McLane’s mojo disappears in 2-0 loss to Terra Linda in NorCal Division III title match

The mojo that propelled McLane High boys soccer team to a CIF Central Section title and dreams of a Northern California Regional championship vanished.

That magical run that saw the No. 2-seeded Highlanders write thrilling comebacks fueled by opportune penalty kick saves and thunderous penalty kicks vanished Saturday evening.

There were no more extraordinary theatrics left in a 22-7-3 season as visiting Terra Linda from San Rafael posted a 2-0 win for the Nor Cal Division III title.

The evenly matched encounter, played under a light drizzle at McLane High Stadium, was decided midway through the opening half when Terra Linda junior Francisco Calvi booted a goal off a set play.

The match was probably determined when senior defender Víctor Luviano, who had converted all of his penalty kicks this season, had his penalty kick blocked with about 3 minutes left in the opening half. He always kicks right, which he did on Saturday after Terra Linda was whistled for a hand ball inside the box.

Terra Linda goalkeeper Jesse ‘Ponu’ Rodríguez, a freshman, leaped to his left and got enough to block the shot. Luviano misfired on his follow after the ball bounced back.

Kleder Maldonado, Terra Linda’s leading scorer, converted on a penalty kick midway through the second half to just about ice the match. The goal was his 20th of the season.

Terra Linda extended its winning streak to 10 games; McLane saw its win streak end at eight matches.

This was the only time McLane has been shut out in a game.

Terra Linda head coach Michael Crivello thinks his team played close to a perfect game to counter “a hostile road environment.”

“We made some mistakes, but I thought overall that is about as perfect a game as you could play on the road against a really quality team like McLane,” said Crivello, whose team finished 18-5-2.

McLane head coach Erik Rodriguez was happy to see his team battle back after falling behind, but shots either sailed wide or harmlessly hit the post.

“We kept playing. We kept touching the ball,” said Rodríguez, whose team lost for only the second time in 19 home matches. “The game plan was working.”

Rodríguez saw chances created with Terra Linda “nursing their lead.”

In the end, the playoffs ended on a sad note for McLane.

“It’s tough to go on a five- or seven-game win streak when it’s in the playoffs,” said Rodríguez. “We weren’t necessarily expecting this.”

He was referring to a chance for the Nor Cal title.

Next season looks promising. Rodríguez loses only two starting seniors.

“Pretty much the core group is coming back, so I’m expecting another solid run,” he said.

“There’s big expectations. I plan to compete at a very high level next year. We’ll take it one game at a time.”

Rodríguez, the Terra Linda goalkeeper, stepped up big in stopping Luviano’s penalty kick. Crivello, the coach, said the team was not aware the McLane senior’s tendency was to blast his kick to the right side.

“Jesse just read the body language, and luckily the ball didn’t get all the way to the corner,” said Crivello. “So, he had enough time to get down low and he just made a tremendous block.”

Just as important was getting the first goal of the match.

“That was huge,” said Crivello. “We knew that if they scored first in this environment, it was going to be really, really, really difficult. This is a great stadium. The crowd feels like it’s on top of you.

“It was loud and boisterous, but we really did a good job of not allowing them that one goal.”