Mater Dei Catholic High School boys soccer coach Jorge Zavala admitted he was happy that his team advanced to last Saturday’s San Diego Section Division II championship game. However, he was not satisfied with his team’s runner-up finish.
“We had a little bit more chances than they did,” Zavala said. “They bunkered down. It’s hard when the other team does that.”
Despite the defensive nature of the game, fourth-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (11-6-5) created a number of good scoring opportunities. In fact, as time wound down in regulation, it appeared the Crusaders were about to strike for the game-winner at any moment.
But they didn’t, and that would later prove costly.
When the game went into overtime — a 15-minute sudden-victory “golden goal” period — whatever momentum Mater Dei Catholic possessed promptly vanished when center-back Alex Golembiewski was injured making a goal-saving tackle in the team’s defensive end.
With Golembiewski on the sideline receiving medical attention, the seventh-seeded Pirates (14-6-7) managed to break through the Crusader defense and have the luxury of taking three point-blank shots at the MDC net. Crusader goalkeeper Adrian Roman blocked the first attempt. A Mater Dei Catholic defender blocked the next shot. But the third time proved to be the charm as Oceanside’s Eddie Franco slotted the rebound inside the far corner to end the game.
1-0 Pirates.
“With our center-back out, we didn’t have the communication we needed,” Zavala said.
However, Zavala conceded the number of missed offensive opportunities by his team proved fatal in the loss.
“When you don’t put away your chances, it usually comes back to hurt you,” the MDCHS coach said.
Pirate goalkeeper Roy Sarmiento was credited with seven saves in the contest; Roman was called on to make two saves, including a spectacular diving save with two minutes left in regulation play.
