Hillsdale stung by the Yellowjackets

It just felt like Hillsdale was going to get a goal.

Instead, it was Berkeley that took a lead against the run of play and then added the final nail in the coffin in the final minutes as sixth-seeded Berkeley ended the season for the third-seeded Knights in the first round of the CIF Northern California Division II regional bracket.

“It was a game of moments,” said Hillsdale head coach Jaime Gomez. “We dominated at certain times. They dominated at certain times.

“We had opportunities. We had our chances. Just wasn’t our day.”

Berkeley (23-2-2), the North Coast Section Division I champion, had only a couple of chances and the Yellowjackets converted on two of them. The first came after Gallatin’s shot from the top of the box sailed high in the 46th minute. Two minutes, later Jake Goetting put Berkeley ahead to stay.

“[Goetting is] their guy,” Gomez said.

As soon as the Yellowjackets scored, the game changed. Suddenly, Hillsdale (14-3-6) wasn’t nearly as dangerous. The scoring chances dried up and while the Knights’ defense continued it solid play, the game was played mostly in the midfield.

“Playing against frustration. Playing against fatigue,” is how Gomez described his team’s play in the second half.

And as the Knights were pushing for the equalizer, the Yellowjackets scored an insurance goal in the 78th minute. Goetting received a pass in the midfield and quickly sent a diagonal pass forward as he absorbed a hit from a Hillsdale defender. The center referee played the advantage for the Yellowjackets, allowing Henry Banks to run onto the pass, avoiding a slide tackle and breaking in on goal for a 1v1 withe Hillsdale goalkeeper Emi Lopez, who had no chance on Banks’ strike to the far right corner for a 2-0 advantage.

“Down 1-0 with 15 minutes left, we were just pushing numbers (up into the attack),” Gomez said.

Berkeley came out of the gate fast, owning the first seven, eight minutes of the game. The Yellowjackets tested Lopez early, with Joaquin Jackson ripping a shot that Lopez saved with a dive to his left in the third minute.

After Hillsdale weathered that initial push, it started to find a rhythm offensively. In the 12th minute, the Knights earned a free kick 23 yards from goal. Bernardo Chapparo’s bid for a goal into the upper left corner was pushed wide by Berkeley goalkeeper Andreas Lukan, who also grabbed the cross on the ensuing corner kick from the Knights.

A shot from Tyler Hughes was saved in the 19th minute and in the 23rd, Sebastian Novak had his shot through traffic saved as the teams went into the halftime break scoreless.

Despite the loss, Hillsdale completed one of the best seasons in program history. The Knights became just the third boys’ soccer team to win a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division championship a year after winning the Ocean Division title since 1996.

The Knights became just the fifth team from the PAL to qualify for the Central Coast Section Open/Division I bracket and two of their three losses came to teams — Monte Vista-Danville in the season opener and Berkeley in the season finale — that played for NCS titles this season.

“We got a lot of sad faces right now, but overall, our season was really great,” Gomez said. “From a soccer standpoint, we put or school and [the Peninsula] on the map.

“[My team] represented well.”

Division V

No. 2 Crystal 1, No. 7 Woodland Christian 0

The Gryphons followed up their first-ever CCS title with their first-ever Northern California regional win as second-seeded Crystal advanced to the Division V semifinals.

“We felt in control. It was just a matter of when we would score,” said Crystal head coach Roberto Miranda. “We added pressure on ourselves by not scoring more, but we still felt confident.”

Miranda said Crystal (19-2-2) had numerous scoring chances in the first 40 minutes, but it wasn’t until the final quarter of the first half that the Gryphons finally broke the seal, with Kristian Bisgaard latching onto a ball on the left side of the Woodland Christian penalty box and curling a shot inside the far right post to give the Gryphons a 1-0 lead at halftime.

Miranda said his team continued to apply pressure and create more chances, but just could not find the insurance goal.

“At the end of the day, sometimes it’s hard to score multiple goals,” Miranda said.

Up next is another home game for the Gryphons as they’ll take on sixth-seeded Nipomo-San Luis Obispo County (19-5-3) at 5 p.m. The Titan upset No. 3 Roosevelt-Fresno. Both teams scored three goals in the first half, with Nipomo going on to win in penalty kicks, 7-6.