RedHawks end season with win over Mercy

Adrian Garcia ended his senior season on the soccer field in style, scoring four goals and notching assists on two others as the Colusa High boys soccer season beat Mercy 8-0 on Thursday in Colusa.

"It was a great experience, it just sucks that it was my last year, I didn't want to cry in front of everyone. It was a great experience with great friends," Garcia said.

With just four seniors on the roster, the RedHawks are poised for a strong season next year. They lose Garcia, Gustavo Sanchez, Alfonso Ruiz and Fernando Morales, but with eight freshman and six juniors, the team will have a solid balance of veteran players and young talent next season.

"Basically our defense is all underclassmen, it's only (Morales) that's a senior and they still have Felipe (Granados), and Felipe is going to be a great player next year," Garcia said.

Garcia got the scoring started in the first half off an assist from Tony Rico, and added an assist on a goal by Granados three minutes later.

Sanchez fed Garcia the ball on goals in the 31st and 33rd minutes to put the RedHawks up 4-0 entering halftime.

Ruiz scored an unassisted goal seven minutes into the second half and freshman Zach Vaillancourt scored a short time later off an assist from Garcia.

Sanchez added two more assists in the closing minutes on goals by Garcia and sophomore Diego Jimenez.

Despite the score, Mercy goalkeeper Alejandro Guerrero played a great game, often making acrobatic saves off clean shots by RedHawk players. Colusa attempted 30 shots, and Guerrero weathered the storm, making saves until the very end.

The Warriors had several chances to score in the second half with the wind at their back, but shots by Juan and Jose Rosales missed just high over the crossbar.

Only the top six teams in the division advance to the playoffs and Colusa (7-9-3) entered the week at No. 9 and Mercy (1-10) at No. 10.

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