The No. 1-seeded Paly boys’ varsity soccer team (21-1-2) defeated the No. 4-seeded Watsonville Wildcatz, 4-3, in the Central Coast Section semifinals at Milpitas High School on Tuesday.
The game went into overtime with a tied score of 3-3, but the Vikings eventually came out on top with a game-winning goal from junior Spencer Sims.
Fans highly anticipated the game. A sideline referee commented to a CCS official, “This should be the championship game. These are the best two teams.”
Junior John Anderton scored the opening goal of the game on a deflection from a Watsonville defender’s clear. The Wildcatz (19-5-2) quickly tied up the game with a goal off a direct free kick at the corner of the 18-yardbox. Minutes later, Watsonville took the lead off a free kick from the same location, this time from a header at the far post. The score remained 2-1 at the half with 40 minutes left in regulation.
At the beginning of the second half, senior Adam Zernik scored, with an assist from junior Elliot Sanborn. The score remained tied for the majority of the second half as both teams anticipated overtime. With about five minutes left, a 40-yard free kick turned into an own-goal as Paly junior Jenner Fox accidentally headed the ball into the Vikings’ goal while attempting to clear the ball. Tuesday was Fox’s second game since his return from injury.
“It was the scariest thing of my life,” Fox said. “I thought we were going to lose from my own goal.”
With about two minutes left, the demoralized Vikes tied-up the score with a goal off of one of Sanborn’s famous flip-throws.
In the second period of overtime, junior Spencer Sims took a pass from Fox, beat a defender, and scored the game-winning goal through the Watsonville goalie’s legs.
“After I got by the defender, I knew I was going to score,” Sims said. “I made sure I put my chances away, and I buried it. I felt super happy and I was eager because I knew we would still have to fight hard for the remaining five minutes to finish up the game.”
Senior Michael Hanabusa was ecstatic with the outcome of the game.
“We played phenomenal,” Hanabusa said. “The thing is, every time they [Watsonville] tied it up, or every time we would go down one, we would get it right back.”
With its victory, Palo Alto is now ranked 16th in the nation, according to Sports Illustrated.
On Saturday, the Vikes will face the No. 2-seeded Bellarmine Bells (16-3-5) in CCS Finals at 7 p.m. at Milpitas High School. In both of the past two years, the Vikings advanced to CCS Finals but fell short of winning the championship game.
Senior defender John Chrisopherson is excited to finish this season up strongly and hopes to finally bring home the CCS crown.
“They [Bellarmine] are a solid team: they have won Division I for the past three years,” Chrisopherson said. “It will be a good game and we [Paly] should match-up well. Refuse to lose.”