Santa Barbara’s Miguel Solis stood nearly a foot shorter than West Torrance’s 6-3 Tom Coleman when the goalkeepers shook hands before Tuesday’s penalty-kick shootout to decide the CIF Division 1 boys soccer semifinal game at Peabody Stadium.
When the shootout was over, it was Solis who stood the tallest as he stopped one West Torrance shot and forced three other shooters to misfire, giving the Dons a 2-1 victory and a shot at second straight championship and seventh in program history.
Santa Barbara (20-5-3), the defending Division 2 champion, will play San Clemente for the Division 1 title on Saturday at Warren High. The game time will be announced Wednesday by the CIF.
Dons players react to clinching the victory in a penalty shootout at Peabody Stadium
Solis’ heroics in the shootout were nothing new to his teammates and coach. They watched him beat West Torrance in the semifinals of the South Torrance Holiday Tournament and Dos Pueblos in the championship of the Buena New Year’s Tournament in December on PKs.
“Miguel’s done a great job,” Santa Barbara coach Todd Heil said. “He’s so quick. One thing about PKs is you want to be quick, not sometimes the biggest goalkeeper. He is definitely quick. He’s short, he’s quick, and he did a great job.”
Said senior central defender Tony Alfaro, “That’s what he does best. One of his strengths is blocking penalties. I have total faith in him.”
And from senior midfielder Sanford Spivey, who beat Coleman on the Dons’ first penalty kick: “PKs are one of his strengths. We support him and back him up all the time. He played an amazing game.”
Solis said he had no doubts he would prevail in the shootout against Coleman and the Warriors (16-7-5), the No. 2 team from the Bay League.
“We were really familiar with this team, we played them and we played them in penalties and we won it,” he said. “I was so familiar with their kickers, just the way the line up, just the way they handle themselves.”
Solis’ familiarity with the Warriors proved to be a huge psychological advantage. When he blocked the first attempt by Austin Lohn off the left post, he knew he had gotten into their heads.
“Definitely,” he said. “That is such a huge momentum killer. That just crushes a team.”
Heil agreed. “When your goalkeeper stops the first one right off the bat, it’s an incredible momentum shifter. And then Spivey goes up and hits his and it’s 1-0, and we’re in their heads. And what does their second shooter do, crushes it over the goal.”
Andrew Johnson booted his left-footed attempt over the cross bar, but Coleman kept the Warriors’ hopes alive by blocking the shot of Edgar Ruiz. Steven Ingraham beat Solis to equal the score at 1-1 and Coleman stopped the Dons’ Thomas Crawford.
Solis and the Dons got a break on the next shooter as Daniel Colin pushed his shot wide left.
That brought up senior midfielder Tyler Schleich, and he calmly fired a shot over Coleman’s left shoulder for a 2-1 lead.
West Torrance’s final shooter, John Lee, slammed his shot off the underside of the cross bar and the ball bounced outside the goal line, setting off a Santa Barbara celebration. The Dons rushed Solis and mobbed their senior goalkeeper.
“I thought we were going to finally finish, but it came down to PKs and I had to help them out,” said Solis.
The Dons created ample opportunities to finish the game in regulation and overtime.
Early in the first half, Alfredo Ibarra ripped a half-volley that Coleman blocked over the cross bar. Later, Alfaro cracked a free kick off a two-man wall and it redirected off the right post. Ibarra crashed the net for the rebound but Coleman pounced on the ball to prevent a shot.
The Dons had a goal nullified by an offsides call in the 22nd minute.
In the second half, Coleman stopped Matt Medina from point-blank range and the West Torrance goalie made a bang-bang play on Spivey and Alberto Hernandez just before the end of regulation time.
Coleman finished with 12 saves.
“He was just phenomenal,” West Torrance coach Mike Shimizu said of Coleman. “Some of these guys thought they had a finish that was going in and he made the save.”
Another close call came in the second overtime, Spivey dribbled into the box on the left and hit a low shot away from Coleman, who was protecting the near post. Coleman, however, reacted quickly, shifted his weight and made a lunging save.
“We knew coming in they’d only given up two goals in the playoffs, as did we, and they put up a great defensive game just like the first time we played them,” said Heil, referring to the 0-0 game at the South Tournament. “We haven’t scored on them and they haven’t scored on us, either. They stymied us a few times. It does get a little frustrating, but the boys kept going and going.”
“That keeper has some height,” Alfaro said. “What frustrated us was we couldn’t get anything in the air, so we tried on the ground. You have to give him credit.”
Spivey and Schleich beat Coleman in the shootout, and the Dons are back in the final.
For Spivey, it’s especially gratifying to be playing in the championship game. He missed last year’s run to the title because of a season-ending knee injury.
“I’m so excited. I’m going to put all I can into it,” he said. “Hopefully, we can come out on top like we did last year.”
who scored the goal for oaks christian?
Some white kid?
“Does anybody, really know what time it is? Does anybody, really care?” Chicago
Carp never gets as much ink….but I guess that’s why they call it santa barbara’s onlyne sports news.
check the ventura paper…they covered the story.