Newport Harbor boys’ soccer rallies, prevails in penalty kicks in CIF Division 3 quarterfinals

Newport Harbor needed a few heroes to step forward as it clawed its way into the CIF Southern Section boys’ soccer semifinals Wednesday night, rallying twice from late deficits — the last during penalty kicks — to overcome supremely skilled Long Beach Cabrillo.

The two biggest heroes were junior midfielder Jack Davey, who tallied three minutes into second-half stoppage to force overtime, and senior goalkeeper Joshua Flores, whose leaping stop in the fourth round of the tiebreaker canceled out a teammate’s miss and positioned the Sailors within two triumphs of their first Southern Section title in the sport in 32 years.

The Wave League champions’ 6-5 edge in penalty kicks following a windblown 1-1 draw in a Division 3 face-off marked by the visitors’ often constant possession sets up an all-Sunset Conference final-four matchup Saturday at Surf League titlist Los Alamitos (16-6-3), a 1-0 victor over Canyon in overtime. Quartz Hill (15-1-4) visits El Dorado (20-2-2) in the other semifinal.

Newport Harbor (15-4-6) was two minutes from defeat before Davey slotted home a hopeful Jason Hernandez cross and two rounds from a shootout loss before Flores went to his left to deny Alan Flores and prevent Cabrillo (17-3-4) from a 4-3 advantage with its most talented attacker on deck.

The final five Newport Harbor shooters converted, senior Johan Guzman with the finale, and the fans rushed the field in a raucous celebration when Cabrillo’s Andrew Moreno hit the crossbar on the following try.

“The whole story about this whole year is that this team has a lot of grit,” said assistant coach Alex Enriquez, who helped steer the Sailors in head coach Ignacio Cid’s absence for coursework in Texas for his U.S. Soccer “A” coaching license. “These boys have been together for a very long time, they’ve grown up together since they were 5 years old, and they’re all good friends. That’s the beauty of this team: Everybody’s connected. Everybody’s on the same road, and it shows.

“A lot of times when you look at these type of teams, you see this guy’s committed to UCLA, this guy is going D1, and a lot of our guys are just really good kids going on to really good academic schools. This is just a hobby for them. It’s one of those underdog stories.”

Quite so. The Sailors have twice advanced on penalties, both times after missing on their second attempt, and last weekend stunned No. 1 Baldwin Park Sierra Vista to set up the matchup with Cabrillo, which dictated terms nearly the whole way but struggled to turn that dominance into coherent opportunities. There’s a look of destiny, perhaps.

“Oh, absolutely,” said Davey, who came off the bench to score on a chaotic play that began with a long Jake Shubin throw-in that caromed to Hernandez. It was certainly the biggest goal of his life — “I don’t score much,” he noted — from about a dozen yards on the left with his less-favored left foot.

“Everyone [went forward], and the ball just luckily dropped to me,” he said. “I know anyone on the team would have put it in, as well, but I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Cabrillo was constantly dangerous, especially when attacking midfielder Martin Robles Ruiz or winger Nathan Mosqueda were on the ball, but labored to get through a thicket of defenders led by senior holding midfielders Cade Holden and Cade Mock. Robles Ruiz scored the Jaguars’ goal in the 28th minute, taking a feed from Mosqueda, beating a couple of defenders on the dribble while surging forward, then stinging a 25-yard shot past Flores.

It looked like it would be enough, especially after goalkeeper Ezra Salcido’s one-on-one foot save seven minutes into the second half against Tony Manriquez, who had stripped a defender about 45 yards from the net. Newport Harbor had the better chances, especially to start the second half and after Robles Ruiz departed with a leg injury, one of three Jaguars forced from the field, in the 67th minute.

James Evans fired the Sailors ahead to start the shootout, Ivan Torres answered for the Jaguars, and Salcido saved Holden’s shot, too close to the middle, to give the Moore League runners-up the advantage. The teams traded goals — Manriquez and Marlon Cortes tallying for Newport Harbor — before Flores’ save, and Hernandez and Davey converted before Guzman’s strike and Moreno’s miss settled things.

And so Newport Harbor, which qualified for the Southern California Regional tournament, stands two wins from a second title in the sport, along with the 1-A title, in what then was the lowest division, shared in 1991 with Corona Centennial.

“This is the best team that Newport’s probably had in a decade — probably decades, as a matter of fact,” said Hernandez, a junior winger. “I feel we can make it far with this team, because we have the spirit, we have the courage, and we just treat each other like family.”

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