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Fresno Fuego earns playoff berth

By DANIEL CÁSAREZ / Vida En El Valle

FRESNO -- The Fresno Fuego lost 2-1 to host San Fernando Valley Quakes last Sunday, but qualified to the Premier Development League playoffs this weekend.

Chukchansi Park will be the site of the PDL Western Conference doubleheader as the Fuego hosts the Tacoma Tide on Saturday. The Quakes, who finished ahead of the Fuego in PDL Southwest Division, will play Vancouver in the earlier match.

Adrián Alvarado opened the scoring against the Quakes, whose win streak had climbed to six victories. But the Quakes' rallied as Devin Deldo and Sung-Hyun Kim each scored to give the Quakes its first-ever conference title.

"We should've won that match, because we had good scoring opportunities, but we had a couple of breakdowns in the back," said Fuego's Fabricio Codeceira, the PDL assist leader with 13 in 16 matches.

The Fuego entered the match with a 4-5-1 lineup with Amaury Nunes at the top, but it's unsure whether head coach Scott Alcorn will keep it the same against Tacoma, whom Fresno beat in last year's semifinals.

"We'll be working on that this week, our coaching staff will think about it," added Codeceira.

"We haven't been able to put together a full 90 minutes of solid defense," said team captain Orlando Ramírez.

"And now I don't know if Adan Arteaga will even play because he got his sixth yellow card yesterday, but because it was the last game of the year?"

Alcorn is waiting for word on Arteaga's fate.

Fresno ends the regular season at 9-5-2 and 29 points in the PDL's Southwest Division, while the Quakes won the conference title with an 8-2-6 record (30 points).

According to Codeceira a key player for Tacoma, Ciara O' Brien, was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer, and is no longer playing in the PDL. However Rory Agu, who scored 11 goals in 15 matches, has been the backbone for Tacoma. He is sixth on the United Soccer League's listing of top goal scorers.

Former Fuego player Pablo Campos is second with 14 goals in 10 matches.

Codeceira said he is confident about Tacoma in Fresno and is relying on the hometown crowd for support. Against the visiting Southern California Seahorses close to 4,000 fans rallied the Fuego to a 5-2 victory last Wednesday.

Gaston Cignetti and Amaury Nunes played the forward positions, while newcomer Guillermo Jalomo, a former forward, was moved to the midfield.

Tacoma won the Northwest Division with a record of 11-4-1 and plays the Fuego at 7:30 p.m. July 26 at Chukchansi Park. Vancouver Whitecaps Residency tied in the same division and faces the Quakes at 4:30 p.m.

Send e-mail to: dcasarez@vidaenelvalle.com