Boys’ Soccer: Deja vu at Estancia
The referee on the field gave South Torrance High life in the dying minutes at Estancia. He didn’t do it on purpose, his back accidentally did.
Nevertheless, it turned out to be a back-breaker for the Eagles.
The Eagles, protecting a one-goal lead in stoppage time, tried to clear a ball out of the box, but the ball hit the back of the referee and bounced toward Ryan Vedov’s feet near the left touchline, 30 yards out. From there, he sent a pass forward to William Hayward, who dribbled into the box, delivering a cross to Allen Bramian deep in the middle of the box, and Bramian evened things up with his right foot.
South Torrance’s team erupted, it tied the match with two minutes left. The Eagles couldn’t believe it. Their fans couldn’t either.
For the second time in as many nights at Jim Scott Stadium, an Estancia crowd saw penalty kicks decide the fate of another Eagle soccer team in the second round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
The girls’ season ended on Tuesday, the boys’ season on Wednesday.
The boys had a hard time coming to grips with their setback to South Torrance, which won the penalty kicks, 4-1.
The contest never should’ve gone to penalties, or to the two 10-minute overtime periods. The Eagles (13-6-4) were two minutes away from reaching the Division 4 quarterfinals.
Instead, the Spartans (17-3-2) moved on to the quarterfinals to play at Covina Gladstone (17-4-1) on Friday. Gladstone pulled off a 2-1 upset in overtime at No. 2-seeded Placentia Valencia, handing the Tigers their first loss this season.
Out of the top four seeds, only No. 1 Godinez and No. 3 Valencia of Valencia are still alive. Somehow, South Torrance, ranked No. 7 in the final poll, kept its season going.
Goalkeeper Kohl Kutsch came up with two huge saves in the shootout. The 6-foot-3 sophomore looked like a giant, but he had to drop down to stop Andy Ceja’s kick to the left and Andy Martinez’s shot to the right.
With Dara Fakhfouri, John Strauch and Jack Prentice each coming through in South Torrance’s first three penalty attempts, Bramian ended Estancia’s night by converting his PK. He buried it to the left, giving keeper Yonathan Lopez no chance to save it.
Most of the Eagles collapsed to the turf. They let one get away.
“After we scored the [first] goal [in the third minute], we kind of left our foot off the gas pedal,” Estancia Coach Robert Castellano said. “They were chasing the game for about 78 minutes.”
The Spartans caught the No. 9 Eagles.
The hosts struck first. Adan Rodriguez sent a cross from the ride side, finding a wide-open Luis Millan near the far post. It was a bang-bang finish, as Millan knocked the ball in with his left foot to put Estancia up.
From then on, it was all Pioneer League champion South Torrance. The visiting side controlled the action, never allowing Estancia to get in a rhythm. The Spartans pinned the Eagles, the second-place team from the Orange Coast League.
The scoring chances belonged to South Torrance, yet Lopez made save after save. The Spartans knocked him around. The worst hit he sustained came in the 71st minute. On a long free kick toward Lopez, Robert Roosen collided with Lopez in the air, and Castellano expected the referee to give Roosen his second yellow.
The yellow never came. The Eagles would not play a man up for the second time in the postseason.
With time running out on the Spartans, they played almost everyone up, creating an opportunity for a quick counterattack for Estancia. The Eagles got one late, as Rafael Espinosa found himself on a breakaway, only Kutsch could deny the freshman, and he managed to do so.
The Eagles get the goal there, they’re ahead, 2-0, and they’re on the way to their second trip to the quarterfinals in three years.
“After the [first] goal, we dropped off,” said Kevin Pizarro, a senior standout who was the lone player from Estancia to convert during the penalty kicks. “Honestly, in the beginning, after that goal [we scored], we thought we actually won the game already.”
