Sequoia boys’ soccer downs El Camino in PKs in CCS Division IV opener

Senior midfielder Gilberto Lopez delivered the game-winning PK to end a grueling but exciting afternoon of soccer, as No. 2-seed Sequoia reveled on its home field in a 1-1 (3-1 PKs) win over the No. 7 El Camino Colts.

“Having your team depend on you, and then meeting those expectations, it feels so freaking good,” Lopez said. “I was happy I was able to do it for them.”

Lopez and his Ravens teammates had to overcome a gut-punch at the end of overtime.

Sequoia (8-5-6) scored early in OT with a fading shot by Ben Schwartz into the sun-drenched east goal of Terremere Field — infamous to goalkeepers throughout the Peninsula Athletic League for its blinding effects — but after the teams switched sides in the second overtime period, El Camino used the sun glare to its advantage, tying it in the closing seconds of OT when, in the 109th minute, senior Aldo Bermudez gave up his body by hurdling into traffic to launch an assist pass to forward Toby Woodworth for a stunning equalizer.

But the Ravens regrouped for a scintillating round of PKs, with El Camino goalkeeper Oscar Marenco totaling two saves, only to be outdone by three saves from Sequoia keeper Juan Ontiveros. Then, after PK scores by Schwartz and Brian Shafer, Sequoia won it when Lopez stepped to the penalty hash in the top of the fifth round to score the biggest goal of his career.

“That’s the biggest one,” Sequoia head coach Gregory Markoulakis said. “He’s had some beautiful goals, but there’s no bigger than that.”

The CCS quarterfinal, the opening round game of the eight-team Division IV tournament, seemed destined for PKs from an early point.

In the 30th minute, El Camino striker Michael Musallam was denied after an exceptional run to a through ball, getting a step on a Sequoia defender breathing down his neck, only to be met by a kick save from Ontiveros. One minute later, Sequoia quickly flipped the field to propel sophomore Mathew Ruiz on a counterattack to earn a 1 v. 1, only to have Marenco charge out to cut off the lane and clear the ball with a sliding kick save of his own.

The back-and-forth didn’t stop there. In the 33rd minute, El Camino forward Gonzalo Ascencio sped across the perimeter of the box to find an angle and turned the corner acutely for a look at the near post. Ascencio’s attempt flew wide of the mark, however, leaving him walking away with his head in his hands. At the other end, in the 36th minute, a header in front of the cage by Sequoia senior Jose Barragan was on target, but Marenco snagged the lofty attempt right at the goal line, and did a careful tightrope walk to make sure he didn’t fall across it in the process.

“They (Sequoia) are more: play it forward, play it quick, and we wanted to stop them from playing it quick,” El Camino head coach Ken Anderson said, “and try to keep it away from [Schwartz].”

That latter strategy proved impossible.

El Camino (10-8-1) knows Schwartz well. In the opening week of the season, Sequoia defeated El Camino 2-0 in a Dec. 3 non-league matchup, with Schwartz scoring in that one as well.

The senior’s tiebreaker Saturday came in the 92nd minute when Sequoia again flipped the field. After the Ravens earned a free kick in their defensive third, they played the ball up quickly, with a long pass from Aaron Villafuerte finding Ryan McDowell up the sideline. MCDowell played it across to Schwartz who exacted a chip shot that floated into the sun glare, over the hands of EC’s keeper, and banked off the upright for a score.

“It felt like the ball was in the air for like an eternity,” Schwartz said. “And when it hit the post, I was just so happy.”

But El Camino rallied late, thanks to the willingness of Bermudez to sacrifice his body. The Colts were pinned to a defensive stand with approximately a minute to go but bullied their way to the ball and started a frenzied run up the field. When a 50-50 ball was played deep for Bermudez, he had three Sequoia defenders walling him from the box, but he used a running start to hurdle his way into the pack to head it across to Woodworth.

“We were down to 40 seconds, so I just had to sacrifice,” Bermudez said. “I had to go all-in.”

Bermudez hit the ground hard and didn’t see Woodworth gather it, deliver a shot inside the far post for the equalizer, and turn back toward midfield with steely-eyed determination as his teammates converged upon him in celebration just seconds before the final whistle to send the game into PKs.

“Talk about an epic goal,” Anderson said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, that was probably one of the most exciting goals this high school has had in boys’ soccer in a long, long time. And a super important one. Because that kept us in the game, basically. What a way to end a really thrilling soccer match overall.”

But in PKs, Sequoia would go on to win the day.

“You win some, you lose some,” Woodworth said. “But we played a great game, we played tough, and just didn’t get the win.”

Sequoia now advances to the Division IV semifinals to host No. 3 Seaside, with Wednesday’s kickoff at Terremere Field scheduled for 4:30 p.m.