When Felipe Silva walked into the box to take a penalty kick for Servite, all 10 of the Loyola players who had come before him had found the back of the net, so Silva had to make his, too, to keep Tuesday’s CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal going.
But just when it looked as if his shot was going to sneak inside the right post, Carl Rubschlager got a hand on the ball to make the save for Loyola.
The Cubs would get their revenge.
Last year, the Friars knocked Loyola out of the postseason in this round, but this time the Cubs get to move on to Saturday’s championship match against San Clemente after beating host Servite, 10-9, on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 tie.
“This is tough. But our team did well. I am proud of them,” Servite coach Jon Spencer said. “They fought hard.”
Injuries took such a toll on the Friars on Tuesday that Spencer said “we are hanging by a thread right now.”
Keith Murphy, whose 0.289 goals against average set a school record, was limping for most of the game after apparently injuring his foot. And Elijah Barajas, Silva and Garrett Amador all suffered ankle injuries during the game. Barajas had to be helped off the field afterward.
All play a key role in Servite’s starting lineup. None of the injuries, though, might have been as costly for the Friars’ as Murphy’s. Spencer even briefly took Murphy out of the game during PKs, replacing him with Matt Luberski, who had appeared in only three games this season for a total of 70 minutes.
Murphy got hurt during a furious few seconds during the 27th minute after diving toward the top of the box to grab the ball. Murphy couldn’t hang on to it however, and while he struggled to get back into position Christian Packard and Daniel Munoz turned away two Loyola shots. Afterward, Murphy lay on the ground holding his foot for several moments before standing back up in the goal.
Just five minutes later, Matthew Koh drilled a shot inside the far post, to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. That was the first goal that the Friars had allowed in more than 270 minutes during the playoffs, having shutout their three previous opponents.
“The goal they scored was off an error. What has been disappointing is the goals that have been scored on us could have been prevented,” Spencer said. “So at halftime I told them, ‘In the second half … this is it guys.’”
And the Friars responded with Felipe Silva tying the game in the 44th minute. That was just the second shot on goal that Servite had had up to that point. The first was a header from Barajas that went over the crossbar in the 23rd minute.
“Overtime, we were gassed, It is a tough way to lose, but that is the way that football goes sometimes,” Spencer said. “The defense this year has been amazing, and you know what a lot of them are coming back. I am proud of our kids. There is nothing else to say about it.”
In another Division 1 game:
San Clemente 1, Palos Verdes 1 (San Clemente advances on PKs, 5-4): Bryce Kaminski scored off a corner kick from Oscar Hernandez in the 14th minute to help lead the Tritons (25-2-1) to the championship match for the third time in the past four seasons.
In Division 5:
Marshall Fundamental 2, Santiago 1: Jorge Cardenas scored for the top-seeded Cavaliers (18-5-4).
Baldwin Park 2, Estancia 1: Abraham Cortez knocked in a pass from Marco Pineda for the host Eagles (16-6-5).
