Burlingame battles back on boys’ soccer pitch, earns 2-2 draw with Serra

But Burlingame (3-1-2) turned up the intensity in the second half and drew even in dramatic fashion with goals from Calvin Wagner and Troy Metkus, with Metkus’s equalizer coming in the 78th minute to stun the Padres (1-0-2).

“I’m happy with the way we played,” Burlingame head coach Anthony Dimech said. “We’re missing quite a few guys, so some guys played more than they normally play and played out of position a little bit. So, all that being considered, we played pretty well.”

Both teams debuted sophomore goalkeepers. Serra turned to Rafeal Steinberger, who fended off two Burlingame shots on goal in the first half. But it was Burlingame keeper Aaron Peng — making a one-time start as a call-up from junior-varsity to fill in for the absent Antonio Vaszquez — who turned the match around with the save of the game at the start of the second half.

Tollman had already scored one impressive goal in the match to stake Serra to a 2-0 advantage. That one came just prior to halftime in the 40th minute, as the Padres mounted a counter offensive with junior Baden Smith sending a through ball to Tollman, who veered left and smashed a cross shot past a diving Peng.

“That was a great ball from our junior Baden,” Tollman said. “I just took one touch and just hit it with my left. It was a great goal.”

Round 2 went to Burlingame’s inexperienced varsity keeper, though. In the 43rd minute, Smith again played a crisp pass, this time with a long, lofty cross that went right to the head of Tollman at the back post. Tollman squared it up nicely, but Peng timed a leap perfectly to push the shot on goal over the crossbar to keep the 2-0 score in check.

“Beautiful pass from Baden again,” Tollman said. “He’s very good at crossing the ball. We’ve just got to bang those in next time.”

Missing out on the third point came back to haunt Serra.

Burlingame was out of sorts for the first 40 minutes, trying to find its footing with four regular starters out of action. Senior Alex Kelly ordinarily started at center midfielder, but was assigned to center back to help anchor the Panthers’ short roster of 14 players.

At the start of the second half, however, Kelly moved to his natural position in the middle and Burlingame went on a relentless attack that didn’t let up for the rest of the day.

It was Kelly’s clever shot that set up the equalizer in the 78th minute, as the Panthers worked a short corner kick around for Kelly up top. The senior exploded around a defender to get just enough daylight to attempt a good shot from the 18-yard hash. Steinberger denied Kelly shot but had to leave his feet to knock it away. The rebound went right to the foot of Metkus, who tapped it in.

“Troy reacted really, really well to that goal,” Kelly said. “Then it was really exciting to tie that game up. We had been pushing all game and it really felt like we were the better team. Tying it up there was really exciting.”

Burlingame initially got on the board in the 50th minute with a more sophisticated rebound opportunity.

This time, junior striker Jan Pistor took the initial shot, creating a smart angle off the right side. Steinberger produced the save and Serra looked to be out of danger as the rebound fell to Padres defender. But Burlingame midfielder Calvin Wagner found his stealth mode to slip in and steal the ball at the front of the keeper’s box, and quickly converted the second chance.

“We had a little fatigue and then we lost a little possession there,” Serra head coach Michael Keller said. “And I think Burlingame was doing well to be methodical in their attack. I think, unfortunately, if we would have converted one of those counters, or held the ball a little longer on one of those counters, we would have been able to kill the game. But we live and learn. We just drew a good team, and we’ll move on and keep getting ready.”

Joudieh’s late arrival isn’t the only effect Serra football’s five-week postseason run affected the soccer team. With limited field space, the soccer team was relegated to practicing on the baseball field while the football team still held daily practices on Freitas Field.

“Obviously it’s affected us but more than anything it’s been a positive for the guys,” Keller said. “The football team has only raised the level of pride and standard of excellence that Serra already had. It’s only made it higher. And we try develop a little culture of pride and mental toughness of: ‘Hey, you know what? We don’t have a field, the other teams do, we’re still going to be good.’”

Both Burlingame and Serra were Central Coast Section Open Division playoff teams last season, both getting knocked out in the first round.

The Padres had just five juniors on last year’s squad, and return just three starters in Joudieh, Tollman and center back David Robles this season.

“That’s been a big project,” Keller said. “I just say: There’s no substitute for time. We had great senior class that we loved last year. It’s pretty hard to see them go. And now we have a lot of guys that … didn’t play varsity minutes last year. So, there going to be some getting to know them, and them getting to know what’s needed at this level. But as you could see today from our first half, the guys did really well against a good team. So, we’re going the right direction.”