Stockton Cargo FC is experiencing improvement in its second season as a club
Stockton Cargo FC has made quite a splash as it completes its second season in the USLW.
After its inaugural season last year, the semi-professional outdoor soccer club set out to become a more competitive team while uniting the 209 community.
“We’re building something really special that the Central Valley can be really proud of,” said Adrienne Sorenson, general manager of Stockton Cargo. “If you want to do more than just win and advance the game for girls and women in this area, you have to build that foundation.”
Cargo players and staff feel the foundation has been laid after this year’s overall record of 7-3-2 and fourth place in the Nor Cal Division.
“This is just the beginning for us and it will only get better,” said Cargo midfielder/defender Taylor Curtis.
Cargo fans galore
One of the most striking differences between this season and last was how the Stockton community showed its highest level of outdoor soccer for women and girls. Every Cargo home game this season was played at the University of the Pacific’s Knoles Stadium, where 209 throngs of locals came outside no matter how high the summer temperatures were.
On June 10, the Cargo drew a club record 1,057 fans when they hosted Pleasanton Rage FC for their Pride home game. They put on a show for the large home crowd, defeating the Rage 5-1 in a high-scoring, relentless 90-minute match.
“The 209, Stockton and the whole Central Valley came out for us,” said Haley Bostard, who was Cargo’s co-captain for two years. “I mean, last year I think it was 400 people, the biggest crowd, and this year it’s close to a thousand, and that’s so cool.”
Bostard attributes the increase in attendance this year to the operations team and the overall level of professionalism Stockton has displayed. Sorenson’s takeover as GM has helped tremendously, as she has changed Cargo’s training schedule, spent a lot of offseason time recruiting players and – with the help of owner Lee Neves – found sponsors for teams.
One of Stockton’s biggest sponsors this year came from Rasing Canes, who created the Rasing Canes Player of the Game promotion this season.
“Adrienne, the coaching staff and Cargo in general have definitely made an effort to build relationships with different people and businesses in town,” Curtis said. “I know Adrienne spends a lot of hours building those relationships with those people so that they come back every summer and support us and our identity. That’s great for us.”
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Playoffs in sight
With the support of the community, the Cargo’s performance on the field improved tremendously. They finished fourth in the Nor Cal Division for the second year in a row, but lost fewer games this season than last year (7-5).
In addition, Stockton has moved closer to making the USLW playoffs, just one game away from the top three spots in the division that qualify for the postseason.
“We were really close to the playoffs and we’ve definitely grown as a club from last year,” Sorenson said. “Not only in terms of our record and win percentage, but we’ve shown that we can really compete with the frontrunners now. I think our season opener against Oakland Soul SC – a team that has made the playoffs two years in a row now – helped kick things off.”
In the May 5 match against the Soul, Stockton fought to a 0-0 draw, an improvement over last year’s 3-2 loss. From there, the Cargo gained the confidence to defeat their next two opponents, scoring 10 goals in two games.
Leading their fiery offense this year were forward Hannah Diaz, defender Jaedyn Sanders, forward Trinidad Quiroz and midfielder Brianna Visalli.
Diaz and Sanders finished the season with five goals each, while Quiroz scored four goals and Visalli scored three. Cargo’s best game last season was their final match against Olympic Club on June 30, where they scored a club-high seven goals. Quiroz was the top scorer with two goals to help her club to victory.
Next year, Sorenson and the Cargo will look to add more wins in the tough Nor Cal Division to secure the club’s first postseason appearance.
“I think this year laid the foundation for us to be able to win home games in front of our home fans. That was a game changer for me,” Sorenson said. “This year was really about bringing the community and the Central Valley together for girls and women and showing what we can do together. I expect us to continue to build and grow and we’re excited about it.”
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
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