The second half of league is looking promising for the Hilmar High varsity girls soccer team after they shut out Mountain House from home on Monday afternoon, 5-0, to remain undefeated in the Trans Valley League at 6-0.
“The girls played really well and I am very proud of them. We are halfway through the season and we have to keep grinding,” said Hilmar head coach Doug Delay. “We never really anticipate how a game is gonna go, what we like to focus on is our style of play. We never go into a game expecting to win, we expect to play well and give a great effort.”
That effort led to the Yellowjackets’ fifth shutout in six league contests.
In that six-game frame, they have outscored opponents 30-1.
“We don’t ever want to look past the TVL, the TVL is what we have right now and we want to keep pushing hopefully towards winning that championship,” said Delay. “It’s a long way out since we still have to face Escalon and Ripon, those were two tough games. Could have gone either way.”
Hilmar escaped from Ripon with a close 1-0 win on Jan. 17. They then managed to score three goals in the final 20 minutes against Escalon on the road to win it 3-0 back on Jan. 22.
“It’s going to be a tough battle here at home against Ripon,” said Delay. “Escalon, even though it was a 3-0 score, really it was 0-0 for 60 minutes, then they changed it up and we got those quick goals at the end, but those were a battle. TVL is the motivation right now and we have to take care of business these next four games then look beyond that.”
Against Mountain House on Monday, Hilmar allowed no goals once more, they also scored two fewer goals than the first time they met the Mustangs.
“Even though we played them well last time, we still wanted to come out and play our game,” said Delay. “We played a little different formation today than we have all year and it was a good first trial. Doesn’t mean we are going to do that against Ripon or Escalon, but we tried it today.”
They only took three minutes to score on Monday when Betzy Chavez scored to make it a quick 1-0.
Korey Pettigrew of Hilmar added the second goal at the 13th minute with a Cheyanne Cabral assist.
JuliAnn Machado assisted Emily Vieira about five minutes afterwards at the 18th minute near the center circle.
Vieira sprinted past all defenders down the middle of the field for about 30 yards and into the penalty area where she drilled a shot from about 14 yards out to make it 3-0.
Just before halftime, sophomore Vieira followed with her second goal after an unforgettable strike made it 4-0 at the 26-minute mark.
Vieira powered past multiple defenders and into the penalty area near the byline and worked the ball on the goal line, eventually creeping into the goal area, then tucking a heel shot from a few feet away, hitting the inside part of the far post before the ball struck the back of the net.
Machado scored the fifth and final goal at the 57th minute, after beating the final defender and forcing a one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper.
From 16 yards out, Machado struck the side net with a finesse shot.
“We are working hard and I am pushing them to get better in all areas,” Delay said. “There’s little fine tuning that we will need if we are fortunate enough to make playoffs, but we played well. If we do the same things, we will have an opportunity and that is what we came into here with Mountain House.”
Hilmar’s overall record improves to 15-1-5, while the team has not lost since Dec. 4, when they fell to Ceres, 2-1.
Hilmar will next take on Hughson on the road at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
