Aragon boys' soccer team into Nor Cal Division III finals

Now, they’ll get a shot at winning a Northern California championship after routing visiting Pleasant Valley-Chico 4-0 in the Division III semifinals Thursday in San Mateo.

“I had a lot of confidence in the boys,” said Aragon senior co-captain Alexis Villanueva. “With chemistry and everything, we got it done. Thank God we made it this far and we have one more.”

Second-seeded Aragon (16-4-3) will face the winner of No. 1 Vista del Lago-Folsom/No. 4 Patterson. A Vista del Lago win and the Dons will go on the road. If Patterson pulls off the upset, Aragon will host. The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday.

The Dons wasted little time in putting all the pressure on No. 6 Pleasant Valley (21-2), scoring twice in the opening five minutes. And once again, it was Villanueva doing the damage — on his birthday, no less. Just before he took the field to start the game, Aragon head coach Joe Rousseau jokingly told Villanueva he wanted a hat trick.

Coach asked, Villanueva delivered.

“This is, by far, the best [birthday],” Villanueva said.

The Vikings found out real quick that Villanueva was the real deal as he took a long cross-field pass from David Espinoza, cut inside his defender, carried the ball to the top of the box and unleashed a cracker of a shot that found the upper left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead in the first minute.

Three minutes later, Villanueva was at it again, depositing his second shot into the left side of the net for a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

“The thoughts were just to get the job finished,” Villanueva said. “To come in focused, go at them early and finish. We scored two goals in the beginning and just gave it to them.”

That was exactly what Rousseau wanted to see.

“Mentally, we were just there today. Lot better than last game,” said Rousseau, referring to the 2-1 win over Bishop O’Dowd in the Nor Cal opener. “I just told them, ‘We’re not here to mess around. Let’s take it to them right away. If we can get on them early, it can change the whole game.’

“That’s what we did.”

After that second goal, Pleasant Valley settled in and started controlling possession. Much like Aragon likes to do with Villanueva, the Vikings’ goal was to get the ball to the feet of their No. 10, Estefano Garcia, who was just as dangerous as Villanueva with the ball.

Unlike the Vikings’ defense, however, the Aragon back line did a much better job of standing up Garcia, limiting most of his shot attempts from the perimeter.

When he did manage to get behind the Dons’ defense, goalkeeper Brandon Marroquin-Mayen was there to stone him.

Marroquin-Mayen was the backup goalkeeper for most of the season, but with regular starter Taj Gadiraju sitting out the Nor Cal tournament to focus on academics, Marroquin-Mayen got the call. He started in the first-round win and Thursday, he was on top of his game. In the ninth minute, Garcia laced a shot on goal, forcing a diving save from Marroquin-Mayen. In the 21st minute, Garcia had his best chance to score, splitting a pair of Aragon defenders. But Marroquin-Mayen was up to the task, making a point-blank save. In the second half, he made a pair of scrambling saves in the 45th minute to keep the clean sheet.

Those would be the last dangerous chances the Vikings would have as Marroquin-Mayen would finish with six saves for the game.

“I was confident. He’s a good keeper,” Rousseau said of Marroquin-Mayen. “Obviously, it’s not ideal (to switch goalkeepers in the middle of a successful playoff run), but I have a lot of faith in Brandon. I can’t complain too much about what he’s done for us.”

In the second half, the Dons took it to the Vikings, dominating possession and dangerous chances. Shortly after halftime, Kevin Marroquin-Mayen, Brandon’s twin brother, broke in on goal and tried to chip the goalkeeper, who leaped high to knock it down and make the save.

In the 55th minute, Kevin Marroquin-Mayen was not to be denied. Alex Lopez triggered the play with a long throw-in down the right sideline. Villanueva received it and, with a defender on his back, slipped a through ball to a charging Kevin Marroquin-Mayen, who slotted a shot under the Pleasant Valley goalkeeper for a 3-0 lead.

Two minutes later, Villanueva completed his hat trick to send the Dons into the Nor Cal finals.

“He’s that type of player. You look at some of the best players in the world and everyone knows what they’re going to do what they do,” Rousseau said. “It’s been a privilege to coach him here in high school.”

Sacred Heart Prep 3, University-SF 1

The Gators advanced to the championship game of the Division IV bracket with the win over the Red Devils in Atherton.

Carlos Deras scored a goal in the final five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second after Luke Maxwell gave SHP (16-5-2) a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute off a deflection.

SHP, the third seed, will travel to Napa to take on Vintage in the title game at 5 p.m. Saturday.