Whitney boys' soccer dominates Modesto to win Division I section title

The Whitney High Wildcats boys' soccer team won their first section title in school history on Feb. 24 with a crushing 5-0 victory over Modesto High at Heart Health Park in Sacramento. "Nine years ago, I was able to swing into the program and we said that we wanted to turn this into the top high school program in the section," Wildcats coach Joel Williams said. "We just want to continue and get better." Whitney came into the game as the number-two seed in the Sac-Joaquin Division I playoffs, defeating Pleasant Grove, Bella Vista and Lincoln High of Stockton to make it to the final. The Wildcats began the game strong as it appeared junior Daniel Yoon had scored; however, it was called offsides. Whitney did finally get on the board when senior Brayden Goularte scored a free kick in the 28th minute. A few minutes later, Yoon took a shot that deflected off of Modesto's goalkeeper into the goal, making it 2-0 in the 34th minute. "I just got the ball, decided to turn with it and just took a chance and it happened to go in," Yoon said. "This is definitely well-deserved and we are a very good team. I just love to be out here with all of my players." The Panthers were able to create a few opportunities before halftime but Whitney senior goalkeeper Andrew Vanden Akker made two incredible saves to keep Modesto off of the score sheet. The Wildcats did a great job defending Panthers junior Alexis Luna, who scored 30 goals, adding 21 assists in the regular season. Luna only had two shots on goal in the section championship. "One of the great things we have is depth with two fantastic goalkeepers and eight fantastic defenders, so based upon where we are at, we're able to bring people in and out of our lineup," Williams said. "This was our first game in which we had everyone healthy." Goularte completed his hat trick with a penalty kick in the 79th minute. He totaled 14 goals in the regular season and added eight more in the four-section playoff games. "We think outside in coming into every game and I think we were getting good balls," Goularte said. "I have to thank my teammates for feeding me and that's how we get the results." The furthest the Whitney boys team made it in playoffs prior to Feb. 24 was in 2019 when the Wildcats lost in the Division I semifinals. Whitney has also qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation Regional Championships that began on Tuesday where they won 2-1 against Redwood. The Wildcats are currently ranked second in California and 13th in the nation, according to MaxPreps. "We had a whole bunch of benchmarks and the kids have met each one and NorCals is just another one," Williams said. "We will take it one game at a time and there's still so much more to accomplish."