After a thrilling two weeks of postseason play, the final two teams in each bracket have each secured a spot in Thursday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division I High School Soccer Championship.
Twenty-eight matches across both the section’s top division delivered some truly memorable results. On the Boys’ side, favorites Jesuit and Davis both bowed out to lower seeded teams, who made their presence known in strong showings. Remarkable comebacks and a tremendous amount of heart from every team in the field dominated the Girls tournament. The results pit the Modesto Panthers against the Whitney Wildcats on the Boys’ side, and Oak Ridge against Lincoln (Stockton) in a battle of Trojans on the Girls’ side.If you’re looking to catch the action live, tickets can be purchased at the link below:
Click below for tickets to both matches
Semifinal Recap
From the outset, the semifinal round looked to provide fireworks, with all found squads in each bracket coming in as confident as ever. On the Boys’ side, the Modesto Panthers, who have quietly had their way with each opponent they’ve faced thus far, edged out top-seeded Davis 1-0 with a first-half score. It was just the second time the Blue Devils were held scoreless all season long. In Rocklin, Whitney made easy work of the confident Lincoln Trojans, advancing with a 3-0 win
On the Girls’ side, 2020 Champion Oak Ridge secured a chance to defend their title, taking down a local rival in Folsom. Here in Sacramento, a confident McClatchy squad coming off a memorable comeback over Tracy fell to Lincoln, securing the Stockton side another upset win and a chance to raise a banner on Thursday.
After a tremendous tournament, the only thing that awaits is Thursday evening’s championship games. Both contests will take place at Heart Health Park, with the Girls’ match kicking off at 4:30 p.m. and the Boys’ following at 7:30 p.m.
Oak Ridge (1) v Lincoln- Stockton (11) – 4:30 p.m.
For the two teams set to battle in the Girls’ final, the lone similarity may be their mascots – each squad has taken a very different path. For Oak Ridge, they’ve handled every opponent with grace. Like the Boys at Whitney, they have yet to concede a playoff score, and they have been prepared at each stage regardless of their opposition. They enter Thursday’s match in a great position to repeat their 2020 title win, and pin another banner to the wall in El Dorado Hills.
Lincoln has been an underdog at every stage of the tournament, but it hasn’t stopped them one bit. Taking on a central valley foe in Modesto didn’t phase them. Nor did the challenge of facing off with a potent St. Francis team on the road – a contest that favored them in a 1-0 result. They de-throned a McClatchy team coming off the high of a huge comeback, in shutout fashion at that. Even against the top-seeded team, the momentum and confidence they come in with alone is enough to give them an excellent chance to win.
Whitney (2) v Modesto (4) – 7:30 p.m.
On the Boys side, two squads playing with the most momentum will face off. With the elimination of the early-season favorite in Jesuit, and dominating results from the higher-seeded teams in the bracket, Modesto’s accomplishments have gone largely unnoticed – but they’ll enter after conceding just one goal in their three playoff matches. They capped off their journey to the final with a big upset of the bracket’s top-seeded team.
Whitney has easily been the most dominant squad of the 16 that entered – they have shut out every opponent they’ve faced, and scored multiple times in each of their three contests. However, that’s not to say they have gone without adversity, as they needed to best a former league rival in Bella Vista, and a Lincoln squad playing with house money after upsetting a juggernaut the Jesuit Marauders. It’ll be tough for them against the Panthers as well, who have grinded out every win they’ve earned.
