Redwood Rangers men’s soccer team take home the win; becoming Valley Champions 

The Rangers are valley champions after a 2-0 win over Golden Valley in Division 2 finals. 

By Seth Lopez 

Student Reporter

VISALIA- The Redwood Rangers faced the Golden Valley Bulldogs, Division 2 men’s soccer team, last Friday night to take home the title of Valley Champions. The Rangers had the home field advantage, playing at the Mineral King Bowl being that they were the higher seed. Redwood had the momentum coming into the game with an eleven-game winning streak. 

Friday night was a pact night in the bowl, which was made up of over 400 people in attendance from both sides. The Bulldogs started the championship game with the ball after winning the toss. Both teams were very physical coming off hot from warm-ups knowing this game was going to be one to remember. Redwood got the first opportunity to score only six minutes into the game with a corner kick attempt but was rendered unsuccessful with a header that just soared over the goal.

The Rangers kept this momentum only in the ninth minute getting another corner kick but reaching the back of the goal this time with help from Gavin House giving Redwood the lead 1-0. House said, “It was pretty exciting. I scored it right away and it got us off to the right start. I think it just set the tone on the rest of the game.”

Golden Valley got the ball and was ready to score against the Rangers and had got the ball to Redwood’s goal, attempting to score themselves a corner kick. This attempt was unsuccessful after being stopped by goalie Julian Vicente. After that stop there seemed to be another level of intensity from both teams, as they were both trying to work quickly knowing that time will be very precious in this championship game.

In the 26th minute, Rangers star forward Ernesto Pacheco got a break-away play passing the ball to open striker Jacob McCullough, who then sent the ball past Golden Valley’s goalie scoring yet another goal. This had given Redwood more breathing room leading 2-0 over the Bulldogs. After that goal, Golden Valley got awarded a penalty kick but was stopped by Redwood’s goalie. The first half came to an end leaving the Rangers ahead 2-0. 

Redwood started the second half of the game with the ball making a charge to the goal on their opening possession but did not end up scoring. After a very Ranger-dominant first half of the game, there seemed to be a new life in the Bullpups coming into the second half. At halftime, Golden Valley head coach Marshall Garcia had told the boys, “Play for your seniors, play for your team, this could be your last game and you don’t want to go home empty-handed because your fans come out and your family comes out to support you.”

In the 50th minute of the game, the Bulldogs got a corner kick that almost ended up reaching the back of the goal but was stopped once again by Redwood’s goalie. 

The Rangers kept finding themselves in scoring opportunities but could not get past the tough Golden Valley defenders. In the 57th minute, a questionable call from the referee awarded Gavin House a yellow card, after trying to plead innocent to the referee.

After this call, the Bulldogs started to gain more and more momentum getting even closer to scoring than the previous attempts. In the 64th minute, Redwood’s Gavin House gets a brutal straight kick to the nose, halting the game to a stop and requiring him to come off the field due to the injury.

The Rangers were able to hold on to the lead with House on the sidelines watching his team. The game came to an end securing Redwood’s win making them Valley Champions.

Head Coach Joey Chica said, “It’s a surreal moment being a player and to a coach at such a young age. These boys came in every day, they worked hard, they did what they were supposed to do and it shows off all the hard work they had done from the summer up until now.”

The Rangers then faced Pacifica High School Wednesday March 1, in the Southern California Boys Soccer Championship for a chance to further their season and become State Champions. The boys unfortunately took a close-game loss of 4-3. A great and well-fought season they had, bringing the Redwood boys’ soccer program back to where it belongs.

Tags: redwood sports, rhs, rhs sports, sports, valley champions, Valley Title