Reaching their goal

It was a lonely November last year for the Yuba City High boys soccer team, which missed the playoffs for the first time in Paul Shank's decade-long tenure as coach.

This year, Yuba City (21-2-3) is back in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs and ready to show that last year was a fluke.

"This is sort of pay back for us," Shank said.

It's a different, but still jovial feeling across town at River Valley (8-11-4), which clinched a spot into the postseason for the first time in school history.

"Yeah we're excited," coach Matt Scarfe said.

Also clinching spots in the postseason for the Sac-Joaquin Section are Lindhurst (11-1-2) in Div. VI and Faith Christian (12-8-1) in Div. VII. The two teams, which both have a game remaining in the regular season, have locked up second place in their respective divisions. The Blazers (9-1-1 Golden Empire League) and the Lions (8-1 Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League) will play their first playoff games on Nov. 10 against opponents yet to be named.

Yuba City's (6-2-2 Tri-County Conference) first game will be against Benicia (14-1-1) on the road on Friday. Shank had a chance to scout the Solano County Athletic champion Panthers, who are 11-1 and have outscored their opponents 58-4 since their only loss of the season on Sept. 22 to Vallejo.

When Benicia blasted past Bethel 6-0 on Thursday, Shank was there to see the Panthers' 4-4-1-1 scheme that used impeccable midfield play to smash past their opponents at the net, he said.

"I watched Benicia play and it will be a tough battle," Shank said. "But I don't see why we can't move unto the next round."

In order to counteract with their mostly aggressive 3-3-4 setup, Yuba City will need the midfielders ready to get back on defense.

Shank will also depend on the skills of Isaac Mora, who he moved from forward to center midfield earlier this year. While the move has helped play in the middle of the pitch, Yuba City is missing Mora's scoring ability — 21 goals in 2009 — up front.

So the plan is to start Mora at midfield but also give him time to do some damage at forward, Shank said. Mora's play will complement that of Darian Garcia, who has 23 goals this season.

River Valley will also be on the road, taking on Rio Americano (13-2-4), the champions of the Capital Athletic League.

Though Faith Christian coach Robert Ripley doesn't know for yet who his team will face, he said it will either be Sierra Ridge or Tioga, which means the Lions, "will have to drive far, again." Last year the Lions lost to the Groveland-based Tioga, which is nearly four hours away.

In order to have success after such a long drive, the Lions will need strong play from Ripley's "five leaders," Zach Barnett, Josh Hill, Spencer Iskikian and Cameron and Skylar Ripley.

Across a pair of bridges in south Yuba County, it's been a very successful year for Lindhust, which is having one of it's best seasons in years under new coach Eric Hoefler. For the Blazers to make a run, they will look for continued hard play from Eric Machuca and Gabriel Vasquez, who have a combined 26 goals this season.