vacaville Elite is new to the NPSL, this is not their first clash with the Oakland Stompers. The two clubs have played many matches against one another over the years in various competitions.
The visitors traveled roughly 50 miles to take on the Oakland Stompers at the Chabot College Soccer Field.
“To any true soccer player who has gotten to play on the Chabot grass knows that it is a treat,” Vacaville Elite’s Brandon Muth said. “I have great memories of this pitch from when I was in college.”
It was a beautiful Northern California day, with the sun out and 70-degree weather for kickoff. The Stompers went with their blue tops, blue shorts, and white socks, and the Elite chose a grey, black, and black combo.
Assistant coaches Antonio “Tone” Aguilar and Ubaldo “Junior” Sierra were in charge of the contest because head coach Martin Sierra was unavailable.
The game kicked off, and instantly the Oakland Stompers took control of possession, whipping it around the pitch. You could hear Vacaville Elite long-time captain Aaron Dickey keeping his back line composed, to sit and not worry about chasing the possession. When Vacaville disrupted the flow of possession, they would quickly look to get the ball out to their speedy wingers, Gedeon Bukasa and Baidou Toure, along with striker Suyesh Niraula.
CB James Downes took just nine minutes to pick up his first-ever NPSL yellow card for an aggressive challenge. Downes, a 20-year-old who just signed with the Stompers and is from Danville, CA, did good to adjust and finish the match with no further infractions.
Vacaville Elite kept the Stompers at bay for most of the first half and had numerous counters that threatened the backline and Stompers goalkeeper Victor Reyes. The Stompers had the better part of possession and more chances of attack. The Elite back line of Matthew Joss, Miles Bond, Angel Lopez, and Arturo Garcia was led by their captain Aaron Dickey, with the play of goalkeeper James Ross not to be broken down by the Stompers.
At one point, Hector Sandoval was taken down in the penalty box, but the referee deemed it a no-call and play continued on. Moments later, a Stompers player was taken down outside the box, and as the center referee blew his whistle, Tony Moran hit a rocket into the net, but the whistle had already been blown.
The Stompers had a ton of possession in the first half, but couldn’t find the right combinations to make the net shake. Vacaville had some dangerous counterattack options of their own, but the Stompers held up on defense.
The Stompers subbed off their starting goalkeeper Victor Reyes to split halves with their newly acquired Jacob Frederick of the CSUEB men’s soccer program. That isn’t something Stompers regularly do, but every team needs at least two high-caliber goalies if they want to make a serious run at a playoff chance.
The feeling at halftime from the Oakland bench was that we needed to calm down and find the back of the net. The second half seemed very similar in the style of play for both teams. As good captains do, Rafael “Rafa” Manzo stepped up and put the game on his back, scoring his second goal in two games. Both goals were big-time in skill but also in need for the club. This was a ball that was lobbed in by the newly acquired UC Davis center back Chris Aguilar, which Manzo ran on to. He took advantage Vacaville goalkeeper James Ross, who was off his goal line. This goal, coming in the 50th minute of the match, allowed the Stompers to take a sigh of relief.
The match continued with the Stompers controlling the majority of possession and creating opportunities, but Vacaville put up a stingy defensive effort. They had multiple counterattack options that could have possibly equalized the game if a ball had bounced a little differently, but it was not to be.
In the 76th minute of his first NPSL appearance with the Oakland Stompers, Hector Sandoval moved to right wing after starting the match at right back. He had been knocking on the door for some time, but this time he took on a defender and beat him to take a shot from outside the box that proved to be too much for the Vacaville goalkeeper. The goal was assisted by center back Chris Aguilar.
The insurance goal was all the Stompers needed to walk this match over the finish line to a 2-0 final score. It was a well-fought match between two clubs that have a lot of mutual respect for one another.
Chris Aguilar was named Man of the Match by the Oakland Stompers for his two assists and for being part of the defense for the Stompers’ second clean sheet of the season.
The Stompers improve to a 2W-2L-0D record, while Vacaville moves to 1W-2L-1D on the season.
“We are happy to take home the three points, but we feel there are still some things we need to iron out,” Antonio Aguilar said. “We were without some guys today due to injury and work, but we hope to put out our best performance next week versus Cruizers FC.”
Oakland now heads to Modesto, CA, on Saturday, May 30 to face Cruizers FC at Modesto Christian School with a 7:00 pm kickoff. Cruizers FC are responsible for one of the Stompers’ two losses this season, and this surely will be a big game with potential playoff implications.
Vacaville returns home to host Sun City FC from El Paso, TX on Saturday, May 30 at 6:30 pm. That match will take place at St. Patrick-St. Vincent Catholic High School in Vallejo, CA.
Photo Credit: Oakland Stompers Staff
