An errant defensive play by Venture Academy forced overtime, which led to Diego Alvarez burying the winning penalty kick in the shootout to give host and sixth-seeded Lathrop a 1-1 (5-4) in opening-round action of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV boys soccer playoffs at River Islands.
The teams were tied 4-4 in penalty kicks after the first round when the No. 11 Mustangs (11-4-6) missed the first kick of the second round, bringing Alvarez to the mark. He did not disappoint, sending the Spartans (11-8-4) to Galt on Tuesday to face No. 3 Liberty Ranch on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“It’s very easy to get nervous on a penalty kick,” Alvarez said. “It’s really important to keep a calm, level head, not to fold under the pressure and take a shot with all you have.
“I felt that shot – it felt sweet as sugar.”
Alvarez would have never got that opportunity had Venture Academy not committed an unforced error late in the game. Riding a 1-0 lead thanks to Yosgar Hernandez’s first-half goal, time appeared to be running out when Andres Garcia’s cross deflected off a Mustangs defender and found the net in the waning minutes of the game.
“I was just trying to pass the ball to Angel Barajas,” Garcia said. “That was fortunate enough, we got lucky, but we should have put them away earlier.”
Lathrop coach Alfredo Reynaga was not pleased with his team’s first-half effort.
“Without exaggeration, I think we played our worst half in the beginning,” Reynaga said. “We were dead, we were tired and the weather has not allowed us to touch the field for a little bit. No excuses, but we were kind of out of our groove a little bit in the first half. We had to change our formation halfway through the second half, and if we were going to lose we were going to lose swinging. We moved the ball better, we were more composed.
“I told the guys at halftime that I was out of my mind, because they were more than capable of moving the ball against those guys, and we did not play up to our standard. It was crazy for a good 15 to 20 minutes late in the second half, and it was fun to watch. Kudos to the kids, they have a lot of heart. This game was definitely a roller coaster.”
Josiah Reynaga, Garcia, Angel Barajas and Alan Hernandez were the other Spartans to convert their penalty kicks.
