San Marcos boys soccer suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 double-overtime loss to Santa Ana Valley in the CIF-SS Div. 5 Semifinals on Saturday at Warkentin Stadium.
After leading for the majority of regulation, the Royals surrendered a stoppage-time goal and a golden goal in the second overtime to have their season come to a close.
“It was a fun run together,” San Marcos head coach Paul McLean said. “ I think maybe the best part was seeing all of our team come together. The guys who don’t play as much were still positive and for the rest of the group, and they made it possible.
“It was a fantastic group performance, and that’s why it’s so disappointing for it to end.”
Meanwhile, Santa Ana Valley will take on Esperanza High for the CIF-SS Div. 5 title next weekend.
Santa Ana was the aggressor in the early stages, applying pressure to the San Marcos backline and earning a pair of corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of action.
However, the Royals’ defense stood strong to preserve the scoreless tie, which held for the majority of the first half.
San Marcos finally broke through in the 32nd minute, when Sergio Ramirez fired a shot towards the Santa Ana goal. The Falcon goalkeeper came up with the stop, but the ball ricocheted right to Eliot Gray, who calmly deposited his shot into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
“I think the best part of [the goal] to me was that we mixed it up,” McLean said. “We played Rover (Ojendis) down the line instead of playing long. Rover made a composed pass to Sergio, who shot the ball, and the deflection was Elliot’s first to get to. He did a great job of getting in on the end of it.”
Both teams made late pushes at the goal down the stretch and into stoppage time, but the 1-0 lead for the Royals held into the halftime break.
The second half was a defensive slugfest, with the San Marcos backline taking full control and preventing any impactful shots on goal by the Falcons.
“Omar Solis, Wes Monroy, Abe Jimenez, and Rover (Ojendis) were really, really good and played against some very, very good attacking players,” McLean said of his defense. “I thought they did a great job in cover. They did a great job staying organized, and then they started our offense a lot.”
The Royals had several chances to extend their lead throughout the final 40 minutes with multiple corners and free kicks. Santa Ana’s defense kept it in the game, maintaining the one-goal San Marcos lead.
San Marcos seemed to be on its way to the championship match with the lead deep into stoppage time. However, Santa Ana made one last push off a throw-in and, following a scrum for the ball in the box, Marvin Villela emerged from the pack and scored the equalizer.
The two sides played about 30 seconds more of stoppage time before the match was sent into overtime.
The first overtime period was relatively uneventful, as neither side managed a shot on goal to send the game into its second 10-minute overtime.
The second overtime period began with a scare, as two players collided and a Santa Ana Valley player needed medical assistance to get off the field. The injury resulted in a delay of over 30 minutes.
During the break, officials called the collision a foul on the Royals, setting up Santa Ana with a free kick 10 yards outside of the box. Villela stepped up to the ball and sent a perfectly-placed shot into the bottom right corner of the net for the golden goal to send his team to the CIF-SS D5 championship.
“It’s hard on a number of levels,” McLean said of the season-ending goal. “It’s hard for all of the boys to see what happened because it was a frightening injury. That unsettled [Santa Ana], and it unsettled us, for sure. It’s hard to play after that.
“That said, the kid took a great set piece and put it where it had to be.”
The Royals end the year with a strong overall record of 13-7-2, including a third-place finish in the Channel League.