Irvine Valley men’s soccer coach Martin McGrogan remembers the last time his team went to penalty kicks in a home playoff game.
The Lasers dominated their match with East LA in the second round of the 2005 Southern California Regional Playoffs, but couldn’t score during regulation or overtime and eventually lost in the shootout, 5-4.
Irvine Valley was on the other side of things Tuesday afternoon in another second round playoff match.
The Lasers rallied from a goal down and then eventually beat a tough Palomar team in penalty kicks, 5-4, after the game ended in a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes of regulation play and two 15-minute overtime periods. IVC is now just one match away from the state tournament.
“We have gone out in penalties in the past and we worked really hard to get it right today,” McGrogan said. “We definitely didn’t want to go out that way again.”
Irvine Valley (15-4-4) could have ended the match much earlier. The Lasers out-shot Palomar, 15-4, in the contest.
The Lasers, who are the fifth seed in the playoffs, dominated much of the first half and had several chances to score. The best came from freshman midfielder Jack Plummer.
But the game remained scoreless through halftime and late into the second half.
Palomar (12-7-5) then went out in front. Jorge Martinez scored on a header off a corner kick by LaSalle Durio in the 71st to give the 13th-seeded Comets the lead.
The Lasers pressed forward after that and were able to get the equalizer with about 10 minutes to play. Plummer got a hold of a loose ball in the box and fired it into the back of the net to even the score at 1-1.
Neither team scored the rest of the way in regulation. And both teams were scoreless in the overtime sessions. Irvine Valley did have more chances to score in the overtimes. Plummer sent a shot on a free kick from just outside the top of the box in the 93rd minute and freshman forward Corey Cordray missed wide right on another shot a few minutes later.
The contest headed to a penalty kick shootout.
Freshman defender Luis Guerrero went first for IVC and scored on a shot to the right side. Durio answered with a make for Palomar on its first attempt.
Freshman defender Troy Chavez followed Guerrero’s lead and made his kick to the lower right corner of the net. The score was 2-2 in the shootout after Tyler Bernetskie made his kick for Palomar.
IVC took a 3-2 lead when sophomore midfielder Taylor Campbell made his kick to the upper left corner.
Irvine Valley goalie Mikhail Radchuk then made the stop that the Lasers needed. He dived to his left to make a save on an attempt by Francisco Felix.
Plummer made his left-footed kick to the upper right corner to put IVC in front, 4-2. Ramirez made it 4-3 with a make for Palomar.
Freshman defender Derek Carmichael wrapped up the victory for Irvine Valley. He knocked his shot into the lower left corner of the goal.
“I liked the way the boys kept their composure and battled back from being a goal down,” McGrogan said. “I thought they worked very hard today and deserved the result.”
Irvine Valley moves on to the Southern California Regional Finals on Dec. 1. The winners of the regional finals move on to the state tournament.
IVC will play either Mt. SAC or Santiago Canyon in the regional final. Mt. SAC is the No. 1-ranked team in Southern California.