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Turlock girls chasing league title
Pride, Bulldogs battle to scoreless tie
girls soccer 1
Pitman's Gabriela Rodriguez and Turlock's Anika Olive battle for the ball during Wednesday's game at Turlock High (SAMANTHA SCHMIDT/The Journal).

The Central California Athletic League girls soccer race is coming down to the final week.

Perhaps even the final game.

With just two regular-season contests remaining, Turlock High (10-2-3 overall, 7-0-1 CCAL) has a three-point lead over second-place Enochs (11-6-1, 6-1-1).

Pitman (9-6-2, 4-2-2) sits in third place with 14 points.

The Bulldogs will host Modesto (0-7 CCAL) on Monday, while the Eagles entertain Downey (2-6 CCAL) next.

Both teams are likely to win, setting up a season-ending showdown on Wednesday at Joe Debely Stadium.

Providing both take care of business on Monday, Turlock would have 25 points to Enochs’ 22, and would need just need to tie to claim the outright CCAL crown. The Eagles would have to win to secure a co-title.

By closing the season with a pair of wins, Pitman could get to 20 total points, but would need Enochs to lose both its remaining games in order to overtake the Eagles for the conference’s No. 2 playoff spot. Since that’s unlikely, it appears the Pride are destined for the league’s No. 3 playoff berth.

On Friday, Turlock defeated Downey 8-1 to run its unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 9.

Pitman and Enochs tied 2-2 on Friday, a result that pretty much sealed the Pride’s fate.

Turlock and Pitman battled to a scoreless tie on Wednesday at Joe Debely.

The tie halted the Bulldogs’ nine-game winning streak, but they were able to extend their “unbeaten” streak.

Each team had multiple shots on goal, but Turlock had the best opportunity in each half.

In the 38th minute, Turlock’s junior forward Cylee Cowell took a cross from freshman Frankie-Marie Ronveaux and nearly put it past Pitman goalkeeper Saryna Jaime.

“I should’ve just one-tapped it,” said Cowell, who cost herself a fraction of a second trying to settle the ball for striking it. “As soon as I kicked it, I knew it wasn’t going in.”

In the second half, with less than a minute remaining in stoppage time, senior midfielder Anika Olive delivered a beautiful strike toward the upper-right corner of the cage from about 25 yards out.

Jaime made a beautiful stop to preserve the shutout and the tie.

“Nobody was pressuring me and I thought, ‘It’s now or never,’” said Olive. “You need to take a chance sometimes. (Jaime) made a helluva of save. I was sad when she caught it.”