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• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Regional Roundup

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

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Lodi's Lucas Travis, Hobie Day make immediate contributions in soccer

For most of their soccer careers Lodi High freshmen Lucas Travis and Hobie Day have had two things in common — playing together and scoring goals.

The two are among the Flames' leaders in goals scored this year and their play is one reason Lodi is headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

Travis, a forward, and Day, a midfielder, have played together nearly their whole lives. They started out playing for the Lodi Crushers. After a short separation, where Travis played for the San Juan Lightning and Day suited up for Elk Grove, the duo reunited on Folsom's San Juan '95 Blue squad.

Armed with big boots and field smarts beyond their years, they helped the Lightning advance to the State Cup finals last year before settling for the runner-up spot.

Now the young scoring machines are headed to their first high school playoff match as the Flames (10-2-5, 6-1-3 San Joaquin Athletic Association) will travel to Downey High School Stadium to face Modesto (18-1-6, 11-1-3 Modesto Metro League) in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs on Saturday at 5 p.m.

This season, Travis has netted seven goals, which is tied for most on the team with junior Frankie Ortiz. Travis has also recorded four assists for a team-high 18 points. Day has tallied six goals this year and added three assists. The numbers are rare for a pair of high school rookies.

"Everyone is stronger and faster than us so we have to use more skill than them," Travis said. "The level of the club team is more skillful, but high school is tougher because they are bigger and stronger than us."

Having spent so much time playing together, Travis said the freshmen have built up strong chemistry on the field and it gives them an advantage.

Being surrounded by a talented Flame squad that finished second in the SJAA doesn't hurt either. With seniors Sandro Santillan and Jesse Yepez netting six goals apiece this season, Lodi can turn to a number of players to score goals. Nine different Flames have scored at least one goal this season and nine have at least one assist.

Justin Machado, a senior captain for Lodi, has been itching to get back to the playoffs since he last went his freshman year. The Flames beat Beyer in a game that went down to penalty kicks in the first round before falling to Atwater in the quarterfinals that season. In his final year at Lodi, he's finally getting his chance.

"I have been waiting since my freshman year to win a playoff game and go on to the championships," he said. "I think it is more of a friendly group this year. We've come together a lot better than we did my freshman year and we play really well together."

The Flames played some of their best soccer of the season in their 2-0 victory over Tracy in the regular-season finale. The win not only clinched a playoff spot, but helped Lodi enter the postseason on a positive note.

"At the Tracy game, I really thought we all came together. We are starting to peak at the right time," said Lodi head coach Tim Stutz. "We could get lucky and go on a run. We've got some momentum behind us."

The Flames may need that momentum to get past Modesto, the MML champions. The Panthers recorded 19 shutouts this season and are led by forward Evin Doscher who has scored 23 goals this season.

Despite Modesto's numbers, the Flames are confident they can make a postseason run.

"I set the goal of let's be the last team from the SJAA playing," Stutz said. "Let's be the last team from the (Sac-Joaquin Section) South playing and if we do that then we can say 'Hey, we are the best team in our area' because playoffs is where it really matters."

Contact reporter Joelle Milholm at joellem@lodinews.com.