Rocklin girls blank Tracy-West in opener

If the pregame message was to make a statement from the opening whistle, defending Division II Sac-Joaquin Section champion Rocklin wasted no time doing just that. Just seven minutes into Friday night's girls soccer playoff matchup, Parker Willis rose up on a corner kick from Gia Costanzo and buried the opener, sending the second-seeded Thunder on their way to a 4-0 victory over No. 15 Tracy-West. While the final margin was comfortable, Rocklin coach JJ Barnette felt the performance left room for more. "I don't think it was our best performance," Barnette said. "Good teams find a way to win and we did that. We probably had 30 shots on goal, hit the crossbar four times, shot at the keeper six times. Hopefully we got all of that out of the way. We won, and we're on to the next round." Rocklin controlled possession and field position from start to finish, never allowing the Wolfpack to get off a single shot. "The fact that we didn't give up a single shot all game says a lot about our defense," Barnette said. "We rely on them heavily. We definitely controlled the game." Allyson Walker doubled the lead in the 23rd minute, finishing a rebound off an attempt by Isla Sieber to give the Thunder a 2-0 advantage heading into halftime. The pressure continued in the second half. In the 59th minute, Jaelyn Albin connected on a header off a cross from Ava Olimpiada to stretch the lead to three. Caroline Simmons capped the scoring in the 80th minute, finishing another rebound opportunity to seal the 4-0 result. The Thunder displayed their balance throughout the night, with four different goal scorers and multiple players contributing assists. Barnette said that the diversity in Rocklin's attack is what makes the team so dangerous. "The ball movement was great," Barnette said. "It wasn't pretty, but it was with ease. We were able to create a lot of opportunities. We spread the ball around a lot, and people show up in big ways." As the defending section champions, the Thunder know they'll continue to get every opponent's best effort. "We've got a target on our back, which is great. It's a good problem to have," Barnette said. "We just need to make sure we don't take any minutes off, any games off. One step at a time, one game at a time. Stay calm and stay the course." With the win, Rocklin advances to the next round where it will face No. 7 Manteca in the quarterfinals.