No Trans-Valley League title for Hilmar High’s varsity girls soccer team? No problem.
After a narrow 8-2-2 third place finish in the TVL a season after sharing the crown with rival Ripon, the Yellowjackets were still granted the top seed and a first-round bye in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V bracket after going 14-5-4 overall in the regular season. And the gals in green, the reigning section champions and regional runners-up, proved Tuesday afternoon that they are still the team to beat in the division, defeating neighboring Delhi by a 4-0 score in their first postseason action of the year.
They will now host the semifinal match at 3 p.m. Thursday against No. 5 Argonaut.
The No. 9 Hawks entered the match with a 12-7-1 record, coming off a thrilling 4-2 shootout victory over No. 8 Calaveras on Friday after the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in regulation. They displayed similar physicality against the Yellowjackets, keeping the champions scoreless through the first half Tuesday despite generating little offense themselves.
Both teams, frustrated at not being able to cash in on scoring opportunities, the physical play, and what they each felt were a lack of whistles from the referees, exchanged shoves and verbal blows in the early minutes of the second half. And it was the Yellowjackets — particularly sophomore striker Raylynn Mendoza, who used it as motivation.
In the 45th minute, Mendoza received a crosser from teammate Alyssa Colston for an easy tap-in goal to break the scoreless tie. Eight minutes later, nearly the same play transpired, with midfielder Mili Lorios delivering the ball to Mendoza in front of the Delhi goalkeeper, followed up with another strike into the back of the net. She capped off a hat trick just four minutes later, when Sidney Logsdon’s kick from the right-hand corner of the field ricocheted off the side of her head.
“I just felt like I had to put some points on the board in some way and we’d be able to put it away,” Mendoza said, referring to the fact that her team dominated ball control for the entirety of the afternoon and outshot the Hawks 19-4. “It feels good to be able to do that.”
Mendoza said that she had never before score three goals in a 12-minute span, and it was something head coach Guy Bettencourt had never witnessed in his decades of coaching multiple levels of boys and girls soccer.
“My goodness, Raylynn Mendoza is something else,” Bettencourt said, shaking his head. “That girl just has the knack for the ball. She always finds her way to the ball. And you see how she finishes. Just amazing.”
Mendoza leads the team with 27 goals this season.
Bettencourt had similar praise for junior midfielder Brisa Gonzales, who scored the final goal in the waning seconds of second-half stoppage time. After dribbling through three defenders to the end line on the right end of the pitch, adjacent to the goal box, she used her left foot to deliver the ball into the left side of the net.
“That was professional status,” he said. “At that angle, it was unbelievable. That further proves how talented she is. She can play in college, no problem.”
It was her 16th score of the season. Last year, she led the team with 31.
Bettencourt hopes that Wednesday’s practice can be a bit sharper than in previous days, as he feels they gained some rust due to the first-round bye and not having played a game since their 3-1 win against Ripon on Feb. 10.
“It took us those first 40 minutes today to get going again after the time off, and after that first one, we looked like ourselves again,” Bettencourt said. “Today was the start, and now it’s all about building towards Thursday.”
