Sanger High watches goal opportunities go astray in SoCal quarterfinal loss to Hart High

Just when Sanger High appeared to have the upper hand in the Southern California Division II boys soccer championship quarterfinals, it was the mitts of Hart High junior goalkeeper Jaime González who stifled the Apaches’ hopes of adding to the Northern California title they claimed last season.

The 6-foot-3 junior, who shares goalie duty, stopped two penalty kicks late in regulation and then swiped away Sanger’s final effort in the penalty kick phase after the two clubs battled through a scoreless, 15-minute golden goal overtime.

The result was a 2-2 (4-3 penalty kicks) win for Hart, which drove 3 hours to battle the No. 2 seeded Sanger in 102-degree weather and a raucous crowd of more than 700 at Tom Flores Stadium on Tuesday (June 1).

Hart, which advances to the semifinals with a 12-3-1 record, had fewer than 10 fans on hand.

González showed no signs of nerves in the penalty kick round.

“I was a bit nervous at first because we don’t really practice penalties, so it’s kind of hard to tell,” said González. “They have a higher chance of scoring them than me saving them; but, I just try to do my job.”

It helped that the first Sanger PK effort sailed wide left. Following successful kicks by Isaiah Villalobos, Luis Martínez and Santana Mercado, González got his hands on an attempt by Ezequiel Chávez to send his teammates leaping toward him in celebration.

The penalty kicks – both during regulation, the golden goal overtime and the ultimate PK finale – didn’t go Sanger’s way.

González credits karma.

“I don’t think some of those penalty kicks were called correctly,” said González, who added that the soccer ball understands and reacts.

Sanger head coach Alex Gutiérrez told his players he will spend the next six to eight months thinking about the game that ended his team’s season at 20-2-1.

“You have to take this loss to the heart. We have to come back, and it’s hard to get back to the top,” Gutiérrez told his players. “You have to tell yourself, ‘I got to be the best version of myself the next couple of months when I come back.”

Gutiérrez accepted that the soccer ball will sometimes take the wrong bounce.

Hart was a player short after junior Sebastián Ramírez picked up his second yellow of the match with less than two minutes left in regulation. Assistant coach Louis Mogrovejo got a red card seconds later for contesting the call.

“There’s a saying in soccer: Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way,” said Gutiérrez. “I feel like that was one of those days today.

“We did everything that we could possibly do as a team to put ourselves in a position to win.”

Gutiérrez, the players and the fans will probably have nightmares about the missed penalty kicks, whiffed shots inside the penalty area, or Hart’s opening goal when Sanger goalie Pedro Alonso’s attempt to clear the ball boomaranged off Franzoa Hernández in the 18th minute of play and found the back of the net.

Sanger appeared in control when Villalobos, a sophomore forward, took a pass on the right flank, juked free of his defender and blasted a left-footed rocket past González less than five minutes later.

Teammate Chávez, a junior midfielder, found the ball in heavy traffic and sliced in a goal in the 32nd minute to give the home team a 2-1 advantage.

However, Hart junior Jordan Saravia found himself alone on a long crossing shot and scored with a couple of minutes left in the first half.

Neither team scored again until the penalty kick phase.

“When you don’t put the ball away in the back of the net, it’s going to come back and haunt you,” said Gutiérrez, “especially against a quality team like this. Every player on that team is completely talented.”

Gutiérrez said the loss will be a building block for the Sanger High soccer program, which two years ago could hardly draw 50 fans for a home match.

“For us as a program, it’s just another thing that we learn from,” he said. “Our standards are very high. So high that not making it to the state final feels like a letdown.”

Gutiérrez is seriously thinking about taking Sanger High to the Division I level next season.

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 1 de junio de 2021, 11:48 p. m..