ESCONDIDO —
After San Pasqual High’s boys soccer team suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss in last year’s Division I state championship game, the Eagles established two main goals for this year.
Win a second straight San Diego Section Open Division title, then capture the program’s first state championship.
A semifinal loss to St. Augustine last week ruined the chance for a repeat Open title.
But the state championship aim is very much still in play after the Eagles opened the Southern California Regionals with a come-from-behind 3-1 Division II win Tuesday night at home against Santa Monica.
The final score was misleading. Santa Monica took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the second half on a penalty kick. The Eagles immediately picked up the intensity.
“The first thing I’m thinking is we can’t have these guys come and beat us on our own turf,” said senior Joaquin Romero.
Romero tied the game at 1 in the 54th minute. Charaboy Iniestra, who broke the school record for goals this season, blasted a shot from about 20 yards that caromed off a defender. Standing in front of the net was Romero, who one-touched the ball into the goal.
“I wasn’t thinking too much,” said Romero. “I was in kind of a flow state of mind. When I saw the ball bouncing, I was thinking I’ve got to get anything on the ball. A head, a toe.”
He opted for a right foot.
With about six minutes to play, the Eagles took a 2-1 lead. A pair of shots bounced off defenders in front of the net. Waiting for the second carom was Angel Ramirez, who pounded the ball past the goalie.
“My heart started pounding,” said Ramirez.
Iniestra supplied the clincher. With about three minutes left, Santa Monica’s keeper sprinted far out of the box for a loose ball. Coming from the opposite direction was Iniestra.
“I saw him coming out and I’m like, ‘Damn, he’s coming pretty fast,’” said Iniestra.
But few players, and probably zero goalies, are faster than Iniestra.
“I knew I was going to win the ball,” he said.
Iniestra arrived a split second before the goalie, veered left around the keeper, dribbled in and put the ball into the empty net.
“Sometimes the goal gets small when you’re by yourself,” said Iniestra. “Sometimes nerves get to you.”
Not this time as the senior and Coastal League player of the year netted his 32nd goal of the season.
The win improved San Pasqual to 19-5-3. Santa Monica finished 14-8-1.
San Pasqual coach John Burson is in his 17th season at the helm. He graduated from the school in 2002 and became head coach at 22. The Eagles have advanced to the state playoffs six times under his watch and won three section titles. The state title, though, has been elusive.
“It wasn’t a pretty game by any stretch,” said Burson. “But I tell the boys a good team finds a way to win. I’m not going to complain about a victory.”
Norcross is a freelance writer.
