America's Finest City Invitational Tournament Recap

Your Raiders travelled to San Diego where Sixteen teams competed in the Sept. 20-21 AFC Invitational hosted at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Center at Coronado High School. Teams represented CIF areas of San Diego (9), Central Coast (1), Southern (5), and Sac-Joaquin (1 – Rio Raiders).

Rio’s first game of the weekend was against Westview (San Diego). A 13-8 win with five goals from Lucas Ruano, two each from Jackson Jeske, Grayson Kirkley, and Nico Ruano, with one a piece from Jackson Kirkley and Sean Grommet (Jr). Harper Gardner defended the goal, blocking multiple goal attempts.

Eastlake (San Diego), proved to be a good battle, but Rio played strong winning 7 to 4. Delivering four goals, Lucas Ruano was a force.  Jackson Kirkley, Nico Ruano and Sean Grommet each added a point to the tally. Again, goalie Harper Gardner stopped several goals.

Saturday, September 21 was packed with three challenging games – Ventura (Southern), Valhalla (San Diego), and La Jolla (San Diego). The final score against Ventura was 11-8. Leading the team with the most goals at seven was Lucas Ruano, followed by two from Jackson Kirkley, and one each from Jackson Walroth (Jr), and Jackson Jeske. Harper Gardner goal tended.

A 15-8 win against Valhalla secured the Rio Raiders entry to the championship game. Nine goals scored by Lucas Ruano, five from Jackson Jeske, two from Nico Ruano, and one from Jackson Kirkley. Both Gardner and Reed Knapp defended the goal.

The championship game against La Jolla (San Diego), was a tough battle with many one-for-one goals. Rio’s Harper Gardner blocked several goals. Lucas Ruano, scored five goals, Jackson Kirkley scored two, and one each from Jackson Walroth, Jackson Jeske, and Sean Grommet totaling 10. La Jolla squeaked by with two additional goals at the end with a final score of 10-12.

The Rio Raiders played well during all five games, outscoring their opponents by 16 (56 – 40). The next tournament will be held October 18-19 in Clovis.