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Carlos Cervantes, forward for the Brawley Wildcats, advances down the field against Olympian High on Thursday at Warne Field in Brawley. (SERGIO BASTIDAS PHOTO / February 21, 2013) |
BRAWLEY — A week after the Brawley Wildcats ended a nine-year drought between league titles, their season came to an end Thursday night with a 3-1 loss to Olympian High in the first round of the CIF San Diego Section Division III boys’ soccer playoffs.
“Unfortunately we just couldn’t do it tonight, but we tried our hardest,” said tearful Brawley team captain Daniel Bernal.
“I felt like we came out and played the game that we knew we had to play. We missed some opportunities. I am proud of my team who played hard all the way through” said Brawley senior Carlos Cervantes.
After a strong start by Olympian in the first 15 minutes, the opportunistic Wildcats turned it around. They were led by Cervantes who had three shots on goal in the first half. One of those was a header in the 18th minute that just went wide of the net.
Defensively, the 11th-seeded Wildcats locked down Olympian’s offensive weapons in the final 20 minutes of the half, holding them without a shot on goal.
After a scoreless first half the Wildcats opened up the scoring in the fifth minute of the second half. Cervantes set up teammate Raul Rubio, who fired one past Olympian’s goalkeeper Steven Williams.
The 1-0 lead and Brawley’s momentum were short-lived, however; a handball in the penalty area led to an Eagle penalty kick. Francisco Salinas capitalized and tied the game at 1-1.
“This is exactly what I thought a CIF game would be; it was well-played on both ends,” said Brawley coach Daniel Hernandez. “I’m really proud of my guys who never gave up despite some adverse circumstances.”
In the 10th minute of the second half the Eagles scored again behind a brilliant individual play by Brandon Sanchez, who snuck one past Brawley goalkeeper Alan Ruiz.
In the final 15 minutes, Brawley had three shots on goal but were unable to convert.
The sixth-seeded Eagles added another goal from Salinas on a penalty kick on the final play of the game.
“I wanted to thank my administration for trusting me to take the program,” said Hernandez. “I surrounded myself with some very knowledgeable individuals (assistant coaches)”.
Olympian moves on to the quarter finals at 6 p.m. Saturday at Southwest (San Diego).
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