For 65 minutes, sixth-seeded East Union and No. 11 Pioneer took turns threatening each other’s goals with half chances and near misses on a chilly night Tuesday at Dino Cunial Field.
When the dam finally broke, this Sac-Joaquin Section Division III first-round playoff match turned into a barnburner and a battle of attrition.
In the end, it was the host Lancers reveling after a dramatic 3-2 victory in extra time.
Giovanni Perez — the state’s leading scorer — headed Luis Bucio’s high-arching, left-footed free kick from near midfield in the 92nd minute for the game-winner.
The win sets up a quarterfinal road match at No. 3 Vista del Lago of Folsom.
“I pushed as a captain to get us through, and hopefully we can continue to win,” Perez. “And just do it for ‘Chaka.’”
As they have all season, the Lancers (21-6-1) honored fallen teammate Edwin Mendiola, who died unexpectedly while training with his club team last October. His mother, Amy, still attends East Union games and even celebrated her birthday along with the team’s win on Tuesday.
“They just fought through,” East Union coach Ronnie Green said. “The goals we scored were not pretty tonight, except for the last one — that was beautiful. The first two were just hard (-earned), gritty goals. The boys just dug down, and I think their team kind of fell apart at the end with all the cramps and injuries.”
The Patriots (9-6-2) of Woodland, who finished second in the Golden Empire League, certainly gave the Valley Oak League tri-champion all it could handle until the final whistle.
The game changed after Pioneer’s Jesus Junez took advantage of a misplayed long ball and chipped it over East Union goalie Andres Garcia five saves) in the 66th minute.
Game on.
East Union defender Orian Germann answered in the next minute, capping a wild sequence inside the goal area.
It started with Anthony Sy’s well-struck direct kick that was batted down by leaping goalkeeper Aaron De Los Santos. Ethan Mamorno leaped into the goal box to poke the loose ball, but it was again turned away by De Los Santos. Perez’s follow-up attempt was blocked by defender on the goal line, but Germann was at the right place at the right time to clean up the mess.
East Union later took the lead in stoppage time, with freshman David Tafolla guiding it to the back of the net after a Perez cross from the right wing. The ball initially skipped past teammate Esau Martinez and a Pioneer defender, but Tafolla was there near the far post.
“I knew the cross wasn’t going to go to me, so I just waited there,” Tafolla said. “I think it was Esau who missed the ball and it was just right there, so I just kicked it with the outside of my foot.”
It wasn’t over yet.
About a minute later, Pioneer forced extra time on a corner kick. That was the final play of regulation.
The Patriots had chances in the second overtime period to tie it back up. Matthew Nunez had a free kick from the top of the 18-yard line miss wide, and two short-range attempts following another corner kick were deflected by defenders.
“I didn’t like that last corner kick,” Green said. “I did think, ‘not again.’ And the ball bounced around a little there.
“They’re a good team. They matched us with speed, and everyone knows Gio is leading the state. It’s very difficult for him to get any space.”
Green hopes to have Erardo Pelayo and Angel Guzman — two of East Union’s top attacking players alongside Perez — for what is expected to be a tough quarterfinal matchup. Vista del Lago (12-4-4) waxed 15th-seeded Wood, 3-0.
“We need to hold more possession and release to the wings faster,” Green said. “We didn’t use the width of the field tonight, at all, but that’s why it hurt not having those guys tonight. Hopefully, we can get at least one of them back Thursday.”
Patterson 3, Sierra 2
The 10th-seeded Timberwolves (11-7) battled back from an early two-goal deficit, but No. 7 Patterson (9-5-2) got the lone tally of the second half for the win. The Tigers will face Central California Conference rival Golden Valley, the No. 2 seed and league champ, in the quarterfinal round.
“In the second half, we got a couple good looks and had opportunities, but we couldn’t score,” Sierra coach Joe Pires said. “We tried hard, and I’m proud of the way the boys battled back from being down 2-0 early in the game. Good season, had some injuries in the end, but proud of the way the boys played.”
Jorge Reyes and Amun Singh scored for Sierra in the 31st and 40th minutes. Wingsem Zinghai assisted Singh’s goal.
Jose Brambila, Luis Castro and Reyes Juarez accounted for Patterson’s goals.
