Goalkeeper Andres Garcia came through with two big stops Thursday to lift East Union to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals.
Facing third-seeded Vista del Lago in Folsom, the No. 6 Lancers escaped with the 4-3 penalty-shootout win after the two teams finished tied at 1-1 through 100 minutes of regulation and two extra-time periods.
Garcia kept the count even with a diving deflection during the waning moments of the second overtime. In PKs, he had another diving block on Vista del Lago’s second shot. The Eagles (12-5-4) also missed on the third.
Gio Perez, Adrian Vivanco, Emmanuel Ayon and Adal Guitron converted from the spot for East Union (22-6-1), but the young man of this match was the goalie.
“Andres came up big for us,” East Union coach Ronnie Green said. “That started the momentum, and everybody else just followed suit.
Perez earlier scored East Union’s lone goal in the 43rd minute of regulation after bringing down an accurate through ball from Anthony Sy. Sy had chances of his own but hit the crossbar twice.
Vista del Lago answered Perez’s goal within a few minutes.
“We didn’t have a perfect game, but to beat Vista del Lago at their place is extremely tough, so I’m happy with the outcome,” Green said.
The Lancers will next take on No. 2 Golden Valley (14-3-1) on Saturday at UC Merced. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Golden Valley defeated Patterson 3-2 on Thursday. In the other semifinal is top-seeded Lincoln (19-0-1) against No. 5 Valley (22-3-5).
The championship game is set for next Tuesday, 7 p.m. at Cosumnes River College.
Division IV
Rio Linda 2, Lathrop 0
Goals from Alex Moreno and Juan Garcia early in the second half were the difference for the fourth-seeded Knights (17-7-2).
No. 5 Lathrop (13-9-4) otherwise had the Golden Empire League champions on the ropes.
“We had opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on, but going into the second half, we felt that we could win this game,” Lathrop coach Alfredo Reynaga said. “At the beginning of the second half, they were better than us for five minutes. I thought we took control again in the final 25 minutes, we just couldn’t score. We left the field knowing we were the better team, but they beat us for five minutes and we couldn’t bounce back.”
Rio Linda travels to No.1 Livingston (17-2-5) for a semifinal Saturday.
As for the Spartans, they can complete their most successful season in program history. The team qualified for the postseason for the first time and won its debut appearance in a 3-2 thriller over Orestimba.
“The kids were obviously disappointed, but we had to remind them we had a really good year,” Reynaga said. “We competed in every game and never got blown out. Just had to remind them to keep their heads up and concentrate on the positives.”
