By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Riverbank Soccer Falls In First Round
Placeholder Image
After turning the tables and putting together its best brand of soccer to go on a late season surge, the Riverbank High program had to come to grips with a disappointing season-ending 2-0 loss to the Patterson Tigers at Patterson Community Stadium in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoff tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The Bruins could do nothing to get on track offensively, spending the majority of the contest on the defense against constant Patterson attacks. The Bruins' dreams of making a return trip to the section final were unexpectedly cut short in the tournament's opening round. The Bruins (14-6-1) can find a portion of solace knowing that Patterson made it to the final game before falling to the Livingston Wolves in the section final at Lincoln High in Stockton on Nov. 10. Riverbank can still be proud of the resiliency they showed during crunch time of the TVL schedule. After falling to the Ripon Indians at the end of September, the Bruins won an impressive nine games in a row, including victories over Ripon and TVL champion Escalon. After taking two out of three from Escalon, the Bruins were poised to take the number one seed but forfeited ownership of it in the regular season finale when they lost to Ripon. That forced them, as the number two seed, to begin the challenging section title journey on the road against the Western Athletic Conference's top team. Riverbank will be forced to look to new leadership with the graduation of captain Vicente Vigil, goalie Juan Luna and a host of contributing seniors closing out their high school careers. Head coach Martin Gonzalez said the JV squad players will need to make an instant impact as the Bruins begin this same journey all over again next season.