By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
‘Jackets dominate in first-ever NorCal appearance
Hilmar girls soccer 1
Hilmar sophomore Sidney Logsdon is embraced by teammates after scoring in the 71st minute of Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over Caruthers in the opening round of the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).

For the first time ever, the Hilmar girls varsity soccer team played their 30th game of the season. The milestone match on Tuesday also marked the program’s first-ever appearance in the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs. The D-5 Sac-Joaquin Section champion Yellowjackets were given the No. 1 seed in the Regional Division 5 bracket after achieving an overall record of 22-5-2, and they proved it was appropriate after a dominant 3-1 victory over the D-5 Central Section champion, No. 8 seed Caruthers. 

The Lady ‘Jackets now set their sights on a Thursday match with No. 4 University Prep (Redding) at 3 p.m. in Hilmar. University Prep has an overall record of 16-5-2 and finished as the Northern Section’s D-2 runner-up.

In Tuesday’s match, the Yellowjackets outshot the Blue Raiders 26 to 4. Despite shooting 10 times compared to Caruthers’ two nearly half an hour into the action, the Yellowjackets trailed 1-0 after a strike from approximately 40 yards out off the foot of Britani Garcia floated over the head of Hilmar goalkeeper Kayden Elston in the ninth minute. The ‘Jackets were able to use the early goal as motivation, especially defensively, as only one more shot was allowed for the rest of the game.

Hilmar girls soccer 2
Despite being double and triple-teamed throughout the day, Hilmar sophomore Brisa Gonzales scored two of the Yellowjackets’ three goals in their 3-1 win over Caruthers in the opening round of the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).

As the Blue Raiders were struggling to even handle the ball in the few times it landed in their possession, Hilmar sophomore Brisa Gonzales did what she does best, leading the charge offensively and putting consistent pressure on the opposing team’s defenders and goalkeeper. In the 27th minute, she knotted the match at one after firing a strike from just outside the penalty area. It was her team-leading 30th goal of the season. Just six minutes later, she fed the speedy Raylynn Mendoza, who drew a penalty. Gonzales was elected to take the shot, which resulted in an easy goal to put the Yellowjackets up 2-1.

Caruthers threatened in the 63rd minute when a player found themselves in the open field in Hilmar territory. As she attempted to pass to a teammate ahead of her on the far side of the field, the referee’s flag went up to signal an offsides infraction, much to the dismay of the Blue Raiders’ sideline. The call seemingly deflated the team. In the 71st minute, sophomore Sidney Logsdon took advantage, firing a strike from corner-kick distance right into the back of the net to make it 3-1.

“I always try to go for the back post because it will either go in the back of the net or it'll hit someone else,” Logsdon explained. “That goal was really important because once we’re up by one, it's like big but they could still tie it up fast. Going up by two, though, it gets down on the other team.”

“We always seem to start off slow,” Gonzales added. “But we start to kick it in and get going, especially when we go down early. And that’s what we did.”

Tuesday’s match was the second time this postseason that the Yellowjackets fell behind in the first half, the first being in the section semifinals against Sonora two weeks ago when they trailed 2-0 after the first 10 minutes of play. They ended up winning 5-3 in double overtime.

While the goals by Gonzales and Logsdon were stellar, Hilmar head coach Guy Bettencourt offered praise to his defenders, which include Teygan Horstmeier, Addie Belo, Lilly Brewer and Finley Rosa.

“That 2007- 2008 team that I had was pretty good,” Bettencourt said, referring to the team that had last won a section title prior to this season. “But this one, we either play a flat-four and then we switch to a diamond formation with Addie being the sweeper and Finley being the stopper, and it works out really well with the speed of Lilly and Teygan, who both played a heck of a game. I cannot say enough about the way they played today and all season. This is probably one of the best fits that I’ve had as coach.”

Bettencourt should have no problem motivating his squad for the regional semifinals, especially with the way they responded to his pregame speech.

“I was telling them, ‘Our goals at the beginning of the year was to win the TVL (Trans-Valley League) and to win the section. Well, we tied for league and we won the section, so everything else is extra.’ They didn’t seem to like that,” he said with a laugh. “One player goes, ‘No. We’re winning the whole thing.’ So that made me happy.”

“It's really exciting because nobody has done this before,” Logsdon said. “And it just keeps going here. We don't know how long it'll keep going for, so we’re soaking it all in.”