For a split second, it seemed like Aptos this past weekend was finally breaking the curse of getting past the opening round in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
But instead of knocking in the game-winning goal on a spectacular header in overtime, senior Nami Banks was called offsides to negate the score.
The No. 1 seeded Mariners then went on to lose in heartbreaking fashion to No. 8 Los Gatos, 1-1 (4-3), in a penalty kick shootout in the Division III quarterfinals Feb. 22.
“It’s a weird feeling,” Banks said. “Every season, it’s been a first round knockout. That first round, that hump we’ve been trying to get over. We really tried to get it this year, but we couldn’t quite make it. And that’s just tough.”
Including the abbreviated Covid-19 season in 2021, it’s the fifth consecutive year that the Mariners watched their season get cut short in the quarterfinals.
“We’ve been here before,” Aptos head coach Roberto Zuñiga said. “Out of the last five years, three have come down with 100-minutes plus. It’s unfortunate. It’s always important to pop the first goal, but we had an opportunity here and we just didn’t capitalize, and things happen.”
The Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion Mariners trailed for a majority of the match until a penalty kick was awarded to them in the 80th-plus minute. Banks zipped it past Los Gatos’ goalkeeper to force overtime.
After a pair of extra 10-minute periods, both teams remained tied at 1-all going into the penalty kick shootout.
Banks missed the first shot attempt, which was reminiscent of last year’s playoff loss to Serra in which he missed a penalty kick attempt.
“That’s also a third miss on a penalty, and that also is definitely a little bit soul-crushing,” Banks said.
Junior Ivan Zavala also had an afternoon he’d like to soon forget after he missed a pair of crucial penalty kick attempts—a potential game-tying shot in the 11th minute and the final shot in the overtime shootout.
“[Zavala] was still a little frazzled from that first one,” Zuñiga said. “It is what it is. At the end of the game, he worked so hard to create opportunities to move people around, to collect passes. We are a team, it’s like a ride-or-die type of deal.”
Los Gatos, which placed sixth in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division, will play at league rival No. 4 Santa Clara on Wednesday at 5pm.
On Saturday, the Wildcats were given a 1-0 handicap when Keegan McTighe scored just three minutes into the match, stunning Aptos and the home crowd.
McTighe stole the ball away from goalkeeper Noah Curran, who attempted to dish it off to his teammate but instead went off his foot the wrong way. Los Gatos’ team-captain was there to recover the loose ball and blasted a cannon shot to the back of the net.
“Before the game, I was looking at film and their goalie was a little shaky,” McTighe said. “I stepped, he took a bad touch, stuck my foot out, hit off my foot and I just mashed it in as hard as I could.”
The Mariners had a chance to tie the score moments later when they were awarded a penalty kick attempt in the 11th. However, Zavala missed the shot wide left.
McTighe said their focus was to keep a defender on Banks the entire match because a player of his caliber is a game-changer.
“We knew [Banks] was a very good player,” McTighe said. “We knew that we always had to be on a man marking, and that was the main talk before the game.”
Banks said they were knocking on the door the entire match and it finally came in the final minutes of the match when he tied the score at 1-1.
During the two overtime periods, the Mariners continued to put on the pressure. Banks broke through the door again with what seemed to be the go-ahead score in the final minutes of the match.
“Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, not much you can do,” Banks said. “I’ve been a referee before and I understand it’s tough to make those calls. They don’t got [Video Assistant Referee] on these high school pitches.
“In my opinion I thought I was onside, I thought I ran on a little bit later and got onto it. But if that’s the call the refs made, then that’s the call that’s gonna fly.”
In the penalty kick shootout, Love Granstrom, Daniel Lozano and David Sebastian-Killpatrick were successful in their shot attempts for Aptos.
Then with a chance to put the game away, Los Gatos missed on its fifth shot attempt. It was all on Zavala to force one more round of penalty kicks, but his shot was blocked, sending the Wildcats into a frenzy and into the semifinals.
Despite another early exit in the postseason, Zuñiga said it was still a special year for the seniors to experience winning back-to-back SCCAL titles, and three of the last four league championships.
“Overall a great season,” he said. “There’s nothing to change from it. We, as a coaching staff, love the players. We love being out here with them and my hats off to their efforts, for all their grit, all the intensity, and the love and passion they bring to the game everyday.”
