Honkers make clean sweep of Durham

It was wonderfully symbolic how, at the end of the soccer games between Willows High and visiting Durham Tuesday, a rainbow arched across an overcast sky and bent down toward the soccer fields. It was only fitting, as both the Willows girls and boys found the proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow by recording shutout wins.

The girls team used two first-half goals by forward Rocio Cervantes to best Durham 2-0.

Her first goal came at approximately five minutes in, when she pushed a shot inside the far corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. At the 25-minute mark, Cervantes was again in the right spot when she pounced on a shot that had ricocheted off the post, burying the rebound in the back of the net.

Willows keeper Yahaira Munoz was treated to a leisurely afternoon in the net, owing to the fine defensive play of stopper Haylie Bettencourt. Her continued presence between the mids and fullbacks provided another line of defense to help the Honkers gain a stronghold in the center of the field.

"Overall, the mids controlled the game real well," said Willows coach Bud Ramirez, "controlling the middle of the field is key, and Hayley did her job."

The coach also praised the play of freshman Maria Vasquez, saying she played well in her role at halfback.

Offensively, Ramirez said Erika Chavez provided a lot of pressure up front. "She makes the other teams think."

Over on the boys field, Francisco Zepeda's goal in the second half, assisted by Salvador Gonzalez, was the only goal of the game but enough for a 1-0 victory. It was Zepeda's second score of the season.

Gonzalez sent three shots on goal for the Honkers, with Zepeda testing the Durham keeper twice, as Willows took 10 shots as a team.

Christian Perez made six saves in between the pipes.

The girls win was their first since a Dec. 17 victory over Durham, and made them 2-12-1 for the season and 2-10-1 in the Sacramento Valley League.

The boys improved to 6-7-2, and 6-5-2 in the SVL.

The Honkers traveled to Hamilton City on Thursday. Next week they finish the regular season with a Tuesday date at Rio Vista, before hosting Williams Thursday.

Craig Purcell is sports editor for Tri-County Newspapers. Contact him at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.