Williams edges Bulldogs on soccer pitch

Alex Gomez broke open a tied game in the 67th minute with a clean shot into the back of the net on a one-on-one opportunity, giving Williams High a 2-1 victory Thursday against visiting Los Molinos.

Williams (8-3-1, 6-2-1 Sacramento Valley League) took the lead in the 27th minute when senior midfielder Rury Ruiz curved a free kick around the wall and into the lower-right corner of the net.

Los Molinos (6-3-1, 5-3-1 SVL) tied it in injury time at the end of the first half when Alfonso Langarica was fouled inside the penalty box and Francisco Gamboa drove the penalty kick into the net.

The Bulldogs were playing without three players, including starting forward Jose Gonzalez, but made the match closer than the first time the teams met on Dec. 18, when the Yellowjackets won 5-1.

"That's one of the best teams in the league, it was a good game but the score says everything," Los Molinos coach Jose Sanchez said.

Williams controlled possession for the first 30 minutes of the game, but Los Molinos rallied in the final 10 minutes of the half and into injury time.

The Bulldogs carried that momentum into the second half but missed several scoring opportunities. Williams got back on track in the final 20 minutes of the game and the one time they capitalized on a scoring opportunity was enough to win.

Williams coach Renea Garcia was wary entering the game because the Bulldogs beat a tough Colusa team 8-3 in their last outing.

"Our guys just had a lot of missed opportunities that we should have capitalized on and hopefully we can fix that with Colusa next week," Garcia said.

Several yellow cards, and a red card, were handed out in the second half as both teams fought hard for every possession.

"I didn't think this game was that physical compared to past games, like with Esparto, but I thought we did really well handling the physical pressure throughout the game," Garcia said.

The Yellowjackets close the regular season with two home games. They play Colusa on Tuesday and Biggs on Thursday.

Los Molinos finishes with home games against Hamilton on Wednesday and against undefeated Esparto on Thursday.

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.