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Turlock, Pitman soccer teams on verge of section title games
Pitman and Turlock boys soccer
Pitman's Zach Looney (left) and Turlock's Julian Yanez each scored to help lift their teams to playoff quarterfinal victories on Friday night (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).

The Bulldogs are still running and the Pride are still rolling.

On Friday night, the Turlock and Pitman high school soccer programs dominated their respective playoff games to advance in their brackets and inch closer to section championship games.

Up in Stockton, the No. 5 Bulldogs knocked off No. 4 Lincoln by a 2-1 score in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I quarterfinal. Both Turlock goals came courtesy of senior Julian Yanez. They were his first two goals of the season. Meanwhile, their defense held strong, allowing just three shots on goal, with goalkeeper Kevin Ramirez recorded a pair of saves and allowing just the one Trojan goal in the first half.

Further north in Sacramento, the No. 6 Pride blanked No. 3 Grant Union 3-0 in the SJS Division II quarterfinal. They received goals from a trio of seniors: Zach Looney, Everest Colnic and Davian Lizarraga. Lizarraga and Looney — the top two scorers on the team with 12 and 10, respectively —  scored in their second straight postseason contest, while the former assisted on the other two goals. Like their crosstown rivals, the Pitman defense shut down any and all offensive threats from the Pacers, with goalie Isaac Padilla handling a trio of shots on goal.

With their victories, both teams earned the right to back in action on the road on Wednesday night for the semifinal round.

The Bulldogs, this year’s Central California Athletic League champion, improved to 14-6-3 and will travel to Elk Grove to match up against top-seeded Franklin. Following the Wildcats’ 2-0 win over No. 9 Pleasant Grove on Friday, they now have a 19-2-1 overall record on the year. The winner will take on the victor of No. 3 Central Valley of Ceres at No. 2 Davis.

The Pride, the conference’s third place team, are now 16-4-2 and will travel to Rocklin to face No. 2 Whitney. The Wildcats are 12-4-7 this season and are coming off a 1-0 win over No. 10 Del Oro on Friday. The winner of this contest will take on the winner of No. 5 Downey (the CCAL runner-up) at top-seeded Woodcreek.

All winners on Wednesday (in the Divisions I, II and II brackets), will play in their respective section title games on Saturday at Cosumnes River College, and will automatically qualify for the NorCal Regional Tournament that takes place next week.