San Mateo girls' soccer team surges late for win over Mills

And yet San Mateo found itself in an unfamiliar situation Tuesday on the road at Mills. Not only did the Beacats concede the first goal for only the second time this season, they found themselves in a tie game with 15 minutes left to play.

But San Mateo showed why it is the team to beat and the odds-on favorite to claim the Lake Division’s automatic bid to the Central Coast Section playoffs as the Bearcats scored four times over the final 12 minutes to post a 5-1 victory.

“The girls were relentless (in the second half),” said San Mateo head coach Juan Mayora. “We were getting so many chances. It was only a matter of time.”

San Mateo (3-0 PAL Lake, 9-1-1 overall) dominated the game’s statistics. The Bearcats controlled possession and peppered the Mills goal to the tune of 30 shots — 19 of which were on frame.

Mills goalkeeper Ione Thompson — a standout catcher for the Mills softball team, but playing between the posts for the first time — had her blocking skills put to the test. She acquitted herself well, finishing with 14 saves.

“Their goalie made some great saves,” Mayora said.

But San Mateo’s constant pressure finally wore down the Vikings. Mani Helu, who was the Bearcats’ most dangerous offensive weapon and had peppered the goal all game long for naught, was denied by the right post on a shot from the top of the penalty box.

The rebound went right to the foot of Eva Cruanes, who side-footed a one-timer into the box of the net to break the tie in the 68th minute.

After that, the floodgates opened. Helu finally got the goal she was so close to netting all game long, converting a Karina Chand corner cross into a header that barely snuck under the crossbar in the 76th minute for a 3-1 lead.

A minute later, Helu intercepted a short goal kick and with Thompson scrambling to get back on her line, Helu beat her with a looping shot from 30 yards out for a 4-1 advantage.

Helu then hooked up with freshman phenom Shannon Lim, who rounded out the scoring in stoppage time.

“I think we just wore down at the end,” said Mills head coach Johnny Carreno. “We just need to play better soccer.”

Mills (3-1) did not have many opportunities, but the Vikings managed to cash in on one of them, much to the surprise of the Bearcats.

Carreno and the Vikings could only wonder what could have been if they had been able to take advantage of a chance shortly after the opening kickoff. With the flick of her foot, Chiara Bettucchi sent a pass up, over and through the San Mateo defensive line, with Alex Dedes racing past her defender to latch onto the ball. With only the goalkeeper to beat, Dedes lifted her shot over the goal.

Staggered, it took the Bearcats a few minutes to regain its footing, but once they did, started to apply heavy pressure.

But Mills was up to the task and did their best to limit San Mateo’s chances to shots from the perimeter.

In the 25th minute, Bettucchi’s pass was not wasted. Again, with a perfect pass through the Bearcats defense, freshman Abby Zennadi blazed past the defender, went around the San Mateo goalkeeper and calmly shot into an open net for a 1-0 Mills lead against the run of play.

“She worked hard to get back this season,” Carreno said of Bettucchi, who is just rounding into form after dislocating her knee.

“She narrates the offense for us. We need to work the ball through her more.”

San Mateo, however, battled back to tie the score just before halftime. On the last of the Bearcats’ seven first-half corner kicks, Chand served the cross into the box. Mills failed to clear and the ball popped out to Chisa Matsumoto, who unleashed a shot that was blocked by a defender. Matsumoto corralled the rebound and slotted a pass to Lim, right in front of goal, whose shot did not miss and the Bearcats were tied at the half.

“The first half, we weren’t really clicking,” Mayora said. “Once we got that first goal, I knew that would break the ice.”