Article - CIF Sac-Joaquin

With Lodi and Tokay now in separate leagues, Monday's lone meeting of the season between the two boys soccer teams saw a little more pageantry. Not only were the starters for both squads escorted onto the field at the Grape Bowl by youth all-star players from the Lodi Boosters of Boys/Girls Sports, but a rivalry trophy was awarded to the winner for the first time. And the first claimant of the Crosstown Cup, as the new hardware is called, was Lodi in a 2-0 shutout victory on a crisp night with temperatures in the low 40s. It took a little while to break the ice as the two teams felt each other out, probing into each others' defenses. Lodi attacked with quick movement and setups for give-and-go plays, while Tokay attempted to build its attack with short passes through the midfield. The first strike came in the 32nd minute when Tokay goalkeeper Enrique Guillen misplayed a back pass, allowing Lodi to pounce. Guillen prevented an immediate goal but was called for a penalty, giving Lodi a penalty kick. The Flames' Daniel Lozada scored with a kick to the left side of the net. “(That was) extremely important. Brings down the tension,' said Lodi coach Alex Oseguera. “If you saw maybe a little bit, we started to play better, because the tension went away and we started t keeping the ball on the ground, started making our passes, moving the ball around, so very important, very important.” Lodi scored again just before halftime when Alfredo Silva drove up the left side and got the ball inside to Noah Ramirez, who crossed a shot into the left side of the net. Ramirez ran toward the Lodi bench to celebrate, while Tokay appealed unsuccessfully to the referee for a handball before Silva's cross. Up Next - Schrager's Fab Five: Top 5 rookie performances of Week 14 'GMFB' Next Stay Neither side was able to further change the score in the second half, though not for a lack of trying. Both defenses played aggressively to disrupt chances, with a constant back-and-forth in the midfield. Tokay had chances on two free kicks from just outside the penalty area, but one went wide and another went over the crossbar. “I can tell you we have two great kids, Andres (Yepez) and Raymond (Aoyama), the two middle defenders. They were disrupting that all day long,” Oseguera said. “So not only in the air did they get the step first and head it out, or they were intercepting the ball, and they were getting us back into our offense. They did just a wonderful job.” Lodi pushed up in the final minutes, with one shot saved and another going wide. After the whistle, Lodi players gathered around to hoist the shiny new trophy. Oseguera joined them for a photo, but talked about keeping an even keel during the game. “Really, we talk about keeping to our game, not letting the emotions take over, so that how we start and how we play should be exactly how we play another game,” he said. “Keep our formations, keep our angles, move the ball, keep it on the ground. So not get overly excited playing kickball — play soccer.” The win gives Lodi a 2-3-2 record, with a road game at Turlock up next on Dec. 17. Tokay dropped to 3-7-1, and will open San Joaquin Athletic Association play on Wednesday at Bear Creek.

High school soccer: Flames shut out Tokay to win inaugural Crosstown Cup trophy