Wine Country Derby Ends in Draw

Exciting and dramatic describes the match fans witnessed between Sonoma County Sol and Napa Valley 1839 FC in the second edition of the Wine Country Derby, which concluded with a 1-1 result.

Napa’s offense led by Gabriel Borges began the match pressuring last year’s NPSL national finalists and it would pay off early on. Just 15 minutes in Borges would net his third goal of the season after taking on two Sol players and blasting a shot past the Sonoma goalkeeper, who would end the match with nine saves.

With the 1-0 lead Napa would control the game in the midfield and played solid defense which would frustrate both Sonoma players and fans, which were outnumbered by 1839ers who made the trek to Sonoma County’s Casa Grande High School.

Momentum would switch over to the Sol toward the end of the first half and in the 41st minute they would find the equalizer after a hard shot that hit Javier Valdez-Raya’s crossbar and landed in front of Tyler Hurst for the easy tap-in. The last couple minutes of the half would be played very physically in the midfield and it would result in a Sol player being ejected.

Tied 1-1, the second half would be a physical one. Osvaldo “Balon” Vasquez and new 1839 incorporation Eberardo Lopez controlled the midfield while Adrian Maldonado and Juan Acosta played solidly in the back, which limited Sonoma to a few shots on target that were saved by Valdez.

“It was a solid performance from Javier.  He has improved and worked hard since his incorporation to the team and today that was reflected,” said Head Coach Jesus Medina, who lamented not taking advantage of numerous scoring opportunities that would have secured Napa their first win over a 10-man Sol.

In stoppage time Napa would get another chance at scoring after Vasquez hit the Sonoma crossbar.

Now Napa enter their third bye week before returning to action June 10 vs Sacramento Sol FC at Capital Christian High School.