Comeback saves St. John Bosco boys soccer from another upset

BELLFLOWER >> St. John Bosco boys soccer head coach Dave Sabet got a familiar feeling while watching his team leave chances unfinished in the first round of the CIF Southe Section Division 1 playoffs on Friday afteoon.

“Looking at it I was just thinking ‘oh, not again’,” Sabet said.

The Braves were upset at home in their opening postseason game last season, but they finished strong Friday to come back and defeat Mission Viejo in a penalty kick shootout, 4-3. The teams played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, before St. John Bosco goalkeeper Matt Perez stopped the first two Diablo PKs to help his team advance. The Braves will take on Ventura next Wednesday.

St. John Bosco (16-3-6) outshot Mission Viejo 20-9 but the Diablos (4-7-3) took the lead in the 16th minute on a wonder strike from midfielder Austin Waer. The Braves had two 1-on-1 breakaway chances to equalize in the first half, but Mission Viejo goalkeeper Cameron Tuer came off of his line to make the stops. He finished with six saves.

In the 44th minute, the Braves’ Luis Espitia drew a foul inside the 18-yard box to ea the penalty kick. However, Lorenzo Macias blasted the PK attempt high over the cross bar.

“We tried everything,” Sabet said of moving players forward in search of the equalizer. “They’re a good defensive side and we had to go around their wall. We were forcing out of desperation.”

Finally, in the 80th minute on the last kick of the ball, St. John Bosco junior Alfred Molina collected a missed clearance at the top of the box and looped it in with his first touch. The Braves stayed on the front foot in the overtime periods and senior captain Matt Proost hit the post twice on two strong runs.

Sabet brought in Perez for the penalty kick shootout and the senior made two great saves on the first two Mission Viejo attempts. Perez, who is the PK specialist for the Braves, had never actually competed in a shootout before this match.

“I did it in five straight touaments with my club this summer, so I was comfortable,” Perez said. “I think the nerves kicked in a little bit (for us) but when that first goal went in I knew we’d be ok.”

Proost, Marcos Garica, Diego Escobar and Mamoru Kamisasanuki all converted their kicks to make Perez’s saves stand up.

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“You never want to have PKs in your first-round game,” Sabet said. “But they’re games you have to win and we know we can get though it now.”

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