Daniel Martinez saw Jacob Huber take a quick look at the left side of the goal as he lined up to take his penalty kick for Laguna Hills.
But Martinez knew the ball wouldn’t be heading that way. He noticed that Huber’s hips were turned to slightly to the right, so that’s where Martinez decided to dive. Just as the ball was about to curve inside the post, Martinez’s hands slapped the shot away, leading Sunny Hills’ boys soccer team into the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs.
After playing to a scoreless tie in regulation and overtime, Martinez stopped two PKs by Laguna Hills while the Lancers converted all but one of their attempts to edge the host Hawks, 5-4, on penalties in Wednesday in a second-round match.
Kevin Perez, Gilberto Sotelo, Albert Uriarte, Miguel Tapia and Jorge Echeverria each converted their penalty chances for the third-seeded Lancers (19-3-3), who will play California of Whittier on Friday.
“It felt great (stopping the last PK),” Martinez said. “ We need to step it up and now just keep going. This raises our confidence higher and keeps the momentum going.”
Laguna Hills coach Alex Filipovic said he lets his players pick the lineup for PKs, and they wanted Huber, the team’s goalie, to take a shot.
“I always let them tell me the kids that they think will feel the most comfortable,” Filipovic said. “It’s all good. It didn’t work this time. Last time it did.”
The Hawks (15-6-3) eliminated Schurr on PKs, 3-1, in the first round with Huber stopping three shots in that game.
“That is our beautiful sport. Sometimes you can win them,” Filipovic said. “Sometimes you lose. But if you play at home in 100 minutes you should score a goal.”
Finishing in the final third has been a struggle for the Hawks. Before the start of the season, the Hawks lost 80 percent of their goal scoring when two forwards left to join the Irvine Strikers and another was ineligible because of grades.
So the Hawks didn’t have too many scoring chances playing against the Lancers’ well-organized, lock-down defense, which has only given up two goals in the last six games.
“I like their team (Sunny Hills). You can tell that they are well-organized,” Filipovic said. “We wish them all of the best.”
The Lancers struggled, too, against a group of Laguna Hills defenders that stood head and shoulders above them.
“They are a great team. Big boys, all skill. They play with great passion,” Sunny Hills coach Mike Schade said. “We changed the game plan for size, and our boys followed it.”
In other second-round games:
In Division 1:
Edison 1, Warren of Downey 1 (Edison advances on PKs, 5-4): Thiago Costa made the save in PKs that helped the host Chargers (13-7-2) advance to the quarterfinals.
Santa Margarita 3, Santa Barbara 1: Riley Dormier finished with two goals and an assist for the host Eagles (12-7-3).
Servite 4, Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach 1: Garret Amador, Oscar Flores, Michael Godinez and Roman Manning each scored for the host Friars (22-2-1).
In Division 5:
Santiago 3, Adelanto 0: David Yepez had two goals and an assist to lead the visiting Cavaliers (17-4-3).
Contact the writer: ddottore@ocregister.com
