Despite having nearly half the shots on goal than rival Turlock on Thursday night at Joe Debely Stadium, Pitman’s girls soccer team just needed one corner kick opportunity to catapult themselves into the win column.

In the 33rd minute of a scoreless match, a corner kick came right at freshman Emily Martinez. Although the 5-foot-3 forward usually isn’t the intended target in header situations, she didn't hesitate to jump out in front of the pile, stick her head out and send the ball into the back of the net in what would be the difference in a 1-0 win for the Pride.

“I wasn’t expecting it (to come my way), to be honest,” Martinez said. “It usually goes to Karen (Perez), so I was surprised. It was coming my way, and I was thinking about headering it, so I did, and I turned around and it was in. I was so happy.”

Pitman’s first-year varsity head coach Denise Romo described Martinez as a “ball magnet.” The score was her team-leading 11th of the year.

The Pride improved to 3-1-1 in the Central California Athletic League and to 10-2-2 overall. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, fell to 8-5-2 on the year, including 2-3 against conference opponents. They are 4-5 in the standings behind undefeated Gregori (4-0-1) and Enochs (3-0-2).

“I’m so happy for them,” Romo said. “They worked so hard and played so well together. I’m very, very happy with the result.”

Martinez’s goal came on one of just five shots from the Pride, while the Bulldogs had nine, including a penalty kick and a pair of shots off the crossbar.

The penalty attempt came just four minutes prior to the goal, where senior Emma Zamudio’s kick was denied by Pitman goalkeeper Samantha Stapler. The ball immediately ricocheted back to the forward, but Stapler had already positioned herself to catch the putback attempt.

“I was just thinking about practice,” Stapler said as Zamudio entered the penalty box. “We always practice the PKs.”

The saves were two of six made by Stapler on the night. 

Desperate to not lose ground in the CCAL standings, the Bulldogs blitzed for the remainder of the game. 

Senior Kealani Solis-Coelho found a split in the Pitman defense just two minutes later, and with only Stapler in front of her, blasted the ball off the crossbar and nearly through the uprights of the football goal post. Fellow senior Isis Cosio was also left open during the opening minute of first half stoppage time, but missed wide left. In the 47th minute, senior Eliza Roque had a similar look, but missed wide right. Nearly half an hour later, Cosio’s shot from nearly 20 yards out was also a tad bit high, bouncing off the crossbar and back into the field of play, where it was promptly kicked back towards the midfield.

“I think soccer is a fickle, fickle sport,” said Turlock head coach Nicole Lonergan. “There are many times where a team can outperform, out-possess, outshoot the other team and still lose. It takes one opportunity, and they took advantage of theirs, and we didn’t take advantage of ours.”

Each team will be back in action on Monday, with the Pride in a particularly unique position to really shake up the CCAL standings as they take on Enochs in Modesto at 6 p.m. Meantime, the Bulldogs will travel to Johansen High in Modesto at 7:30 p.m. to take on a Modesto High team that is winless through five games of league play.

Turlock boys knock off Pitman

Across town, the boys programs from each school battled. In this instance, it was Turlock claiming victory, 3-2.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by senior Sebastian Carbajal, who scored goals in each half. With the match knotted at two goals apiece, the younger Carbajal, Fernando, delivered the game-winner in the closing minutes. 

With the win, the Bulldogs officially entered the conversation as contenders for the Central California Athletic League crown, which was widely believed to be a race between Pitman and Downey. The ‘Dogs now have a 4-1 record against league opponents, good enough for second place, and are 9-5-2 overall. They are just behind the 4-0-1 Knights. Pitman, meanwhile, dropped to 10-3-2 overall and to 2-2-1 in CCAL play, now in fourth place. 

The Bulldogs will welcome 1-12-3 Modesto to Joe Debely Stadium on Monday night, while the Pride will look to keep their postseason chances strong that same day when they travel to take on Enochs. The games are slates for 6 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.