California top two high school soccer teams clashed Friday night. Who won, Clovis East or Sanger?

California’s top high school boys soccer teams – the visitors ranked No. 1 and hoping to establish a powerhouse; the home squad ranked No. 2 and coming off back-to-back NorCal championships – clashed Friday night at Tom Flores Stadium in an early-season showdown full of drama.

Clovis East – whose soccer program fifth-year head coach Erik Farfan is trying to resurrect much like he has done with the Buchanan High girls team that captured five section titles – took the first punch, falling behind 2-0 after the first half.

Sanger, 48-5-7 since the 2019-20 campaign, took a blow when Clovis East responded with two second-half goals to send the non-conference match into overtime.

In the end, midfielder Julio Hernández converted a penalty kick in the final minute of overtime to seal a 4-3 win that saw Sanger improve to 5-0-1 and hand Clovis East its first loss (6-1).

“Since I started here four or five years ago, I have said we’re going to put Sanger at the top of the mountain,” said Sanger head coach Alex Gutiérrez. “We’ve worked every single day as a coaching staff, as players, as administration. Everybody has helped build this program up to what it is today.”

That momentum swung back and forth Friday evening after goals by midfielder Josh Sandoval and forward Aaron Carrillo pleased the chilled-but-appreciative home crowd at halftime.

Clovis East, which was ranked No. 5 in the nation coming into the game, responded with the Huerta brothers: senior Andrew, and freshman Aaron.

Joey Chávez converted a penalty kick after Andrew Huerta was fouled in the box within the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Sanger goalie Uriel Velásquez, who was rushed into play after the regular goalkeeper got red-carded in Wednesday’s 0-0 tie against Clovis North, made the stop but couldn’t control the ball. That allowed Chávez to score off the rebound.

Andrew Huerta scored with less than 14 minutes in regulation to tie the match. He now has seven goals and three assists on the season.

“We went from our usual 3-3 to 3-5 (formation) to centralize our attack down the center with two up top,” said Farfan about what fueled Clovis East’s second-half rebound. “We felt it was effective. We came back from the two-goal deficit and it just got more interesting from there.”

Penalty kicks helped define the game’s outcome.

After Sanger’s Julio Hernández scored in the first 10-minute period of overtime, Aaron Huerta drilled a penalty kick to tie the game again at 3-3 in the waning minute of that period.

However, Aaron Huerta was given his second yellow when he ran to the Sanger side of the stadium and gestured for the fans to quiet down. That resulted in a red card and Clovis East had to play a man short in the final overtime period.

Hernández, whose penalty kick delivered the NorCal championship for Sanger last season, converted on a penalty kick in the waning minutes of overtime for the win.

He was not concerned that Clovis East stormed back to tie the match in the second half.

“They’re really strong, but I think our team played hard and that’s what took us to overtime and we came away with the victory,” said Hernández.

“I believe in my team. I knew we could come back and win.”

Gutiérrez said Sanger played “with heart.”

“Our team played also like the No. 1 team in the state,” said Gutiérrez. “I’m so happy with what we did today.”

Farfan said it was too bad that one team had to lose.

“I think a draw would have been fair,” he said. “But, you know, you gotta play to that final whistle.”

The match against “one of the best teams in the state,” said Farfan, makes you “really see where you stack up.

“We definitely want to reflect on the game and learn from this match. Sometimes you need a kick in the behind a little bit and to be grounded a little bit to remind you of the things you need to do.”

Farfan said the match will help Clovis East later in the season.

Gutiérrez praised the play of fill-in goalie Velásquez, who thwarted Clovis East by blocking shots and breaking up other opportunities.

“He hasn’t had a lot of action this season and he just played lights-out,” said Gutiérrez. “He was very calm, very composed. He did everything that we expected from him and more.”

Gutiérrez hopes to build for Friday’s win.

“We always say in this game that a 2-0 lead is probably the hardest to hold because of the momentum shift,” he said. “Clovis East carried that momentum for the entirety of the second half.

“So I’m really happy that we were able to rebound going into extra time and slow the game down because that is what we were looking for.”